THE ROTHBLOOM LAW FIRM IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Associated Press, December 21, 1992: "Bank Tangled in Loan Scandal that Victimized Homeowners" - Allegations of discriminatory lending begin to plague Fleet Finance, Inc. of Atlanta; Howard D. Rothbloom relates his clients' experiences.
The Charlotte Observer, January 10, 1993: "Complaints Arise Over Finance Firms; Chrysler First Faces Lawsuits" -
CBS Evening News, 1998: "Loan Companies Exploit Elderly" - CBS News Eye On America correspondent Wyatt Andrews tells what happened to The Rothbloom Law Firm client 72-year-old Sanders Faust of Decatur, Georgia. Faust, who cannot read or write, faces foreclosure on his home because of the questionable lending practices of a loan company called the Associates.
Columnist Jack Anderson, December 28, 1998: "Subprime Lenders Prey on Poor" - The late columnist Jack Anderson describes how The Rothbloom Law Firm client Beatrice Smith battled against the "runaway subprime lending market" to save her home from foreclosure by NationsCredit.
Reuters, 1998: A Bad Deal: Obscure Insurance Policy Squeezes Borrower - Some of America's biggest financial firms sell an obscure type of life insurance policy, called single premium credit life insurance, which can end up costing poor borrowers like The Rothbloom Law Firm client Winfred Wood their homes. Companies say they don't force borrowers to buy the policies and that the insurance is convenient and actually costs less per month when financed. Critics, however, have attacked the sale of this insurance, calling it "corrupt" because it jacks up the cost of a mortgage.
Clark Howard, WSB-TV Consumer Adviser, 1998: "Atlanta Under Siege by Predatory Lenders" - Consumer Adviser Clark Howard explains that Howard D. Rothbloom represents 2000 Georgians in a class action lawsuit. Fred Wood was victim #1. "His credit wasn't good enough to get a credit card at KMart, but they loaned him $36,000 secured by his house," says Rothbloom. "If this company did at the point of a gun what they do with the point of a pen, there would be a lot of people in prison." ..."If it wasn't for Howard, I'd be in the streets right now," says Fred.
Associated Press, October 3, 1999: "Atlanta lawyer says long-term credit life insurance a 'ripoff'" - When Howard Rothbloom speaks Sunday to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, he could give them an earful on sales of credit life insurance on a long-term basis.
Creative Loafing, October 14, 2000: "Sharks Patrol These Waters" - Writer Mara Shalhoup tells the story of The Rothbloom Law Firm client Lillian Cason, a 78 year old homeowner struggling to keep her home after falling victim to abusive lending practices and in the face of Georgia's week consumer laws.
American Banker, January 12, 2001: "Citi Puts Out Associates Fire in Week" - Citigroup will refund roughly 2,000 borrowers in Georgia who were sold single-premium credit life insurance with a loan from an Associates subsidiary, said Howard D. Rothbloom, the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
The New York Times, August 6, 2007: "Mortgage Maze May Increase Foreclosures" - Writer Gretchen Morgenson shows how The Rothbloom Law Firm client Mamie Ruth Palmer got trapped in a complex, chaotic and confusing system for consumers trying to resuce their homes from foreclosure.
1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East, 2007: In this 704 page history of the 1967 Six Day War published in 2007, leading Israeli historian Tom Segev cited a letter from Howard Rothbloom to President Lyndon B. Johnson urging the president to stand by Israel.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 14, 2008: "Shelter from the Storm" - In this AJC editorial, Howard D. Rothbloom is quoted in support of two Geogia State Senate bills which would help Georgia homeowners facing foreclosure. One requires a public record naming the owner of a home loan. The other extends the foreclosure notice requirement for troubled homeowners from 15 to as much as 60 days. The bills became law.
The New York Times, March 30, 2008: "Foreclosure Machine Thrives on Woes" - Writer Gretchen Morgenson explains that The United States Trustee Program, a unit of the Justice Department, has brought a case against a national mortgage lender that it says is abusing the bankruptcy system in the case of John and Robin Atchley, The Rothbloom Law Firm clients. The Atchley's case drove the United States Senate to investigate mortgage lender misconduct in bankruptcy cases.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 30, 2008: "Couple Lose Home in Countrywide Dispute, But May Yet Win" - Writer Carrie Teegardin tells the story of The Rothbloom Law Firm clients John and Robin Atchley as a court action by The United States Trustee Program, a unit of the Justice Department, raises the curtain on a bankruptcy system that has tolerated too many injustices for families who are working hard to hold onto their homes.
The New York Times, July 27, 2008: "How One Borrower Beat the Foreclosure Machine" - Writer Gretchen Morgenson follows up on the story of The Rothbloom Law Firm client Mamie Ruth Palmer and explains how, "after enduring six years in foreclosure hell, almost losing her home twice, Ms. Palmer has escaped intact".
Creative Loafing, December 10, 2008: "A Five Year Battle to Fight Foreclosure" - Writer Mara Shalhoup tells the story of The Rothbloom Law Firm clients who claim that lenders are tacking on unsubstantiated, possibly illegal fees that total thousands of dollars, making it difficult for borrowers to keep their house even after they pay off the past due amount.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 25, 2009: "Mortgage Crisis: Who Owns My House" - Writer Carrie Teegardin tells the story of how The Rothbloom Law Firm client Zella Mae Green is fighting back in bankruptcy court to stop a foreclosing lender and to make it to prove that it actually owns her loan.
WXIA Television, 11 Alive Atlanta, March 4, 2009: "Stop Foreclosures With Three Simple Words?" - Reporter Keith Whitney interviews Howard D. Rothbloom regarding homeowners' demands that foreclosing lenders produce the note to prove their claims in litigation.
Creative Loafing, April 22, 2009: "What Makes These Atlantans So Damn Happy?" - Writer Mara Shalhoup tells of the happy ending for The Rothbloom Law Firm clients who fought A Five Year Battle to Fight Foreclosure.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 1, 2010: "Georgia Personal Bankruptcies Rate Third-Highest" - Writer Carrie Teegardin explains that one in 50 Georgia households declared bankruptcy in 2009 between January and November, leaving the state with the third-highest personal bankruptcy rate in the nation.