The number of victims
of the mortgage crisis are increasing on a daily
basis and unfortunately includes a group of the
most vulnerable citizens, the retired elderly.
Because the majority of these debtors have paid
off their mortgages, the equity in their
residency was too much temptation for the
unscrupulous mortgage brokers. The
possibility of receiving substantial commissions
for each refinancing inspired multiple
undesirables to convince many elderly
individuals to re-finance their homes.
Because most of these individuals live on fixed
incomes, the brokers misrepresented their income
in the loan application knowing well that the
moment would come when they are unable to comply
with the monthly payment and would face
foreclosure.
It is somewhat ironic
that many of these same licensed scam artists
are the same individuals that advertise loan
modification services. Even though the
Obama Administration has created programs
designed to alleviate the burden on mortgage
debtors, the income limitations of these
individuals in particular make it difficult to
convince a financial institution to reduce the
monthly payment to a level in harmony with their
capacity to pay. I would like to be clear,
however, that it is not impossible to achieve a
loan modification for these citizens, but it is
difficult. It thus requires an experienced
professional and it would be a serious mistake
to hire an individual that is not licensed to
practice law, for various reasons.
First of all, in the
event of predatory lending violations it is possible
to obtain the rescission of the mortgage agreement.
This means that the Court could decree that the
consent offered by the debtor was tainted with fraud
and therefore, the terms of the mortgage agreement
are not enforceable. Secondly, there are
numerous Federal Statutes that confer significant
remedies to victims of mortgage fraud. Third,
only an attorney trained and knowledgeable is
qualified to raise and prove these defenses.
Fortunately, the elderly debtor does have an
advantage of an incalculable value, experience.
Insist on personally meeting the professional that
you are going to hire. Trust your instincts in
the selection process. Your experience has
brought you this far and it should continue to serve
you in the future.
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