Crazy Loan Mod marketing bandwagon

A loan modification is not an easy sale.  If anyone thinks that this business is some kind of bonanza like the gold rush. trust me, it is a lot harder than you think.  Operating this business is just like most others, many hours of hard work with commensurate pay.  That is not to say that people don't make good money.  They do.  They have a very well oiled machine with sufficient capital to sustain them since they can't really spend the money collected from the homeowners until after the modification is completed, this can take months.  If you do use the money collected to fund your operations, then you risk being called a scammer that takes peoples money and does nothing - regardless of how many hours you worked on the case.

I support the loan modification industry 100%.  It is a business that requires many hours of hard work and is by no means an easy money proposition for anyone contemplating getting into it  There are plenty of companies that are profiting and those were mostly in business and profiting before the loan mod boom hit and they will still be here when this is all over.

Ted Schmidt

You know you are ripping people off.  You are taking their money and doing what? Calling the bank/servicer just like the borrower would.  When these 3rd parties do call, they often don't have the complete financial picture & don't know all of the info asked.  The people may end up with a plan, but they could get the same plan or a better plan by calling in themselves.  This is an unethical business model that preys upon the weak.  High pressure sales tactics and poor follow thru leads to many sad stories.  I know this for a fact.  Don't be tempted by this new business model - You will become as bad as the greedy mortgage brokers who helped bring on this mess.

I said it before and I say it again... DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE... research the heck out of anyone you plan to hire to save your most valuable asset... your home... my law firm went from two lawyers to six in the last year... and while we do plenty of loan modifications, we are getting really busy suing loan modification scammers... and while we love the business... and it seems self destructive to tell people to watch out for scammers, we will find another source of clients if borrowers wise up and stop getting scammed.

My post:

Words from a Very Outspoken and Opinionated California Litigation Attorney (like there’s any other kind)

Here in California, our Department of Real Estate website (dub dub dub dot dre dot gov) lists the companies that have DRE "permission" to modify loans... add to this list any licensed California attorney, and that is where you should begin your due diligence search when you seek help in California. Other states probably have similar laws, so check with your own state DRE and state bar.

My law firm has been getting more and more calls recently from homeowners that were victims of predatory lenders who put them into an unaffordable loan and now fell into the hands of those same people who sold the toxic loans but profess to be saviors... DON’T BE A VICTIM TWICE! What’s that they say, “Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice, and I’ll sue your butt!”

Do your homework and THOROUGHLY investigate any firm before hiring them to save your biggest asset and the place you call “home.” Scammers are popping up like dandelions on a freshly mowed lawn in April. They advertise on the Internet, freeway billboards, radio, television, and print media everywhere, not to mention spamming your email box with those third-world widows needing someone to receive three million dollars for them. Make no mistake, in many cases, these “loan modification experts” are the exact same loan officers and mortgage brokers who fleeced homeowners the first time around. After losing their jobs with the crash of the mortgage industry, they have found a new way to make ill-gotten profits from hard-working homeowners through loan modifications.

In California, with very few exceptions (and attorneys are one exception… no coincidence there… attorneys make the laws), it is against the law for anyone to take money up front for helping a homeowner who is in default. Don’t trust a company that begins its relationship with you by breaking the law.

HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE!

Hire an attorney – and not just any attorney either - one with experience in mortgage law, not just one with real estate law experience but one with experience in both FEDERAL and STATE litigation against mortgage companies, one who doesn’t also do family law, criminal law, admiralty law, and immigration law as well, one who limits the practice to mortgage law (or at least a great majority of it), one who has the experienced staff, training, and know how to take on the big lenders and their top notch lawyers (lenders have attorneys – and darn good ones – check out their counsel on the web – big names top schools, shouldn’t you have a lawyer too?).

We are not talking about a refund on your broken television here, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars and your HOME – if you don’t think this is the time to hire a highly educated and experienced professional instead of a weekend schooled, almost out of work, broker slash loan officer slash “expensive water in a wine bottle with alleged magical curative powers” salesperson, I don’t know what would make you take things seriously.

Of course, this is one obnoxious lawyer's totally biased opinion, but one based on many many distressing calls to my office every day. And, yes, my firm loves taking cases against loan modification companies who have violated laws. This field is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing sections for our mortgage law firm.

- Paul J. Molinaro, Esq.