Facts

U.S. Loan Auditors LLC offered its auditing services to the public for a fee. It provided customers with an audit report of their mortgage loans. It referred the customers to its affiliated company, My US Legal Services, which would represent the borrower in a legal action against the lending institution asserting violations of federal and state lending laws. As part of its advertising and solicitation, U.S. Loan Auditors and its founders mailed "Lender Investigation Notification" forms to Bank of America Corp.'s (BofA) contractual mortgage loan clients.

BofA sued U.S. Loan Auditors and its founders alleging false advertising and unfair competition. BofA alleged that defendants falsely stated that it and/or its affiliate, Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., engaged in predatory lending practices, violated federal law, and/or was the subject of a "predatory lending investigation." BofA also alleged that the solicitations were misleading because they resembled official notices from the U.S. government, notwithstanding a "fine print" disclosure. BofA alleged that defendants' wrongful conduct caused confusion, deception, and mistake in the marketplace. Also causing deprivation of business and goodwill, and injury to BofA's relationships with existing and prospective customers.

Result

The parties entered into a settlement of the matter and the judge issued a permanent injunction enjoining U.S. Loan Auditors from sending deceptive and fraudulent solicitation letters.