Comments on: Florida Bar Ethics Alert: Providing Legal Services to Distressed Homeowners

By: clara

clara — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:42:24 +0000

Has anybod dealth with National foreclosure Counseling Services, that has had a positive outcome,

I live north of Florida and received their “promising letter” and gave them a call.

It’s been several months, and I have no answers.
Any comments?

By: Linda Gill

Linda Gill — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:12:55 +0000

We talked with this FHA all day back in February of ‘09. We sent them a check for $2,500.00. They were always good about calling me back when I had questions about how the process of my home modification was coming along. They asked for ‘07 and ‘08 tax returns along with recent paycheck stubs and we were stupid enough to fax those documents to them. The last time I talked to anyone was about three weeks ago. She said our information was just sent to our lender two days earlier. Now it seems they have dropped off the radar.I’m 60 years old and I have never been so completely blindsided in my whole life. I also asked this last person I talked to if I could have my money back because the process was taking so long and she said we don’t have your money.
END OF STORY!!! SO LONG $2,500.00!!!

DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS SCAM!!!!

By: Anthony E. Ortego, Esq.

Anthony E. Ortego, Esq. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:57:42 +0000

Jose and others,

You should not pay a fee up-front for services from any company in reference to assitance with a loan modification.

A lawyer may ask for an upfront REFUNDABLE “retainer” (and is allowed to do so, so long as it is NOT non-refundable in a case of distressed homeowner) which is not earned by them and should sit in an escrow account (still belonging to you, but held in trust by the attorney) until the attorney has completed the services for which they contracted with you. This retainer is security for the attorney that the money is there once he/she has completed work and earned the fees, but as with any refundalbe retainer or money in escrow, the money still belongs to you until the attorney completes the work and earned the fees. If they do not earn the fees by completing the work, the money should be returned to you.

To research whether or not any attorney is practicing in the state of Florida and in good standing with the Florida Bar (the attorney regulating organization) visit their website at http://www.flabar.org and Search for Attorney. This will show you if your attorney is actively licensed to practice in the state of Florida.

Additionally, to see who owns a company in Florida, you can visit http://www.sunbiz.org and search for company name, and this will show you the owners, officers, registered agent for the company and when the company was formed, along with other information.

It is all public information and free, so use it to feel comfortable about decisions you are making. It is always good practice to “shop around” and visit a few attorneys and ask questions. Many attorneys provide a free initial consultation to hear your case and give you some information about what options you have available.

Good luck to you!

Regards,
Anthony E. Ortego, Esq.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:51:06 +0000

Brian..

does that really constitute a scam? It’s a shame that people are so quick to dismiss everything without the proper research..

believe it or not, there ARE real companies out there getting real results for clients in distress.. absolutely there are scams, but understand that for every scam there IS a legitimate process in which the scammers are mimmicking.

good day (sry for grammer )

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:54:03 +0000

Be very wary about companies that claim to have attorneys that work with them. If you do not meet the attorney, or at least directly talk, you are not dealing with an attorney. The best solution is to find a local attorney and visit the office.

By: jose

jose — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:24:17 +0000

I am look at a company to do business with It is called Loan Assistance Of america atty at law and are located in Jupiter,Fl.. Can you tell me if they are legit before I proceed. They say they have an atty who owns the company. his name is Mr. Portner.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:09:33 +0000

this company is a scam!!! i almost paid them to modify my loan but they just didnt add up after some research and checking aroud. I called there so called lawyer barry hall and had him call me at my house and he called me from a florida number when he was suppose to be in new york!!! these guys are crooks dont give them a dime!.

By: Cecil

Cecil — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:58:40 +0000

I recently purchased a forclosed home in broward county, Florida.Turned out that the title agent (strangely) used the wrong tax year amount in the closing statement and the amount was considerably lower than the actual tax amount.
I bought the house in late August of 2008 and in Florida taxes are payed at the end of the year. There was no way for the agent not to know what the actual taxes would be, because the Tax Appraisal Office publishes the assessment of properties at the beginning of the year.
Needless to say when the tax bill went to the lender at the beginning of the year, they payed the total taxes for 2008 and escrowed that shortage to my mortgage. In addition, the further escrowed for the 2009 taxes.
I was more than shocked when I got a my mortgage statement from the bank showing an increase in my payment from $1283 a month to $1927 per month. I contacted Countrywide, my lender for some explanation about the sudden and to say the least drastic change in my payments.
You see, Countrywide never provided me with any information that explained the substantial increase in payments. It was after my own frustrating efforts that I was able to discover the nature of the problem. After numerous discussions and negotiating with them, they agreed to spread out the 2008 tax shortage over a five year period which lowered the payments by $300.
So essentially, I am paying $58 a month on taxes that should have been paid by the seller. Despite the reduction of my payments based on the spreading out of the 2008 escrow,this was still not enough to bring the payments to a more manageable amount as it was. I am still currently paying $1600 plus which represents a full pay check for me or 50% of my take home income each month.
In an effort to avoid further crises and possible default, I have been making every reasonable effort without much success, to negotiate with Countrywide to have my payments reduced either through a refinance or a loan modification. There is much more to this story that time would not allow me to express. However the point of me sharing this experience, is to confirm that not very much has changed with regards to the behavior of lending institutions.
As a matter of information, I have never been late and so this is not an issue. It’s about their bottom line and lack of desire to serve the consumers effectively despite what help they get from the Federal Government.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:13:11 +0000

Hi,Im wondering if anyone has done business with federal home loan solutions located in jupiter FL.Are they ledgitamate? There not on the bbb.They want $2000. to modify my loan.Thanks

By: David

David — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:07:03 +0000

Just a note: I took sometime and reviewed their website @ http://www.fhaallday.com and I noticed that they did not have any real information about who they are and where they are located, in my opinion there is a problem when a company does not put their physical address on their website. Who are they hiding from ????????