Friedman & MacFadyen’s former Richmond office was housed in this building in Forest Office Park.
A law firm that became entangled in an investment scam and several federal lawsuits over foreclosure processing has closed its Richmond office.
Friedman & MacFadyen, a debt collection firm that processed a huge number of foreclosures and kept offices in Baltimore and Richmond, recently vacated its office at 1601 Rolling Hills Drive in the Forest Office Park. It occupied a first-floor space in the 36,000-square-foot building.
Several sources familiar with the firm said it has been in the process of shutting down since at least June. Calls to the firm’s Baltimore office have gone unanswered this week, and several messages left with its principals since the summer have not been returned. The firm’s website is no longer active.
Although it is unclear why the firm is shutting down, Friedman & MacFadyen is the defendant in several federal lawsuits alleging violations of consumer debt collection regulations.
The firm and its principal Mark Friedman also took a big financial hit in 2010 related to a massive investment scam in Los Angeles allegedly run by a relative of Friedman’s.
Bruce Friedman, a now deceased relative of Mark Friedman, was arrested in 2010 on charges of running a $228 million investment scam through his Los Angeles company, Diversified Lending Group.
The receiver appointed to recover funds for investors of Diversified Lending Group discovered that $6 million had been transferred from DLG to Mark Friedman and his law firm.
Mark Friedman told the receiver, according to court records, that the money was an unsecured loan to assist in the expenses of his law firm. There was no documentation for the loan, which was made in 2008, nor had any payments been made on it when the receiver discovered the large transfer.
The receiver demanded that Friedman and the firm return the money. Unable to pay in full at the time, the parties eventually reached an agreement whereby the $6 million, plus interest, would be repaid in increments. Mark Friedman maintained he had no knowledge of his relative’s alleged scam, according to the court records.
That agreement was made in March 2010, just months before Bruce Friedman was arrested in France for his involvement in the scam.
He died in a French prison this year while awaiting extradition to the United States.
The receiver continued his attempts to recover funds despite Friedman’s death.
According to reports out of Baltimore, Friedman and MacFadyen also had been accused by some consumers of and questioned by Maryland regulators about processing foreclosures using falsified signatures and without legitimate oversight. The process, known as “robo-signing,” was exposed at many large lenders nationwide in the wake of the real estate market crash.
Friedman & MacFadyen’s former Richmond office was housed in this building in Forest Office Park.
A law firm that became entangled in an investment scam and several federal lawsuits over foreclosure processing has closed its Richmond office.
Friedman & MacFadyen, a debt collection firm that processed a huge number of foreclosures and kept offices in Baltimore and Richmond, recently vacated its office at 1601 Rolling Hills Drive in the Forest Office Park. It occupied a first-floor space in the 36,000-square-foot building.
Several sources familiar with the firm said it has been in the process of shutting down since at least June. Calls to the firm’s Baltimore office have gone unanswered this week, and several messages left with its principals since the summer have not been returned. The firm’s website is no longer active.
Although it is unclear why the firm is shutting down, Friedman & MacFadyen is the defendant in several federal lawsuits alleging violations of consumer debt collection regulations.
The firm and its principal Mark Friedman also took a big financial hit in 2010 related to a massive investment scam in Los Angeles allegedly run by a relative of Friedman’s.
Bruce Friedman, a now deceased relative of Mark Friedman, was arrested in 2010 on charges of running a $228 million investment scam through his Los Angeles company, Diversified Lending Group.
The receiver appointed to recover funds for investors of Diversified Lending Group discovered that $6 million had been transferred from DLG to Mark Friedman and his law firm.
Mark Friedman told the receiver, according to court records, that the money was an unsecured loan to assist in the expenses of his law firm. There was no documentation for the loan, which was made in 2008, nor had any payments been made on it when the receiver discovered the large transfer.
The receiver demanded that Friedman and the firm return the money. Unable to pay in full at the time, the parties eventually reached an agreement whereby the $6 million, plus interest, would be repaid in increments. Mark Friedman maintained he had no knowledge of his relative’s alleged scam, according to the court records.
That agreement was made in March 2010, just months before Bruce Friedman was arrested in France for his involvement in the scam.
He died in a French prison this year while awaiting extradition to the United States.
The receiver continued his attempts to recover funds despite Friedman’s death.
According to reports out of Baltimore, Friedman and MacFadyen also had been accused by some consumers of and questioned by Maryland regulators about processing foreclosures using falsified signatures and without legitimate oversight. The process, known as “robo-signing,” was exposed at many large lenders nationwide in the wake of the real estate market crash.
They foreclosed on my house april 2011. And left me homeless with a child in Alexandra va.
F&M foreclosed on my property in 2009 and it is still in my name. No one seems to know how to get it out, the lender refers me to F&M, who is out of business. You cannot get through on their number; no one answers and you cannot leave a message. The lender tells me to call them. Do you know an attorney I can call? Please advise.
If it’s still in your name, you are still the owner of record. Go to the county and get a certified copy of your title and get keys made, evict whoever may be living there… it’s still yours!!!
F&M foreclosed on my house in 2011 and I had to pay @$10,000.00 to get my house back. They were working along with the person who purchased my home in which I had to pay him money also. They pulled blood from me and left me broke.I am working two jobs at 50 years old and have no money to eat now. I’m glad that they can’t do this to anyone else now.
Hats off to you Mr. Schwartz. There has been a virtual media blackout in Maryland as to the real crimes committed by F&M and other fraudclosure mills. The red herring “someone signed my name but the documents are correct” is a lie. The purpose is to distract from the real fraud. I hope I contributed to taking down F&M. Being knee deep in the trenches of fraudclosure every day in multiple states, F&M was directly involved in several cases personally regarding various species of property. As a former real estate investor/developer turned “accidental litigator” after hurricane Katrina wiped out our… Read more »
F&M foreclosed my house in Sep 2010 I tried to modify my loan with the bank for over 2yrs. I lost everything that I had build in 10 yrs now I want to start all over again and buy a house for my daughters and I can’t because I don’t qualify for a loan yet. Is really sad that after 4 yrs it still hunts me and I can’t move forward. A friend told me I can fight to have the foreclosure remove from my credit report is that possible? Please help. What can I do?