Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has obtained a temporary restraining order against Wyoming and Florida companies for soliciting unlawful fees from Bay State homeowners facing foreclosure.

Defendants H.O.P.E. Alliance Inc. of Wyoming, Law & Assoc. LLC and Thomas E. Law II of Florida allegedly solicited unlawful advance fees for foreclosure-related services, and unnecessarily delayed negotiations regarding loan modifications, thereby pushing homeowners further into debt. 

The temporary restraining order, signed by Judge Christopher J. Muse, prohibits the defendants from contacting any Massachusetts resident to solicit or offer foreclosure-related services, publishing advertisements that offer foreclosure related services and destroying any assets, Coakley’s office said in a statement. Additionally, the defendants must provide a list of all Massachusetts homeowners they have contacted and a list of homeowners who have paid fees for services to the attorney general’s office within 10 days.   

The complaint also alleges that H.O.P.E. Alliance, with the help of co-defendants Law & Assoc. and Law, solicited homeowners facing foreclosure by sending letters that directed them to a toll-free number and to the website www.helpnowalliance.org. The website states that it is an alliance of nonprofit organizations and housing counselors that can assist homeowners in obtaining a loan modification or stopping foreclosure, and that the company is a non-profit organization. H.O.P.E. Alliance is not registered with the IRS or the attorney general’s office as a non-profit. 

The complaint also asserts that in its letter to homeowners, H.O.P.E. Alliance deceptively used a similar name to the government-sponsored non-profit organization, HOPE NOW Alliance.