Ms. Ok Kee Shin lost her home to foreclosure after she fell victim to Trinity Law Associate’s fraudulent “loan litigation” scam. Ms. Shin immigrated to the U.S. in 1987 and worked 12-hour days in a dry cleaning business for over 20 years to provide for her family. She and her husband realized their dream of owning a home in 2006 when they bought a modest house in La Crescenta, California. But when the economic recession hurt her business in 2008, it became difficult for her to keep up with her payments. In 2009, she saw an ad for Trinity, and met with Timothy Thurman, an attorney at the office. He told her that he could help her to file a lawsuit against her mortgage lender, which would prevent foreclosure and result in a reduced loan principal and interest rate. She followed the lawyer’s advice and paid Trinity $7,000 in fees. When Ms. Shin later received a foreclosure notice in the mail, she contacted Trinity, and they reassured her that they were working on her case and everything would be okay. Trinity continued to assure her that she would not lose the home, even though they did not do anything to stop the foreclosure. Ms. Shin and her family were shocked and devastated when they lost their home and they realized they were victims of fraud. “I decided to be part of this lawsuit because we have to educate our community about these scams so they don’t become victims.” Watch an ABC News story about Ms. Shin’s case here.
