Many homeowners right now are facing foreclosure. I came across this article at Examiner.com in which one victim tells her story of mortgage fraud.
This lady got into a mess with a loan modification. She opted for the modification to prevent falling behind on her payments or have her credit ruined. In the end she ended up some $7000 delinquent in her payments.
One thing that we all need to understand is that contracts are drafted by attorneys. When you sign any contract (especially those ‘standard’ contracts), that document was drawn up on behalf of the other party by their attorney. The fact is that the attorney was working for the other side, not you.
This is why it is so important to have contracts reviewed by an attorney on your behalf. You probably know someone who has been burnt by signing a contract. Balloon payments immediately come to mind. How many people do you know that bought a car and found out when they got around to those final payments that the payment had skyrocketed? Maybe it has happened to you?
Had an attorney for the buyer reviewed that contract, the balloon payment would have been revealed by the buyers attorney along with any other hidden surprises. Perhaps I shouldn’t say hidden because it is spelled out in that contract somewhere but most of us don’t read the complete contract or we read it and act like we know what it means. We don’t want to look stupid.
Not understanding a contract does not make you stupid, it simply means that you are not an attorney. You just don’t have the needed training and education to understand it, an attorney does. Wouldn’t it be smarter to have someone who does understand review it for you and then tell you what you are getting ready to legally agree to?
pplcheryl63 
Thanks for the good advise Cheryl… your right that attorney is working for the OTHER side!. What a nightmare that poor gal went through. I would of been pulling my hair out.
It has been about a year and a half… I wonder what the out come was? Probably not in her best interest I would guess.
Thanks for the info…
Cindy
I hope it was resolved in her favor. At least they did admit to the mistake…finally. But if she had known from the beginning the requirements she could have opted for another avenue or done something else.
Really sad. Sometime life hit on us badly that things may run out out our control. Hope things are going to be better.
That is a fact Madok which is why we need to rethink the role of the attorney in our lives. For most of us we only think we need an attorney for a handful of issues, Criminal arrests, bankruptcy, family law or wills when in truth life today is a series of legal issues one after another. We just don’t recognize that. We are still thinking only of those few areas that I mentioned.
This is unfortunate; it seems as though someone could have told her to have the contract looked at – by another attorney – rather than just accepting the professional word of that first attorney. This is not too different from when we go for a second opinion concerning serious health issues, that second opinion my bring about new questions we may never have thought of before.
You never know what an attorney will find in a contract. Sometimes we look right at it and don’t notice.
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Thank you! Hopefully the information is helpful you to someone that you know
Hi Cheryl,
Unfortunately, stories like the one you linked to are everywhere, and sadly the situations are rarely resolved to the homeowner’s benefit. I’ve not gone through the loan modification process myself — mostly because of horror stories like this one. Like many, I have fallen behind in the past. In my case, I was three months behind. I eventually was able to catch up, but not before being hit with outrageous attorney fees which nearly doubled the amount that was due. I have no problem with paying attorney fees, per se, but it’s criminal that they are allowed to gouge people who are already in untenable situations.
To your point about getting input from your own attorney, I agree. But your example of an auto purchase doesn’t seem to fit, as I’ve never seen a prospective buyer enter a showroom with their attorney in tow.
Ray
It fits perfectly. You have the right to have any document reviewed by an attorney before you sign it. So when the salesman places that contract in front of you, simply fax it to your attorney for review. Members of LegalShield do this and several have been saved from Balloon payments embedded in the contract. One member even saved a significant amount on Dealer Prep once his attorney explained exactly what Dealer prep was.
The thing is that any contract you sign has been drawn up by an attorney hired by the auto dealer or mortgage company to favor the attorney’s client. You are not that attorney’s client so you need your own attorney to protect your interests, no matter how insignificant you think the ‘standard contract’ is.
Good addition. This is just the stuff on the subject that I was looking for! Thank you!
You’re welcome