Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy represents individuals, businesses and public institutions in a variety of actions relating to both economic and major injury cases. Currently, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating the following cases:

• Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating allegations of a massive fraud at MF Global.
  For years, MF Global was one of the largest broker-dealers in the United States and provided trading and hedging solutions across various markets for futures, options, and commodities. In particular, MF Global served hundreds of farmers who hedged their crops, oil producers who used futures to lock in prices and take delivery of physical commodities, and retirees and pension fund members who invested in futures to diversify their portfolios.
   
  As an entity regulated by the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), MF Global was required to maintain customer assets in customer-segregated accounts to ensure such assets were protected, even in the event of MF Global’s insolvency.
   
  On October 31, 2011, MF Global declared bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee has determined that there was a shortfall of as much as $1.2 billion in the customer segregated accounts. Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims on behalf of MF Global customers who suffered losses arising from the collapse and subsequent bankruptcy filing of MF Global.
   
  For additional information and assistance, please contact Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy at TAKE ACTION.
   
   
  
   
• The firm is investigating several pending matters involving actual or potential violations of Federal and State antitrust and competition laws. These matters include:
   
  • Lipitor. The firm has been asked to investigate claims that Pfizer illegally suppressed competition by cutting a deal to keep a generic manufacturer from entering the United States market. Lipitor is the most successful pharmaceutical ever, and Pfizer earns more than $12 billion per year from United States’ sales of Lipitor.
     
  • Auto Wire Harness. The firm is prosecuting claims involving a price-fixing conspiracy for auto wire harnesses, the electrical system which operates automobiles. Several international companies, including Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., have been implicated.
     
     
     
       
• Investigation of Olympus Fraud
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP is investigating allegations of a massive fraud by Olympus Corporation and its executives and board members. For years, Olympus allegedly misrepresented its finances and purposely hid large investment losses by disguising them as hundreds of millions of dollars in fees paid to now-defunct investment advisors in connection with certain acquisitions. The fraudulent accounting was partially revealed when Olympus’ CEO, Michael Woodford, was fired after demanding a full inquiry into the payments from the Chairman of the Company. The value of the Olympus ADRs dropped significantly from $32.00 per share down to $14.00 per share in less than two weeks. Olympus recently admitted to wrongfully “engaging in activities such as deferring the posting of losses on investment securities.”
   
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims of Olympus ADR shareholders. For additional information and assistance, please contact Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy at TAKE ACTION.
   
   
   
     
• Cotchett Investigates Non-Refundable Fees Charged by Mortgage Companies
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is continuing its investigation into potentially illegal fees (sometimes called good-faith deposits or deposit agreements) charged by lenders offering home mortgage re-finances to consumers. Consumers are increasingly facing boiler-room sales tactics by lenders who are more interested in generating up-front fees than actually making loans. In the worst situations lenders are charging fees (or taking deposits) from consumers that they know will not qualify for a refinance. The fees may be disguised as payments for appraisals, credit checks, credit reports, a fee to lock-in interest rates or fees to process the loan application.
   
  If you feel you have been victimized by a mortgage lender who charged you fees to be considered for a loan re-finance that you were not ultimately approved for, or fees even though you told the lender that you wanted to withdraw your application for a mortgage loan refinance, please contact us at TAKE ACTION to explore your legal rights.
   
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims on behalf of consumers who were charged up-front fees by lenders for services that either were not received (such as appraisals) or fees for services that were received even though the lender knew the applicant would not be approved for the loan. Among the companies Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating are the following:
  CashCall / Cash Call
  Quicken Loans
  Bank of America
  Ditech
  Wells Fargo
   
   
   
   
• Investigation of Property Tax Assessor Records Corp. (PTARC) Scam
  On behalf of its clients, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims against PTARC for its deceptive practices, which involve sending out solicitations that are misleading, deceptive and violate California law in that they appear to be a document sent from a government entity, the county assessor’s office. PTARC does not adequately disclose that they are not a government entity; that their solicitations are not a billing statement; that they are offering a service that the consumer is not required to purchase; and that the consumer can perform these services on their own for free. In many instances, PTARC did not even perform any services on behalf of the consumers who paid the processing fee.
  
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims on behalf of consumers who received a solicitation from Property Tax Assessor Records Corp. and paid the processing fee. For additional information and assistance, contact Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy at TAKE ACTION.
   
   
   
     
• Investigation of U-Haul Moving Equipment
  On behalf of its clients, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims against U-Haul for its deceptive practices, which involves charging customers for an additional rental "term" for returning the vehicle after the designated rental time but within the same day. Additionally, these persons may have been charged for CDW, "safe move", or similar coverage for an additional rental term. Plaintiffs allege during the reservation, U-Haul representative specifically ask "about how many hours" the potential customer intends to use the rental truck. Once the customers provides a time, they unwittingly have entered into a fixed "rental period" which they are contracted to return the rental truck. At the end of the reservation the U-Haul representative obtains a credit card number and places a deposit to hold the vehicle on the credit card. For in town rentals, which are widely advertised on every truck and through common advertisements in all significant yellow phone books, no promotional brochures or description of terms or rates are mailed to the customer following a telephone reservation. If the rental truck is returned after the "rental period" the consumer is charged for an additional rental "term."
  
