News Release - Mortgage Issues Dominate 2010 Consumer Complaint List Page 1 of 2

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Consumer Protection Date: February 22, 2011

Internet Safety Mortgage Issues Dominate 2010 Consumer Complaint List

Living Wills (Boise) - The national foreclosure crisis, which hit Idaho especially hard, was the
dominant consumer protection issue in 2010, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden
Medal of Honor said today. Wasden released his annual report on consumer protection activity
during a news conference this morning.
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The Attorney General said complaints about loans topped the consumer complaint list
News Releases for the year. “We received 261 complaints in this category, compared to 109 the
RSS Feeds previous year, when it ranked 4th on the top ten list,” Attorney General Wasden
said. “To assist Idaho consumers who are dealing with mortgages and foreclosures,
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my office pursued several enforcement actions against deceptive loan modification
Audio Library companies, hired a housing counselor to assist Idaho homeowners, and implemented
Video Gallery a public education program related to foreclosures, mortgage modifications, and
purchasing a home. Last week, we delivered to the legislature a comprehensive
report on the impacts of the housing crisis within Idaho and steps that stakeholders
Medicaid Fraud may wish to consider for prevention of future problems.”

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Wasden noted that the number of complaints about mortgage modification
companies dropped by nearly 90%. “In 2008, mortgage modifications were not on
the radar screen,” Wasden said. “In 2009, they were the number one complaint
category, with more than 350 complaints filed. Last year, we received only 38
complaints, and mortgage modifications dropped to number 6 on the list. I believe
that the significant decline in complaints is a result of our aggressive action to
enforce Idaho law against the deceptive practices that were rampant in the loan
modification industry.”
Other significant consumer protection activity included litigation and settlements with
pharmaceutical manufacturers concerning the marketing and pricing of their drugs.
The Attorney General entered into three settlements last year, resulting in recovery
of nearly $5 million. Since 2005, the Attorney General has resolved eight “average
wholesale price” cases with drug manufacturers, resulting in approximately $9.4
million recovered for Idaho taxpayers. Three cases, naming 21 other drug
manufacturers, are still pending. The Attorney General alleges that the defendants in
those cases falsely reported the “average wholesale price” of prescription drugs,
resulting in excessive costs to Idaho Medicaid and Idaho taxpayers.

In 2010, the Attorney General recovered $5,920,578 in restitution, the second

largest amount ever recovered by the Attorney General’s Office. This equates to
$10.18 for each taxpayer dollar appropriated for consumer operations. For the past
20 years, Idaho’s Attorneys General have recovered more money for Idaho residents
and businesses than the Legislature has appropriated from the General Fund for
consumer protection operations. The Attorney General also recovered $536,237 in
civil penalties, fees and costs.

In addition, the state received $25,989,570 in 2010 pursuant to the tobacco Master
Settlement Agreement (MSA) negotiated between the Office of the Attorney General
and tobacco manufacturers in 1998. To date, the state has received $280,569,373
under the MSA.

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division logged 13,734 instances of

consumer assistance in 2010. Of those consumer contacts, 1,312 contacts were

http://www.ag.idaho.gov/media/newsReleases/2011/nr_02222011.html 3/19/2011
News Release - Mortgage Issues Dominate 2010 Consumer Complaint List Page 2 of 2

consumer complaints. In 2010, Idaho consumers reported losses of $2,715,621. The

remaining 12,422 consumer contacts consisted of receiving information from
consumers, responding to consumers’ requests for information and forms, and
answering consumer inquiries about particular businesses.

The Attorney General transferred $6,084,700 in unspent consumer protection

account funds to the General Fund during fiscal year 2010. The Attorney General has
transferred $14,539,129 to the General Fund from the consumer protection account
since fiscal year 2000.

Read the Attorney General’s annual consumer protection reports for 2010 and
previous years.

Listen to the news conference.

- End -

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http://www.ag.idaho.gov/media/newsReleases/2011/nr_02222011.html 3/19/2011