U.S. Trustee Program Enforcement Leads to Injunctions, Fines Against Bankruptcy Petition Preparers Who Targeted Vulnerable Consumers in Foreclosure

Two bankruptcy petition preparers who hid their involvement while providing unauthorized legal advice to debtors in foreclosure were barred from providing bankruptcy-related services, thanks to enforcement actions by the Justice Department's U.S. Trustee Program (USTP).

On Feb. 12, the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an order permanently enjoining Kafil Hamim Quaiyum Tunsill from acting as a bankruptcy petition preparer in the district. Tunsill was also fined $12,500 and ordered to refund $1,900 to the debtor. Although Tunsill answered the adversary complaint filed by the U.S. Trustee's office in Orlando, he did not respond to the U.S. Trustee's motion for summary judgment, which the Bankruptcy Court granted.

On March 29, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon issued a decision to permanently enjoin Keith Bray and his company Rezidential Group Inc. from acting as bankruptcy petition preparers in Oregon. Bray and Rezidential Group - who did not defend against a complaint filed by the U.S. Trustee's office in Portland - were also fined $22,500 and ordered to return $3,995 in fees and pay $7,990 in statutory damages to the debtor.

The Bankruptcy Code strictly regulates the services of bankruptcy petition preparers, commonly known as BPPs. BPPs are not attorneys, cannot give legal advice or practice law and generally are limited to typing information provided by debtors into bankruptcy forms for the debtors to file. The Code requires BPPs to disclose information about their fees and services to the debtors and to the bankruptcy court.

"Unscrupulous bankruptcy petition preparers often craft schemes to exploit debtors fearful of losing their homes to foreclosure," said Director Tara Twomey of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. "The Program aggressively roots out BPPs who harm consumers and taint the bankruptcy system through fraud, abuse and the unauthorized practice of law."

In the Florida case, Tunsill, who used the business name Serving Humanity, located the debtor by reviewing foreclosure dockets. He then knocked on the debtor's door and offered to help the debtor avoid foreclosure for a fee. He gave the debtor legal advice about bankruptcy and helped prepare and file a chapter 13 bankruptcy case as well as a lawsuit against the debtor's mortgage servicer, both of which were eventually dismissed. The court's order against Tunsill noted that he had engaged in fraudulent, deceptive or bad-faith conduct in other cases, including four bankruptcies that he filed for himself.

In the Oregon case, Bray led the debtors to believe he was a licensed attorney in California and told them bankruptcy could help save their home from foreclosure. He directed them to hand copy information he provided onto blank forms and file them with the bankruptcy court. Bray was actually a disbarred attorney who attempted to avoid detection by impersonating a licensed attorney in communications with the chapter 13 trustee. The court's decision noted similar conduct by Bray and Rezidential Group in several other cases in other districts.

The USTP's mission is to promote the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system for the benefit of all stakeholders - debtors, creditors and the public. The USTP consists of 21 regions with 89 field offices nationwide and an Executive Office in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the Program at www.justice.gov/ust.