Comments on: Mortgage Modification: Avoiding the Traps http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/12/31/mortgage-modification-avoiding-the-traps/ Loan Business News, Information, and Consumer Education Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:43:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: S Landrum http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/12/31/mortgage-modification-avoiding-the-traps/#comment-4688 S Landrum Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:38:14 +0000 http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/12/31/mortgage-modification-avoiding-the-traps/#comment-4688 I applaud your advice for homeowers to do their homework before commiting themselves to lender. I would like to add that borrowers can also access the DRE website, www.dre.ca.gov, to check on the licensing of the loan officer they are working with to make sure they are in good standing with the DRE. I would also like to mention that any reputable lender will provide a Good Faith Estimate and a Truth in Lending to a borrower within three days of taking an application. Borrowers, Paul is right. Be smart and take precautions with your homeloans. Do your homework! I applaud your advice for homeowers to do their homework before commiting themselves to lender. I would like to add that borrowers can also access the DRE website, http://www.dre.ca.gov, to check on the licensing of the loan officer they are working with to make sure they are in good standing with the DRE.

I would also like to mention that any reputable lender will provide a Good Faith Estimate and a Truth in Lending to a borrower within three days of taking an application.

Borrowers, Paul is right. Be smart and take precautions with your homeloans. Do your homework!

]]> By: PaulMolinaroEsq http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/12/31/mortgage-modification-avoiding-the-traps/#comment-4612 PaulMolinaroEsq Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:47:11 +0000 http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/12/31/mortgage-modification-avoiding-the-traps/#comment-4612 Words from an Opinionated California Lawyer In California, the Department of Real Estate website (www.dre.ca.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 when you seek help in California. Other states probably have similar laws, so check with your own state DRE. 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! Do your homework and THOROUGHLY investigate any firm before hiring them to save your biggest asset and the place you call “home.” These scammers are popping up like dandelions on a freshly mowed lawn. They advertise on the Internet, freeway billboards, radio, television, and print media everywhere. Make no mistake, in many cases, these 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), 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. Of course, this is one lawyer's biased opinion, but one based on many distressing calls to my office every day. And, yes, my firm does take 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. Words from an Opinionated California Lawyer

In California, the Department of Real Estate website (www.dre.ca.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 when you seek help in California. Other states probably have similar laws, so check with your own state DRE.

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!

Do your homework and THOROUGHLY investigate any firm before hiring them to save your biggest asset and the place you call “home.” These scammers are popping up like dandelions on a freshly mowed lawn. They advertise on the Internet, freeway billboards, radio, television, and print media everywhere. Make no mistake, in many cases, these 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), 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.

Of course, this is one lawyer’s biased opinion, but one based on many distressing calls to my office every day. And, yes, my firm does take 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.

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