Brewer's Secret Budget Will Crush Arizona Schools

Press Release

Today's announcement regarding a breakthrough mortgage relief agreement with Wells Fargo Bank is the latest in Terry Goddard's long record of success protecting the consumers of Arizona.

This is an important settlement for Arizona because it provides 'principal forgiveness' for borrowers who are underwater because of toxic loans, and will result in keeping people in their homes. It is likely to be a model, igniting a trend toward significant relief from banks to homeowners across the country.
Consumer protection has been a hallmark of Terry Goddard's service as Attorney General. His efforts have been recognized nationally, most recently including the highest honor from the National Association of Attorneys General.

"There is nothing more important to me, and to the professionals I work with, than fighting to protect Arizonans," said Goddard. "Over the past several years, as the scam artist come up with more and more sophisticated ways to cheat the public, we've kept up with them and put many out of business for good."

Goddard's consumer protection accomplishments include:

Fighting Mortgage Fraud:

* Over the past three years, the AG's Office has undertaken several dozen criminal and civil investigations of mortgage fraud, leading to 13 indictments and 19 lawsuits and settlements over the past three years.
* Goddard convened a Mortgage Fraud Summit in Phoenix that brought together federal, state and local law enforcement officials, whose work will bring an additional $1.7 million in federal funds to Arizona to fight mortgage fraud.
* Goddard also has stepped up educational efforts aimed at preventing mortgage rip-offs.
* Achieved a landmark settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp. that benefited an estimated 13,000 Arizonans who were expected to receive up to $245 million in economic relief.
* Negotiated a settlement with Ameriquest Mortgage Co. that provided more than $5 million in restitution for 9,100 Arizona consumers.
* Reached a $1.18 million settlement with Pulte Home Corporation and Pulte Mortgage LLC, resolving allegations that some of Pulte's business practices violated the Arizona Consumer Protection Act.

Standing up for Consumers in the Marketplace.

* Goddard reached a $1 million settlement with WalMart, the state's and nation's largest retailer, for repeated price posting violations.
* Participated in a $12 million, multi-state settlement with Tempe-based LifeLock over deceptive advertising claims for its identity theft protections.
* Forced Qwest Corp. and Qwest Wireless to pay the state $3.75 million, plus nearly $1 million in restitution, over their practice of billing customers for products or services they did not order.
* Reached a $1.3 million settlement with Central Coast Neutraceuticals over deceptive sales tactics.
* Sued several auto dealers for deceptive advertising, recovering several hundred thousand dollars.

Helped put an end to the Payday Loan industry:

* Goddard was one of the industry's harshest critics and was active in assuring that the will of the voters be followed.
* He then launched Operation Sunset which allowed consumers to file complaints against lenders who were still operating after the June 30th cut off in Arizona.

Led effective efforts to educate about deceptive advertising, marketing, and ID theft:

* Issued multiple Consumer Scam Alerts to warn consumers regarding phishing schemes and high priced loans, such as the Nigerian letter scam and variations of the international lottery winner notice, BEFORE the consumers become victims.
* Hosted several Shred-A-Thon events to help consumers safely destroy documents containing personally identifying information that could be used in identity theft and other fraud schemes.
* Hosted Senior Anti-Crime Universities throughout the Arizona to educate seniors about the many scams that target seniors.
* Won a judgment with sweepstakes company Publishers Clearing House (PCH), that will increase protections for consumers who may have been misled by the company's marketing practices. In addition, the company agreed to pay $3.5 million to cover the cost of the states' investigation.

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