State tries to close down LV mortgage business

Brian Seals

Monday, June 29, 1998 | 11:44 a.m.

To the state Division of Financial Institutions, Robert King III is like the Energizer Bunny -- he keeps going and going and going.

Officials say that despite two cease and desist orders issued by the agency, King's All State Financial Group Services remains in business without a required lender's license.

King could not be reached for comment.

The state has filed a complaint in Clark County District Court seeking a declaration that King is operating an unlawful mortgage business and an injunction to prohibit him from continuing. The division became aware of the business in June 1997.

"He doesn't care," Deputy Attorney General Terri Williams said of the cease and desist orders. "He just thumbs his nose at people."

A court date has yet to be set.

Williams said about 10 complaints have been filed against the company.

Some of those involve people who say they canceled loans from All State when they saw the terms.

In some cases, those people allegedly were charged fees for canceling the loan agreement, before they received any money; and King has allegedly placed liens on the property of some loan applicants who have canceled.

Williams did not have a dollar amount of the loans that are sources of complaints. The business is believed to be a one-man operation.

With Southern Nevada's swelling population, complaints about lending practices of some mortgage companies are becoming more common.

"As the state grows, we're getting more of them," Williams said. "It's scary, especially in that it's a business where so many can be harmed."

Numerous problems related to mortgage investments have also caught the attention of Nevada's legislature. Legislative hearings are scheduled Tuesday morning on the state's regulation of mortgage companies. The hearings will be linked via video to sites in Carson City and Las Vegas.