Housing Counseling Agencies

Since the existence of mortgages,

there have been the Do Gooder's,

who sincerely wanted to help homeowner's

through their situation.

But, their assistance

came at either at a fee

(which the homeowner couldn't afford)

or with the lack of attorney representation,

which as I sated previously,

usually had the outcome of loss for the homeowner.

These Do Gooder's

didn't amount to much more than a mosquito bite

to the lenders, attorneys and the judicial system.

Sure they won occasionally, but those wins were few and far between.

As time went on,

the Do Gooder's multiplied and became better,

more knowledgeable and stronger.

They became more than a mosquito bite,

they became a force that needed to be dealt with.

Here's the problem;

as everything else in the United States,

when one group grows strong,

another group begins with the sole purpose

to corrupt and exploit the original.

This second group appears the same as the original

and sometimes actually grows bigger than the original.

However, their true intent

is to make money and make money only,

without regard to the homeowners outcome,

welfare, or best interests.

I am not sure,

you will have to determine for yourself,

whether this second group,

whom I call the Scammers; 

• infuriated attorneys by taking their possible potential income 
• infuriated the law-maker attorneys, who then created new laws to stop them and thus looked good to the public for  re-election or re-appointment 
• Or lastly, infuriated the law-maker attorneys to the point that they created new laws to truly protect the public from these Scammers.   

In any case, the new laws were created.

These new laws were created under the guise

of protection for homeowner's,

however,

these same laws crippled most of the efforts

of the Do Gooder's as well,

or as collateral damage.

As loan mitigation specialists,

we have helped homeowner's before inception of the laws,

during inception of the laws,

and are continuing after the inception of the laws.

From what I have seen and experienced,

the laws have NOT successfully stopped the Scammers,

but the laws have definitely impacted

the Do Gooder's ability to perform,

and has actually caused many good companies to close,

leaving homeowner's to fend for themselves.

The law,

which you can read by clicking on

the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act,

states that NO upfront fees can be collected.

The Scammers don't care because they hit,

collect and run before they can get caught.

The Do Gooder's on the other hand

cannot continue to do the business

of helping homeowner's

without funding.

Some companies have tried to exist with a fee due upon the completion of the service contract,

but alas, the human nature part of our society kills that.

After service is completed,

what homeowner is going to come back

and pay for their services.

I will tell you from experience,

less than 30%.

Sure you can turn them to collection,

but now you just became one of the bad guys,

and with collection fees and the time of collection element,

you will simply go broke.

Let's look at the law-makers alternative for you,

approved Housing Counselors.

These approved Housing Counselors

get paid by federal and/or state funding,

some are strong,

some are small and weak.

Regardless of their outcome for you,

they get paid.

My experience with these approved Housing Counselors

is that they are understaffed

and hire employees that have little or no knowledge

of the foreclosure laws or the judicial process.

Most staff members that you will meet

are there for a pay check,

and they are probably making $8.00 to$14.00 per hour.

You are rarely anything more than a number to them,

and that is the service and outcome you can expect in the end.

Remember that they get paid regardless of the outcome.

In the private Do Gooder's sector,

you are a name,

they are your employee,

you will usually get consolement and compassion

in your multiple conversations as your process continues, because they need to work hard,

for and with you, to keep you as a client.

As a final comment on approved Housing Counselors,

Their success rate stinks.

To date, December of 2009,

I have seen success rates as low as 3% with some companies

which just keeps them eligible for federal and state funding,

while in the private sector,

I continue to see success rates above 50% with some companies going as high as 80-90%.

Now I will be the first to grant you

that the companies that are completing 80-90% successfully,

are more than likely cherry-picking their clients.

By this I mean that these companies have a set criteria

to accept clients that will more than likely

lead to a successful conclusion.

I have discussed just about every aspect of how attorneys are involved in the foreclosure system,

now I am going to discuss why all of a sudden

attorneys want to help homeowner's.

Like I stated earlier,

attorneys have not grown a conscience

and they have not turned charitable,

this is simple economics.

With the inception of the new laws in 2007,

the Do Gooders are closing up

and the attorneys see a payday!

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