Mass. consulting firm ?fined $1.9 million

BOSTON – A Massachusetts firm specializing in financial and legal services and its owner have been ordered by a judge to pay more than $1.9 million for preying upon vulnerable consumers during the foreclosure crisis and engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, Attorney General Maura Healey announced last week.

Pinnacle Financial Consulting LLC and its owner, Robert Burton, have also been permanently prohibited from marketing, soliciting or receiving fees in relation to providing loan modification, bankruptcy-petition preparation, legal-document preparation and financial-advising services in the state.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in March 2013, the defendants targeted “financially desperate” consumers, particularly minority and nonnative English speakers, and marketed themselves as low-cost alternatives to attorneys and traditional law firms.

Pinnacle and Burton must pay the commonwealth $1.9 million, including $1.2 million in restitution for affected consumers and $665,000 in civil penalties. •

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