The Iowa Attorney General took action Wednesday to freeze the assets of a Des Moines corporation that allegedly misrepresented the services it would provide to buyers and sellers of homes. A-G Tom Miller says the action was taken gainst the Wolford Group and Rodney Wolford senior and his son Rodney Wolford Junior. Miller says the Wolford Group focused on people who needed to sell their homes quickly. He says they would make various representations to the sellers, such as quick cash for the sale of the home for those who’re having financial trouble. Miller says the company would then turn around and try to sell the home to buyers who have had trouble getting credit to buy a home. He says they would give the buyer a trial period for a year, such as selling the home on a contract or with a lease to buy, to give them time to be able to buy the home. Miller says that method went against the promise made to the seller of moving the house quickly. Miller says selling the homes to buyers with potential credit problems made it a real possibility that the deal would fall through. He says that would make the process drag on even more after they’d promised the seller quick action. Miller says the Wolford Group would also tell sellers they would make monthly payments on the mortgage and mortgage insurance while they tried to sell the house — and then failed to do so. He says they also made other false claims to the buyers of the homes.He says they represented that they would repair the person’s credit rating, and they didn’t do that. Miller says there were some 250 homes involved in the allegedly fraudulent practices. He says most of the homes were in central Iowa. Miller says a judge has set September 5th for a hearing on a temporary injunction against the company and whether the court should appoint a receiver to take over the assets of the company. Miller says he doesn’t know how much of the money might be recovered from the company.
