Lawyers can help you with a lot of problems, but fixing your mortgage is not one of them.
Mortgage problems can be solved in three different ways:
- Pay off your delinquent payments.
- Get a modification agreement from your bank.
- Sell your home.
I meet a lot of homeowners with mortgage problems. Many of them tell me “we are working with a lawyer.” You can definitely hire a lawyer who is happy to charge you $350 an hour. Often, they will take a retainer for $3,000 – $5,000, which will buy you about 10-15 hours of lawyer time. I’ve met a lot of people that have delayed the trustee sale of their house for year or more – and it cost them over $10,000 in attorney fees. Lawyers are often able to postpone the trustee sale, sometimes for several months! At the end of the day, the three solutions I listed above are the only ways to permanently solve your mortgage problem. Is it wise to pay lawyers thousands for this service when that money would have been better spent paying their mortgage?!
A while ago I met a homeowner who agreed to meet with me and with his lawyer. The lawyer proceeded to tell me that he has sued mortgage banks for his clients and successfully eliminated their mortgage debt! This was incredible news to me. I have 15 years of experience in this field and I had never heard of a lawyer successfully suing a mortgage bank. I used to run a foreclosed homes department where we took back 150 homes per month and we had never eliminated a mortgage for a homeowner that hired a lawyer, or for any reason. So I asked this lawyer to provide me with any case law examples. He wouldn’t share any. So I researched it online. I found nothing. Then I asked one of my lawyer friends. This one happened to work with a firm that serves as outside counsel for a few of the larger mortgage banks. He confirmed what I already knew: “There has never been a case where a homeowner with a mortgage problem won against a mortgage bank. Never. The laws are written to prevent that.” Hmm, did the lawyer lie to me and his client?
Just recently, this law firm got in trouble for the lies they told distressed home owners. “According to a Courthouse News Service report, Rose “staffed a boiler room full of telemarketers” that were trained to tell lies touting the group’s alleged 98% success rate and special “back door” connections to lenders, as well as provide a false sense of security in leading borrowers to believe they wouldn’t be foreclosed upon if they paid up.” This is just one firm that got caught in San Diego. Imagine all the other law firms that haven’t been caught yet. The men responsible for cheating over 1,000 homeowners face 23 years in prison.
Someone once said, “When you get into a lawsuit, the only people that win are . . . the lawyers.” Win or lose, the lawyer still gets paid. So when a law firm says they can help you with your mortgage problems, what they are really saying is “we’ll postpone your sale date for several thousand dollars.” If that is a valuable service to you, then hire the lawyer. If you would rather have a permanent solution for your mortgage, call a mortgage and real estate specialist. Specifically, call me for a free consultation.
Guess what happened with the homeowner and lawyer I mentioned earlier. The lawyer was able to postpone the sale for over 6 months, but eventually the house went to trustee sale and was taken back by the bank. Hopefully the homeowner didn’t pay th
e lawyer all his money because now he has an eviction to fight (he won’t win that one either).
If you have paid an attorney for modification services, you do have recourse. Contact both agencies below to file a complaint and get your money back.
Office of the Chief Trial Counsel / Intake
The State Bar of California
845 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California 90017-2515
Main Number: 213-765-1000 Complaint Hotline: 800-843-9053
Website: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/
Client Security Fund
State Bar of California
845 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515
Telephone: 213-765-1140
Website: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation/ClientSecurityFund.aspx
If you have a mortgage problem, it’s not all gloom and doom. There are real solutions to your problem that don’t involve paying attorneys. Let’s set up a meeting and figure out the best strategy for your situation. The best part: I won’t ever charge you for my services.