Beware Out of State Loan Modification Companies Soliciting Chapter 13 Filers
Recently, a mortgage modification company from outside the area has been soliciting Chapter 13 bankruptcy filers in Philadelphia and Allentown with an offer of modifying their mortgage.
Getting a mortgage modification after a Chapter 13 case is filed is tricky enough, if the Chapter 13 plan authority been confirmed, it requires permission from the court to modify the mortgage and amend the Chapter 13 plan. Getting this permission is not easy.
This company is based out of Texas, and I’m not going to give them any advertising whatsoever, but you’ll know them when you deal with them. Their salespeople are very good at being salespeople and they pretend to be a law firm, but if you dig through their website they will say that they’re not a law firm and not providing legal advice. That’s a good thing, although I wish they be more up front about it, because if they try to practice law in Pennsylvania without a license, they be violating the law. In my estimation, they are least violating legal ethics and while they say they are not providing legal advice, I’m sure that the State Bar of Texas would take a dim view of this behavior.
If you are in a current chapter 13 plan and you want a mortgage modification, you need to speak to your attorney before signing any papers. As an attorney, I can only do so much to get sure money refunded from the slimy companies like this company in Texas and for one of my client it cost them $1899.
This client is angry with me. I refused to authorize his company to process the mortgage modification. The company claims you don’t need to be an attorney to process a mortgage modification, and they may very well be correct, but they are presenting themselves as a law firm and they are unlicensed, which could mean that my authorization of their services could mean they were working under my license. I don’t know a single lawyer who would agree to that.
I don’t think I’m going to get the clients money back. My best guess is that this firm is to disappear at the first sign of a complaint and reappear as another entity with a similar website and a similar slimy strategy.
Many clients seem to think that a mortgage modification is easy to get after a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed, nothing is further from the truth. In the movie Back to the Future, Marty McFly said the Doc Brown: “you just don’t walk into a store to buy plutonium!” You just don’t call the bank and get a mortgage modification either! It’s a complicated process, a process being made more complicated because banks don’t really want to give modifications but are being pressured by the government. Mortgage modification is a process that an experienced attorney should handle especially within a chapter 13 case.
So before you consider sending a large amount of money to an out-of-state company who promises you the world, think about this: “Can I get the Chapter 13 trustee to prove this modification and an amended plan by myself?” The reason you should ask that question is because if you go behind your attorneys back and do this, they are likely to find a way out of the case, and then you’ll be left with no representation.
For my angry client, they got a happy ending to their case. All they need to do is catch up their chapter 13 plan and they will have a confirmed Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. They don’t have to lose their home.
When you’re ready to stop playing games with the out-of-state mortgage modification companies, call me at 484-661-2891 or e-mail me at jim@padebt911.com to schedule your free, no obligation consultation.
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