Alabama Loan Modification Lawyer
Do you need help with a loan modification, but don’t know who you can trust?
First, DO NOT pay anyone who wants large amounts of money up front to help you with a loan modification. Many of the “modification specialists” will ask for $1,000 or more up front to help you with a modification. This is illegal. And these people have no motivation to help you once they’ve been paid.
Furthermore, they aren’t attorneys.
They cannot do anything that you cannot do yourself. While some of them do have staff that are trained and familiar with the HAMP guidelines, the fact remains that if the mortgage companies don’t deal with you according to the rules, only a licensed attorney can take them to court to account for their actions. And even the ones that seem legitimate break the law. In 2011, Congress prompted the FTC to issue a powerful regulation to address the serious abuse that these foreclosure rescue scams were working on desperate homeowners. Here are some things that loan modification assistance companies are NOT ALLOWED TO DO:
- Charge you up front. If they’re asking for money up front, they’re breaking the law and they are a scam. Some of them claim to be exempt from the law because they have ‘attorneys’ working for them. Don’t buy this. Real attorneys are exempt from the rule, but only if they’re a) licensed in the homeowner’s state, b) hold all funds in the attorney’s trust account until earned.
- Promise to stop a foreclosure. They cannot guarantee any result they cannot control, and as I’ve written before, the ONLY way to stop a foreclosure without bank consent is Bankruptcy or a court injunction.
- Pretend to be affiliated with a nonprofit, government agency, attorney, or anyone else. They cannot claim to be a law firm if they are not a law firm.
- Promise to deliver legal services. Most of these outfits are operated and staffed by non-lawyers who do all of the ‘work’ provided. To try and get around laws prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law, they’ll associate “local co-counsel” to periodically review files, but provide no real advice or direct client contact. This is NOT legal representation, and if they’re claiming to be a law firm or to provide legal representation, they’re lying to you and breaking the law.
They break these rules all the time, and they usually get away with it. If you’ve deal with shady loan modification assistance companies before, call a lawyer to get your money back.
Furthermore, the total cost of most of these services can amount to over $4,000. For far less than that, you can hire a licensed attorney to review your HAMP application and help you understand the process. And if the mortgage companies treat you unfairly, you won’t be facing them alone.
Finally, you need to beware of the huge number of foreclosure prevention SCAMS out there. A lot of these people are just out to take your money and don’t do anything for you. They’ll say “Pay us instead of your mortgage company,” and they just pocket your mortgage payment and hope that you’ll forget about it once you get a loan modification. If you’ve been screwed by a loan modification or foreclosure rescue scam, give me a call.
If you have questions about the HAMP program or if you’ve been wrongfully denied a loan modification, call me at 251.272.9148.
"Licensed in Alabama and Texas. We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. The use of this website DOES NOT establish an attorney-client relationship between Judson E. Crump, PC and you."