Florida homeowners that get behind on their home mortgage payments aren’t stupid: they fear a foreclosure in their future. Usually they consider asking the bank to make a new deal, with terms that are easier for the homeowner to bear in this harsh economy.
However, dealing with the lender can be hard to do. The bank people can be unfriendly, unfeeling, even intimidating.
Loan Modification Companies Pop Up Everywhere as Foreclosure Rates Rise
There are companies out there that are offering to negotiate with the banks on behalf of struggling homeowners. Loan modification companies market themselves as friendly experts, there to act as an informed middleman between the stressed-out mortgagor and the bank.
Loan modification companies aren’t law firms. They aren’t banks. All too often these days, they’re proving themselves to be unscrupulous. Some are con artists preying on vulnerable homeowners who are trying in good faith to stay in their home and work with their lenders.
Are You a Victim of a Shady Loan Modification Company? Take Action!
What to do if you are a victim of a shady loan modification company? You can sue them. You can file a civil lawsuit for damages under Florida law.
If you didn’t get a lawyer to negotiate that note (a loan modification) with the bank (the best loan modification company you can get is a law firm, after all), then hiring an experienced real estate attorney to go after the loan modification company (and perhaps deal with your bank at the same time) may be a very good idea – depending upon your particular circumstances, of course.
You can also turn the shady loan modification company into the Florida Attorney General because Pam Bondi’s office is actively investigating — and now, prosecuting — these bad guys. Turn them in to the Florida Attorney General’s criminal fraud investigators at www.myfloridalegal.com or call the AG Fraud Hotline at 866-966-7226.
This Week, 3 South Florida Loan Modification Companies Sued by the Florida Attorney General for Fraud
Just this week, the Florida AG has filed a fraud action against 3 South Florida companies, alleging that they were scamming Florida homeowners. Delray Beach companies DC Financial Group, DeLeverage America and Home Owner Protection Economics (HOPE) have been sued.
In the pleadings, the Florida Attorney General is alleging that the Delray Beach companies are owned by Dennis Fischer and Christopher Godfrey, and these two men – wearing the company hats – would call and write Florida homeowners individually as well as paying for advertising on TV, etc. Homeowners would be asked to pay a fee from $495 to $2000 in order to hire these companies to negotiate on their behalf with the banks — and that fee would have to be paid upfront. After that, what did the Delray Beach companies do?
Unfortunately, absolutely nothing.
If something like this has happened to you, don’t procrastinate. Call a lawyer. Call Pam Bondi, too.
