2/1/2012 8:01 PM (PST)

Caryn K., Being a legitimate company and being capable of delivering upon your promise are two separate matters. Any one of us can go down to the Civic center, file a fictitious business name, secure a business license, rent an office space, hire reps and turn on the phones. That does not make the method of fee collection legal. Whether the party is an Attorney, Foreclosure Consultant, Real Estate Mortgage Rep or a paralegal, it is ILLEGAL in every State, specifically CA, to charge any upfront fees to homeowners seeking mortgage restructuring under a modification application. If the ultimate goal is to secure a modification then upfront fees are unlawful because the “result” or “approval” has not been extended by the investor or service provider. The reason for this law is in response to the massive amount of fraud committed against homeowners either paying their last dollars to an organization that could NEVER deliver a favorable modification and due to companies providing advice to home owners to intentionally miss mortgage payments and send those funds to secure their service. In most cases, the home owners lost their homes, could not receive refunds and then ruined their credit unnecessarily which made it nearly impossible to rent a residence once they lost their homes. Don't intentionally submit yourself to become a victim of companies that are conducting their business outside the allowances of State and Federal law. Attorneys are not exempt from this rule. They demand payment and desperate home owners trusting the Attorney would not victimize them have paid the fees only to learn nothing was done and they are in a worse position than before they hired the Attorney. Every state has to comply with FTC MARS Regulation 16, which definitively restricts Attorneys, Mortgage representatives and Foreclosure consultants from taking upfront fees for anything - loan audits, evaluations, modifications, processing fees, Deed in Lieu negotiations, lien settlements, etc. If you would like a FREE evaluation without any obligation, please call me otherwise good luck in your continued search for assistance. I look forward to speaking with you soon! Dinece Carmichael Trabuco Canyon Realty Specialists Toll Free: 877-557-8747; has voicemail option Fax: 877-701-1033 Email: TrabucoCanyonRealty@gmail.com Office Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Mon-Sun) Website: www.TrabucoCanyonRealtySpecialists.com LINKEDIN SITE: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dinece-carmichael/39/276/597