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims on behalf of consumers who rented from U-Haul. For additional information and assistance, contact Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy at TAKE ACTION.
   
   
   
   
  
• Subprime Mortgage Foreclosure Litigation
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating the abusive predatory lending practices in the subprime home mortgage industry. If you feel you have been victimized by predatory home lending practices and are facing foreclosure, please contact us at TAKE ACTION to explore your legal rights. The subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis threatens thousands of homeowners and their families. According to newspaper and research reports, the number of scheduled foreclosure sales and defaults in core areas of California exceeded a half million during 2008, up 132 percent from 2007. Lenders, working in a fraudulent scheme with appraisers and mortgage brokers, offer lucrative loans based solely on the home's equity, even when it is clear that the homeowner cannot afford the required payments. To convince the homeowner to take the loan or to refinance an existing loan, they inflate the appraised value of the home. The lenders and appraisers are motivated by the fees or commissions generated by the loan, regardless of the consequence to the borrower. For many, the motivation is the ultimate foreclosure on the house which can then be resold for a profit.
   
   
   
• Subprime Mortgage-Backed Securities Losses
  In addition to the investigation into subprime credit (see below), Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating potential fraud in the subprime mortgage industry. Acting on several inquiries from individual investors and business entities, the investigation is focusing on whether investment banks and lenders knew about the risks of mortgage securities backed by subprime loans and whether they hid those risks from investors. The background: In years past, borrowers simply got loans from the neighborhood bank, which held the mortgage risk. Now that risk has expanded dramatically — subprime mortgages are bundled together and sold to investors, with credit-rating agencies offering advice. According to media reports, lenders wrote $625 billion in subprime mortgages in 2005, nearly four times the total in 2001. The boom brought in big fees to mortgage brokers, lenders, banks and ratings agencies. However, dropping home prices are now hurting those players, with global banks reportedly ousting executives and writing off nearly $150 billion since mortgage securities began collapsing last summer. If you feel you have been victimized by investing in securities back by subprime mortgages, please contact us at TAKE ACTION to explore your legal rights.
   
   
   
• Credit Card Counseling Industry Cases: Suit names Chase, Money Management International and Investigates Others
  Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is continuing its investigation into fraudulent "debt counseling" and debt collections in the subprime credit industry. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy and co-counsel, named JP Morgan Chase & Co., Chase Manhattan Bank USA, Money Management International (MMI), also known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS), and Money Management By Mail Inc. The suit and investigation arise out of the relatively new sub-prime credit counseling industry. The industry was created by the nation's leading creditors (including leading credit card companies) to use third party, allegedly non-profit "credit counseling" organizations, to secretly facilitate their collections from unsuspecting customers who were in financial distress and had turned to what they thought were non-profits for financial help. The complaint alleges that Money Management International Inc. (MMI) and others advertised and promoted themselves as non-profit credit counseling organizations whose main purpose was to act on behalf of the consumer. These companies were in fact operating as agents of the consumers' creditors, including Chase, according to the complaint. These agencies claimed in their advertisements that they would "negotiate" on behalf of consumers with Chase and other credit card companies to whom consumers owed money — however, as alleged in the Complaint, there was no real "negotiation" — instead there were back room deals between the creditors and the "counseling" agencies designed to collect as much money as possible from unsuspecting consumers. The complaint alleges: MMI and others were nothing more than debt collectors that, even according to Chase's own documents, "partnered" with Chase to collect its accounts under the guise of "rescuing" consumers drowning in debt; The agencies, in reality, operated as for-profit organizations, distributing monthly payments they collected from consumers to Chase, while keeping a share for themselves — effectively a payment by Chase that was kept hidden from the consumers; and the agencies also failed to provide comprehensive financial counseling that communicated all options open to indebted consumers. For example, the agencies as a matter of practice failed to discuss bankruptcy as a viable option since that would cut off the flow of money to the creditors. The lawsuit seeks to recover monies wrongfully obtained from consumers (including Chase credit card holders) who were indebted to Chase and/or who contracted for credit repair and debt management plan services from MMI or credit counseling agencies that MMI has taken over. If you feel you have been victimized by subprime credit "counseling," please contact us at TAKE ACTION to explore your legal rights.
  
  In addition to the current litigation against MMI, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is investigating claims on behalf of consumers who received credit counseling services from the following credit “counselors”:
  

  AFS
  American Financial Solutions
  American Consumer Credit Counseling
  Care One Credit Counseling
  Consolidated Credit Counseling Services
  Express Consolidation
  Family Credit Counseling
  Genus Credit Management
  Greenpath
  InCharge Debt Solutions
  Lighthouse Credit Foundation
  Novadebt
  Take Charge America
  Zero Balance Debt Management
  

  
  

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