SAN FRANCISCO – Fort Worth, Texas attorney Chance Edward Gordon, slapped with an $8.6 million federal judgment over his loan modification services and who exhibited "outrageous behavior" during an official investigation, has been disbarred following a California Supreme Court order.
The state Supreme Court disbarred Gordon Feb. 20 based on discipline previously recommended by The State Bar of California and ordered Gordon to pay costs.
Gordon was admitted to the bar in California on Dec. 7, 1998, according to his profile at the state bar website.
In 2012, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused Gordon of Consumer Financial Protection Act violations in how he represented financially distressed homeowners during the Great Recession. In December 2016, a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California upheld a lower court's $8.6 million judgment against Gordon
The U.S. Supreme Court the following June declined to hear Gordon's appeal.
The state bar office of chief trial counsel initiated its own investigation in September 2012, according to the State Bar Court's opinion and order issued this past October recommending Gordon's disbarment.
The opinion and order referred to "Gordon’s unsuccessful attempt to avoid the statutory proscription against attorneys receiving advance fees for loan modification services prior to completion of the contracted-for work," in which he "marketed his services nationwide using misleading, false advertising."
Gordon's extensive operation brought in $11.4 million in fees from more than 2,000 clients.
"In carrying out this ruse, he also violated other laws, and all of his misconduct was surrounded by serious aggravating circumstances," the opinion and order said. "During the investigation of his misconduct, Gordon also engaged in outrageous behavior toward State Bar employees."
The outrageous behavior, detailed in the opinion and order, included referring to a state bar investigator and prosecutor as "corrupt," the bar court as a "Kangaroo court" and issuing threats in email and social media posts. In a May 2013 email to one state bar staff member, Gordon allegedly threatened to "find out what is most sacred to you in this world" and then "I will destroy it," the opinion states.
The hearing judge assigned to the case found Gordon culpable of moral turpitude, forming a partnership with a non-lawyer, sharing fees with a non-lawyer, false advertising and failing to comply with laws.