Detectives say the man behind a string of fake mortgage repair law firms admitted to signing as
many as 400 clients who paid him thousands of dollars to save their homes from foreclosure.
Joseph Anton Hilton aka Joseph Starr hired 12 to 14 people to cold call homeowners who appeared
on mortgage foreclosure and modification lists, according to investigators familiar with the case.
Police say his alleged victims were targeted across the state including Orlando, Miami and Tallahassee.
Detectives say Hilton posed as an attorney along with his business partner Adam Forman and another man who has not been named.
Lisa Costanza of Seminole County said she had already agreed to a modification plan with her lender when a member of Hilton’s team called her in July.
“I guess when you go into a modification they get a list and this one guy called a painted a pretty picture,” she said.
Costanza said she paid $500 to hire Asset Protection Law Firm and had just paid the first $500 monthly payment when she received a letter from her lender saying she was losing her home.
“I might not be able to save my home, I might have to move into an apartment or the street somewhere,” she told News 6.
Detective Jason DeLuca of the Coral Gables Police Department said Hilton “was definitely the main player” along with Adam Forman and another man, who could be named this week.
Hilton’s latest office was located in Coral Springs operating under the name Asset Protection Law Firm.
State records show Hilton used more than one dozen company names in his alleged law firm scheme.
“We have people who have lost their homes who are still receiving the client update notices that your case is going great…all you have to do is pay that monthly payment of $500,” DeLuca said.
Hilton is being held on $250,000 bond.
Victims of this Mortgage modification scam are asked to contact 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or file a complaint online at MyFloridaLegal.com