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| The number of South Carolina Circuit Solicitors who have sued LendingTree Inc. now totals nine. The latest action focuses on the mortgage lead generator’s violations of mortgage broker rules and fee disclosure requirements.
On Sept. 4, 2008, South Carolina 10th Circuit Solicitor Chrissy Adams sued the Charlotte, N.C.-based company on behalf of borrowers in Oconee and Anderson counties, two counties in the rural northwest part of the state. The suit alleges numerous violations of South Carolina law. Specifically, LendingTree is accused of violating mortgage broker rules and failing to disclose its fees to borrowers. Adams’s lawsuit demands between $1,500 and $7,500 per violation. According to South Carolina law, any damages awarded by a jury would be paid directly to the state, and not to individual borrowers. Distribution of funds would be at the discretion of the state. Adams is a career prosecutor, and has worked as a prosecutor since graduating from the University of South Carolina’s School of Law in 1994. A Republican, Adams was first elected Circuit Solicitor in 2004, then re-elected in June, 2008 with 68 percent of the vote. Circuit Solicitors function like state’s attorneys in other jurisdictions. Adams’s office has a budget of $2 million and has responsibility for both criminal and civil matters in her district. LendingTree, which generates mortgage leads, denies the allegations contained in the suit, but has not yet filed any formal response with the court. South Carolina v. LendingTree, Inc., et al. |
