Questions about...
Foreclosure Help
Foreclosure Assistance
Loan Modification
A Loan Modification Attorney can
Transform your current Mortgage
The Feldman Law Center can negotiate with your current
lender if you are behind on your mortgage & need help.
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Have you suffered a financial hardship?
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Are you a victim of predatory lending?
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Has a foreclosure auction date been set?
* Do you want to avoid a foreclosure on your
credit report for the next 10 years?
Loan Modification Scams
Advance Fees and Loan Modification Services
If you are behind in your mortgage payments, you may be contacted by individuals or companies that will offer to help you work out a loan modification with your lender or provide other services to you in order to help you prevent a foreclosure on your home.
You must be very careful if you are asked to pay for any of these services in advance, whether in cash or by charging your credit card. First, California Civil Code Section 2945, which regulates "foreclosure consultants", forbids anyone, including a real estate licensee, from collecting any advance fees for these types of services if a Notice of Default has been recorded against your property. If your lender has recorded a notice of default, do not pay an advance fee to anyone. There are non-profit agencies that can assist you without charging you a fee and real estate brokers who can represent you for a fee to be paid after they have completed their work. For information on non-profit housing counseling services, use the following links
Federal Housing Administration
If a Notice of Default has not been recorded against your property, it may be permissible for a real estate broker to assist you in working out a loan modification or otherwise negotiate a possible resolution to your problem with your lender or loan servicer and ask you for payment in advance for their services. However, the broker must have you sign an agreement that tells you what services will be performed, when they will be performed and how much you must pay. The broker cannot have you sign an agreement until it has been submitted to the Department of Real Estate for review and the broker has received permission to use it and collect the advance fee.
Before you pay an advance fee to anyone for assisting you, first call the Department of Real Estate at (916) 227-0770 to find out if an advance fee agreement is on file.
