Woman Takes Lender To Court Over Fees, Wins

WFTV Channel 9

A woman almost lost her home after she took a bad loan from an Orlando financial company. Vanjanette Arline said Hega Financial charged her thousands of dollars in interest and extra fees, so she filed a lawsuit, took the company to court and won.

Arline refinanced the house she has called home for 13 years after going through a divorce and hitting tough times. The day she closed on the loan she felt taken advantage of.

"The fees added up to almost $40,000 in closing fees," she said.

It was an outrageous amount for a $200,000 home, but it got worse from there. Arline's lender, Hega Financial, operating out of a Metrowest townhouse, had pocketed $8,000 that was supposed to stay in escrow.

"They were making her pay interest on money that was supposed to be held in escrow that they took for themselves and kept," attorney Matt Englett said.

In the end, her lender tried to foreclose on her, demanding high fees on the interest-only loan that would have totaled nearly $300,000, but she took Hega to court and won.

"Attorney's called this case groundbreaking. KEL (Florida Real Estate Law Firm) has hundreds of cases like this. They say this sets a precedent for all the other cases," Englett said.

Englett called the case predatory lending and his firm is seeing more and more of it. He said the judge listened and ruled strictly by the law.

"If they lose, they're going to lose a lot more than just working with the borrower," Englett said.

WFTV found one of Hega's founder's, Brian Hertz, at the town home. He claimed to know nothing of the lawsuit, even denied he was Hertz and told WFTV to leave.

"You can't shoot me," he said.

Arline can continue to fight for her house or let the bank take it and walk away free and clear, not owing a dime.

"I feel like I can breathe again," she said.

Hega Financial is owned by two Orlando men, Brian Hertz and Peter Vega. WFTV was not able to track down Vega.

http://www.kelattorneys.com/loan-modifications.html

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News & Politics

Tags:

• mortgage crisis
• kel attorneys
• matt englett