Choosing a Mortgage Mitigation Firm

A rapidly ris­ing num­ber of home­own­ers now have a legit­i­mate need for mort­gage relief assis­tance from impend­ing fore­clo­sures, adjustable rate mort­gages, and mort­gage loans with bal­ances higher than their home’s cur­rent value.  As a result, “loan mod­i­fi­ca­tion” com­pa­nies quickly popped up to meet this demand caus­ing state and fed­eral reg­u­la­tors to take strong actions to reg­u­late the indus­try.  The FTC now strictly pro­hibits any non-attorney firm or orga­ni­za­tion from rep­re­sent­ing dis­tressed home­own­ers.  How­ever, there are still com­pa­nies who are tak­ing money from peo­ple in need of real legal assis­tance that are not able to deliver the legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion that a home­owner fac­ing dif­fi­cul­ties truly needs.  Your home is one of your most valu­able assets.  Hav­ing an attor­ney rep­re­sent­ing you, who has lengthy expe­ri­ence in mort­gage mitigation, maximizes your abil­ity to suc­cess­fully nego­ti­ate a last­ing solu­tion.  Choos­ing wisely when it comes to legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion is an impor­tant deci­sion for you and your fam­ily. 

Don’t take chances! Do your home­work to make sure that you are work­ing with a law firm that is capa­ble of deliv­er­ing on their promises and a law firm that you can trust. You should con­sider the fol­low­ing ques­tions before enter­ing into an agree­ment with a loan mod­i­fi­ca­tion company:

Who will be per­form­ing the actual ser­vices?  Is it a law firm, a bro­ker, or an inde­pen­dent pro­cess­ing company?

Only a law firm is bound by a tight set of legal and eth­i­cal rules that bro­kers and oth­ers do not have to fol­low. You should always con­duct a thor­ough back­ground check before you give money to any­one who offers to mod­ify your loan.  Law firms typ­i­cally have advan­tages over other types of com­pa­nies and your results can vary greatly depend­ing on who is rep­re­sent­ing you.  You should also be sus­pi­cious of any com­pany that is not a law firm who attempts to col­lect up front fees.  In most states, only a law firm is per­mit­ted to col­lect up front fees for mort­gage mit­i­ga­tion and fore­clo­sure defense services.

How long has the firm or com­pany been per­form­ing mod­i­fi­ca­tions and can they show you a suc­cess­ful track record?  Do they pro­vide other legal services?

You should only deal with a law firm that has exten­sive expe­ri­ence in real estate law and finan­cial hard­ship mat­ters. Only an attor­ney can effec­tively act on behalf of a home­owner who has received a Notice of Default.

Is the com­pany licensed and bonded?

Do not deal with any­one who is not licensed by the state and bonded.

Is there a writ­ten con­tract that spells out exactly what the com­pany will do?

You must receive full dis­clo­sure, prior to mak­ing a com­mit­ment, about all actions that will be taken on your behalf.  Make sure that all ver­bal com­mit­ments for ser­vice are rep­re­sented in a writ­ten agreement.

Does the com­pany have a Depart­ment of Real Estate approval to col­lect fees for loan modification?

If you are deal­ing with a com­pany that has not been cer­ti­fied to col­lect upfront fees, you should be sus­pi­cious of their status.

What kind of eval­u­a­tion is per­formed to deter­mine the via­bil­ity of your case BEFORE any money is accepted?

Your spe­cific sit­u­a­tion and objec­tives should always be reviewed by an expe­ri­enced and knowl­edge­able attor­ney before a deci­sion is made to pro­ceed with rep­re­sen­ta­tion. An eth­i­cal firm or com­pany will not accept a case unless it meets the basic cri­te­ria for a suc­cess­ful mod­i­fi­ca­tion.  This can­not be deter­mined with­out some pre­lim­i­nary eval­u­a­tion of your case!

Does the firm or com­pany guar­an­tee spe­cific results?

If any com­pany guar­an­tees you spe­cific results, you should dis­en­gage imme­di­ately. No legit­i­mate com­pany can guar­an­tee what a lender will or will not do and each case is a sep­a­rate mat­ter with its own particulars.

Does the com­pany pro­vide reg­u­lar updates on the progress of your mod­i­fi­ca­tion after the process starts?

What you should expect from your mort­gage relief assis­tance provider should be spelled out in your con­tract.   An effec­tive law firm or com­pany will pro­vide you with a spe­cific indi­vid­ual, usu­ally a Case Man­ager, who will be your con­tact for ques­tions and updates on your case.

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