"Loan Modifications" is the
next great frontier for the scam artists and fraudsters who populated the sub-prime lending industry.
If you search the internet, you will see many sites which claim to be "Attorney" based. CAUTION: Most of those companies ARE NOT attorney firms.
I am not saying that ALL non-attorney companies in the loan modification business are scammers.
Why might it be important to use an attorney?
(1) Transactional attorneys are well versed in real estate closing law. Youur attorney can perform a forensic analysis of your earlier closing to make sure all rules, Federal and State, were followed in your closing. If the rules were not followed, the attorney can use that information to gain leverage in your modification negotiation, and, in some instances, invalidate the earlier loan.
(2) Attorneys are required to be LICENSED BY THE STATE IN WHICH THEY PRACTICE.
Most have online sites with Member Directories where you can search to determine IF the attorney is admitted to practice AND whether the attorney is in Good Standing, Suspended or Disbarred.
The information let's you know you are dealing with a LICENSED ATTORNEY, IN GOOD STANDING. They are not likely to risk their attorney license by defrauding consumers. There is always a very effective complaint process with the State Bars if you feel you have been wronged by your attorney.
(3) Attorneys are required to maintain client trust accounts. This means you will know WHERE your money is and that it is subject to the law relative to attorney escrow accounts.
Consider your options:
(1) You can attempt the loan modification on your own. In fact, we will provide you on this site links to everything you might need to manage your own modification. The only problem I see with that approach is you will be required to spend a considerable amount of time getting educated on the law and the language used in real estate closings, mortgages and modifications.
(2) You can work with a non-profit service. While there are a number of good non-profit services out there, they are often overwhelmed with those seeking FREE assistance.
(3) You can hire a non-attorney company. A BIG question should be, will you be able to reach them AFTER you have given them your money? Check out a lot of these companies websites. Do you see the name of ANY person there that you can verify? That is licensed by the state?
(4) You can hire an attorney firm with REAL ATTORNEYS that you can verify with the State Bar. CAVEAT: Make sure the firm you hire is versed in real estate law and modifications.
As time goes by, we will provide you with more specific information in links to be contained below, including information to assist you in handling your own loan modification, if you so choose.
