During the Great Recession, families across the country were losing their homes, reeling from predatory lending in the subprime mortgage crisis. Gonzalo Arteaga, his wife and four children were among them, with $100 in the bank and more than half a million dollars in debt.
Arteaga said he turned to Cory Briggs, a high-profile San Diego lawyer, who said he’d help for free. In the end, the only one who walked away with anything of value was Briggs.
“Instead of him helping me,” Gonzalo said, “he put me in the ground.”