By Jeff Curl

With the continuing economic turbulence, underwater properties and struggles to keep homes show no signs of slowing.    As of May 2010, California had 412,605 foreclosure sales on the market.  Judging by the clients walking through the doors, it’s not getting better anytime soon.

My job is to help clients keep their homes and belongings, and get rid of the debt.  For clients with homes, I have lost count of how many clients that are attempting to obtain a loan modification.  Many have given up by the time they get to me.  After Bank of America or Wells Fargo loses their paperwork for the fifth time, they just can’t go through the process again.  Or my favorite is where the bank gives the homeowner a “trial period” where the homeowner pays the agreed amount in a Continue Reading »

By: Jeena Cho

Just in the last 2 weeks, I’ve received at least a dozen or so inquiries from home owners, realtors and others about loan modification. We don’t do loan modification and most San Francisco loan modification attorneys I know has  stopped doing them since new Civil Code Section 2944.7(a)(1) went into effect. In short, the law prohibits receiving money upfront to do loan modification. If anyone requires money upfront to do a loan modification, they are violating this law.

It is unfortunate that the banks seem more willing to take the loss on a foreclosure then to work with the homeowners and work out a loan modification. One solution that has been proposed is to give authority to the bankruptcy judges to modify the mortgage. This legislation has been shot down. It is one of the great ironies that bankruptcy judges can change the terms Continue Reading »