Posts Tagged ‘loan modifications’

Wells Fargo & Company said it continues to use the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other modification programs to prevent foreclosures in communities across the country. Nearly half a million Wells Fargo loan customers were provided with mortgage payment relief through active trial and completed modifications in 2009. As of Dec. 31, 2009, the company reported 118,708 active trial and completed Home Affordable Modifications, including 8,424 completed modifications, and approximately 350,000 non-HAMP modifications.Read more

The California State Bar said today it shut down the loan modification businesses of two men for allegedly lying to consumers about being supervised by attorneys. The bar, which acted with the Orange County Superior Court in this case, has worked with other state and local officials to crack down on companies promising homeowner aid but not delivering it.

The bar alleges Curtis Melone of Huntington Beach and Christopher Fox of Redondo Beach promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their properties but did nothing.

An attorney for the men was not immediately available for comment.

They can argue their case at a hearing tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Department 31 of the Orange County Superior Court. Their operations were halted on Dec. 21.

The duo operated under the names Guardian Credit Services, Green Credit Solutions, Green Credit Services, Erickson Law Group, Green Credit Law and PacWest Funding. A Web search indicates the companies were based primarily in Foothill Ranch and Irvine.

Here’s more from the bar:

After working with the California Department of Justice, the California Department of Real Estate and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, State Bar investigators and prosecutors seized client files, terminated phone and computer services and posted notices to clients and the public about the shutdown. All officers, principals and employees of the businesses were ordered to cease and desist from holding themselves out as attorneys.
Since last March, the State Bar has aggressively sought to stop loan modification fraud by lawyers and to shut down the offices of people offering foreclosure services who represent themselves as lawyers. Thirteen attorneys have resigned in the wake of investigations by the State Bar Task Force on Loan Modification and six businesses have been closed.
Section 6126.3 of the Business and Professions Code gives authority to a superior court, on its own motion or upon application of the State Bar, to assume jurisdiction of the business of a person who is not a lawyer. Assumption of a law practice by a Superior Court is based upon the court finding that a person has engaged in the practice of law without being an active member of the State Bar or otherwise authorized to practice in California and that the interest of a client or interested person or entity will be prejudiced if the court does not assume jurisdiction.

MORE LOAN MOD STORIES…

Post from: Mortgage Insider

Three separate Superior Court lawsuits have been filed in Kennebec County, Maine, against out-of-state businesses and their principals: Elect Group, LLC, Anthony Ferlanti and Emmanuele Zuccarelli (Florida); Help Modify Now Debt Solutions, Inc., Help Modify Now, Inc. and Chas Bain (California and Nevada); US Advocate Law Group, P.C. and Jeff Nemerofsky (California).

These lawsuits allege that the defendants used deceptive and unfair practices in marketing so-called “debt settlement” services, in the form of foreclosure rescues and mortgage modifications, and that they failed to register as debt management services under Maine law. The suits seek the recovery of fees paid by Maine consumers to these defendants, as well as civil penalties and costs.

The defendants allegedly charged Maine consumers more for their debt settlement services than allowed for by Maine law. The State alleges that the defendants’ illegally high upfront charges ranged from $1,000.00 to $4,300.00. Maine law prohibits debt management service providers from charging more than a $75 set-up fee and for charging more than 15% of the amount by which the consumer’s debt is reduced as part of each settlement. The State also alleges that the defendants misrepresented the benefits of their programs to consumers and refused to provide refunds when consumers asked for them after the defendants failed to prevent foreclosure. As a result, many Maine consumers found themselves in more dire financial straits than they were before they engaged the defendants.

Maine’s Debt Management Services Act requires that providers of debt management services register with the Superintendent of the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and obtain a $50,000 surety bond for the protection of consumers. The defendants named in the recent lawsuits have never registered nor have they procured the required surety bond.

The three lawsuits follow investigations conducted by staff in the Attorney General’s Office and at the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection within Maine’s Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, which licenses debt management service providers.

Superintendent Will Lund of the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection stated that his agency has filed Cease & Desist Orders against 19 separate unlicensed debt management providers in the past 6 months, and that his staff has recovered more than $25,000 in restitution for Maine consumers during that time.

Attorney General Janet Mills and Superintendent Lund advise homeowners facing foreclosure that they now have a right to mediate with their lenders during the court proceedings. Homeowners should not hesitate to ask for mediation; this is an informal opportunity to resolve a foreclosure problem under the guidance of a court-approved mediator.

“A person’s home is not just their largest financial asset; it is the bedrock of their family, their anchor in the community, their children’s future and their legacy. These foreclosure rescue schemes take advantage of people threatened with foreclosure by demanding large upfront fees and doing little or nothing in return,” said Attorney General Mills.

