‘Foreclosure consultant’ agrees to stop solicitation of Iowans

A Florida internet personality and “foreclosure consultant” accused of committing fraud while targeting Iowans who faced the loss of their homes has agreed to stop doing business in Iowa.

The Iowa attorney general’s office alleges that Summit Software Systems of Jacksonville, Florida, and its owner, Roberto Boligan, have violated Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act.

Boligan is an internet personality, social-media influencer and software developer who owns multiple software companies. The attorney general claims he and one of his companies, Summit Software Systems Inc., sent solicitations to Iowa consumers who were at risk of foreclosure, offering to negotiate modifications in their mortgage loans.

The solicitations allegedly contained “deceptive, misleading and unfair features that had a capacity to deceive consumers” into believing the Summit Software Solutions was affiliated with the government. Summit allegedly demanded compensation for work never performed and failed to provide Iowa consumers with the required written contract describing the exact nature of the services being provided.

The company has denied all of the attorney general’s allegations and that it is legally responsible for any conduct deemed to be in violation of any laws.

Company ordered to reimburse all Iowa customers

As part of a court-enforced consent order, Summit has agreed to refrain from offering any “foreclosure consultant” services in Iowa.

Should the company be contacted by any Iowa consumer independently seeking out its foreclosure services, the

The consent order bars Summit from making any for-profit use of the names or personal information of all consumers with Iowa addresses it solicited or with whom it transacted business.

company must immediately turn down the sale or refund any money already paid to the company by that individual.

The order also directs the company to “reimburse every Iowa consumer who purchased merchandise sold by Summit Software Systems,” noting that each Iowa consumer is “entitled to a complete, automatic refund of all amounts paid” to Summit.

The refunds are to be paid by Summit to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. The order notes that because of Boligan’s professed inability to immediately pay out all of those refunds, the company is to be given six months in which to pay the full amount, at a rate of at least $5,000 per month. The attorney general will then forward the refunds directly to Summit’s Iowa customers.

Summit owner claims to have helped ‘the majority of the people’

Court records do not indicate the full amount to be refunded to Iowans or the number of Iowans who are entitled to refunds, and officials at the Attorney General’s Office did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.

However, Boligan said Tuesday that the total amount to be refunded to Iowans is $30,000 and that the case involves “very few” Iowa consumers.

He stressed that the consent order does not include any admission of wrongdoing and said the settlement is simply a way to resolve a long-running dispute with the Attorney General’s Office.

“They wanted to be done with it and I did, too,” Boligan told the Iowa Capital Dispatch. “For the most part, I respect the AG’s office in Iowa. So, we essentially agreed to disagree. That’s why if you really carefully read the consent order, we were not at all guilty of anything — nor was it said that we were. So, you know, at the end of the day, that’s really all it comes down to. … We were able to help the majority of the people that signed up for the software. They were pleased, they were happy. We actually did help more than half of the individuals who signed up for the software — and that is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, a fact.”

The consent order bars Summit from making any for-profit use of the names or personal information of all consumers with Iowa addresses it solicited or with whom it transacted business. As part of the order, Summit also has agreed to pay $50,000 to the Attorney General’s Office if it is later proven that the company violated the terms of the agreement.

Iowans wishing to contact the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division can call (515) 281-5926 from within Des Moines, or call 888-777-4590 from elsewhere in Iowa.

Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch , which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c (3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com .