COMMONWEALTH RANTING

Much has been said about Commonwealth Adoptions International. The Arizona Attorney General has filed a complaint on this particular agency. Some of the employees of this agency have since been transferred to Gladney Adoption Services out of Tampa. In fact, opening the same office in Tampa as Commonwealth operated out of. I wonder if Gladney realizes who exactly they are working with. Do they realize how badly these folks hurt the adoptive parents. I do know that this agency did not give the prospective adoptive parents a choice in which agencies that they were being transferred to. Are you sweating it yet, Marina? I hope so. It should teach all of you that you can't live high on the hog at the expense of others.

Here is the current articles on Commonwealth Adoptions International:

Here is the link for this one:

The international adoption agency shut down earlier this year after it was denied the accreditation required by many countries to place their children with foreign families.

The Attorney General said in a news release that Commonwealth engaged in a pattern of misrepresentation and deceptive practices when it offered domestic and foreign adoption services to families.

The company entered contracts with families and claimed it would provide adoption services in exchange for fees. Instead, Commonwealth pooled the money, using cash paid by one set of parents to pay for other families' adoptions, the lawsuit says.

More than 20 families asked for refunds when Commonwealth failed to provide those services, but after going out of business the agency said the money had already been used for other families' adoptions, according to the attorney general.

Commonwealth had offices in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as in Tucson at 1585 E. River Road.

The agency learned in July that it had been denied accreditation required by the Hague Convention — a treaty that governs international adoption, signed by the United States and nearly 75 other countries. The aim of the treaty, which went into effect April 1, is to prevent the illegal trafficking of children and to ensure that international adoption is in the best interest of the child.

Consumers who feel they were defrauded by Commonwealth should contact the Arizona Attorney General's Office Consumer Information and Complaint division in Tucson at 628-6504, in Phoenix at 602-542-5763 or toll-free outside of Maricopa or Pima County at 800-352-8431.

Here is another one with the story below:

The state accused a Tucson-based international adoption agency of consumer fraud Tuesday, claiming in a lawsuit the company failed to refund nearly $215,000 to adopting families.
Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc. shut down earlier this year after it was denied the accreditation required by many countries to place children with foreign families.
Families who had already begun the adoption process, some of whom paid thousands of dollars, were denied repayment, documents filed in Pima County Superior Court show.
Commonwealth President Marina Mayhew, Director of Operations Dawn Hill and board members Jim Sellers, James Mayhew, Dan Bish and William Hundelang are each named in the lawsuit.
Mayhew said in an e-mail that Commonwealth was surprised by the accusation and that the company has been working with families so they wouldn't be affected by the closure.
According to the complaint filed by Attorney General Terry Goddard, Commonwealth engaged in a pattern of misrepresentation and deceptive practices when it offered domestic and foreign adoption services to families.
The company entered contracts with families and claimed it would provide adoption services in exchange for fees. Instead, Commonwealth pooled the money, using cash paid by one set of parents to pay for other families' adoptions, the lawsuit says.
More than 20 families asked for refunds when Commonwealth failed to provide those services, but after going out of business the agency said the money had already been used for other families' adoptions, according to the attorney general.
In the e-mail, Mayhew said she hadn't seen the complaint.
The agency learned in July that it had been denied accreditation required by the Hague Convention — a treaty that governs international adoptions, signed by the United States and nearly 75 other countries. The aim of the treaty, which went into effect April 1, is to prevent the illegal trafficking of children and to ensure that international adoption is in the best interest of the child.
"We have been working on transitioning families to other adoption professionals since that time," Mayhew said. "At present, out of 340 families in process at the time of (the) closing announcement, the overwhelming majority have been transferred to other adoption agencies without interruption or having to pay additional fees."
The agency has sought consultation from a bankruptcy attorney but has postponed filing for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, Mayhew said. The company put off filing so its volunteer staffers could continue transitioning families to other agencies, she said. Commonwealth had been in business for 15 years and successfully processed more than 2,000 adoptions, Mayhew said.
Commonwealth had offices in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as in Tucson at 1585 E. River Road.