“I am pleased to join a national effort to protect homeowners from unfair and deceptive practices. Maine homeowners need to know that there is legitimate help for those concerned about foreclosure. I encourage Maine consumers to talk to Maine registered non-profit counselors and to avoid paying fees to any entity without checking the state’s registry. Many times a homeowner can negotiate on their own without paying any fees to a debt management company. The money spent on these ‘debt solution’ services is better spent on paying down debt and negotiating with banks and other creditors,” Mills stated.

“We hear every week from consumers who have found unlicensed companies on the Internet and who have sent funds to those companies without receiving any benefit,” Superintendent Lund commented. “We will continue to work with the Attorney General and other partners to stop violations of laws and to protect the public,” he said.

Homeowner Toolbox Inc. is helping homeowners wade through the complexities associated with the loan modification process and teaches users how to avoid the roadblocks that prevent consumers from getting a modification. Most homeowners are unaware that they can be denied for being off by even $10 from their lender’s unique “sweet spot.” To arm homeowners with this inside knowledge, the company has introduced a proprietary tool called the Probability Meter that accurately predicts the likelihood of a positive lender modification.Read more

ModPilot, created by a team of loan modification attorneys, expert lender negotiators and consumer rights advocates, and been released and is designed to help homeowners easily and successfully negotiate the loan modification process. “The time to obtain your loan modification is now,” said Matthew Smith, founder of ModPilot. “Many lenders are offering extraordinary drops in interest rates and, on occasion, even forgiving principal if the application is submitted correctly.”Read more

Senior Obama Administration officials met with top executives from servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable loan modification program to discuss ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the program. The meeting, led by Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael S.Read more

Mortgage Cadence Inc., a provider of Enterprise Lending Solutions (ELS) for the financial services industry, has been selected by Pittsburgh-based Urban Settlement Services to replace their primary analytic and document solution. Urban Settlement, through their Home Retention work, has become an industry leader in helping families keep their homes, processing more than 600,000 loan workouts in 2008 and projecting volumes of 300,000 per month towards the latter half of 2009.Read more

(Update: D.A. declines to comment.)

Investigators with the Orange County district attorney early Thursday morning searched three Ladera Ranch homes believed tied to a foreclosure rescue scam.

Agents served search warrants on two homes on Roshelle Lane and one on Merrill Hill. The homes are connected to Terence Green Sr. and Stefano Marrero of Home Relief Services and Christopher Diener of the Diener Law Firm. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt. Home on Roshelle.)

The three men were not immediately available for comment.

Attorney General Jerry Brown last week said he has filed suit against the men, alleging that they charged homeowners $4,000 in upfront fees and then failed to get them cheaper payments on their home loans.

Brown also charged that the companies sometimes promised to arrange a short sale — when a lender agrees to accept less than the debt owed on a property — but instead attempted to use customers’ personal information for the companies’ own benefit.

The District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. After getting an anonymous tip, a Register photographer took photos of agents entering the homes.

Alan Gordon, assistant chief trial counsel of the California State Bar, confirmed that the Orange County district attorney and some other agencies served search warrants today. He said the bar has been “working closely with several agencies” investigating potential loan mod scams.

Earlier in the week, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told a group of community leaders that his office is expanding investigations into real estate fraud.

Elizabeth Henderson, an assistant district attorney who spoke at the same event in Garden Grove, said 30% of the cases handled by the office’s major fraud unit are tied to real estate, up from an average 10% in past years. Here’s more of what I wrote about her talk and subsequent interview:

The district attorney has two prosecutors, two investigators and a paralegal focused just on real estate fraud, she said.

The real estate squad is paid for, at least partially, with money from a $3 fee on the filing of certain real estate documents that was approved by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

Henderson was more blunt in her speech and in a later interview.

“We want to send people to jail,” she said.

The issue is not just that someone might lose $2,000 or more, but that his or her house proceeds to foreclosure while the homeowner waits for help that never comes, Henderson said.

Defrauding just one person could translate to a maximum penalty of three years in prison for grand theft, she said. Subsequent victims could add eight months to a sentence per person. Loan modification scammers could be committing other crimes, such as fraud, practicing without a license, and breaking rules tied to call centers.

More from this blog…

• These O.C. homes are about to be repo’d
• Democrats renew push for Consumer Finance Agency
• District Attorney steps up real-estate fraud investigations
• O.C. foreclosure starts climb as inland may be hitting bottom
• Foreclosure flip
• Fed plans to raise rates … in distant future
• When will these foreclosures hit the market?
• House committee votes to extend home-loan limits
• Bank failures in perspective
• Buyers dominate foreclosure auction

Post from: Mortgage Insider

Lender Processing Services Inc., a provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage and real estate industries, has announced the release of Home Affordable Modification Program (HMP) functionality for its LPS Desktop Loss Mitigation application. LPS Desktop Loss Mitigation is a component of the Web-based LPS Desktop enterprise workflow solution that enables servicers to streamline business processes and manage documents and invoices online.Read more