Choose Your Attorney Carefully!

It seems like a real estate lawyer would be the obvious choice to help a homeowner fight a foreclosure, right? Not necessarily! Earlier this week I was asked to accompany a client to a meeting with an attorney. The client is in foreclosure with a sale date two months away.

It became clear right away that this “real estate attorney” had a big ego and knew absolutely nothing about how to help the homeowner fight foreclosure. He was a complete and utter jerk and was not only rude to me, but was condescending to his potential client.

Considering he charged the client $375 for an hour of time, it was appalling that the only advice he had for the client was to resubmit the loan modification package and hope for the best. This was a complete and utter waste of time and money.

Now, I’ve been an insider to the legal industry for a long time, and was fortunate to work with some great lawyers who were good people, so this experience was a real eye opener for me.

I now understand completely why people hate lawyers.

It seems that many of them are just as predatory as the banks, charging a lot of money to push paper around, talk on the phone and never get you anywhere. This is why I’m working to establish a network of attorneys who understand how to fight foreclosure for the homeowner and can get results.

I’m amazed at how many lawyers lack the creativity to help their clients fight foreclosure using all the tools available to them. I’m also shocked at their complete lack of compassion. It seems to me like most of the lawyers out there think that homeowners who lose their homes to foreclosure are a bunch of deadbeats who just don’t pay their bills. This is simply not true!

There are a myriad of reasons why homeowners are losing their homes, but labeling homeowners as deadbeats just shows a lack of understanding for the complexity of the situation.

So, before you hand over any money to a lawyer, ask yourself if you wouldn’t be better served keeping your money in your pocket. Too many people are spending money on attorneys only to find themselves in the same position they were in when the attorney was retained.

Be sure you ask questions about how the attorney’s strategy on fighting foreclosure. Be clear on your expectations: meaningful progress in exchange for the money you’re paying them. This means they should be able to put you into a better position as a result of paying them!

If they’re arrogant and condescending, go find another lawyer. There are lots of them out there! Find one who treats you with respect.

There are quite a few options out there for saving your home, such as loan audits and modifications, short sales, bankruptcies, lawsuits and any combination of these strategies. If you’re in their office for five minutes and they tell you to resubmit a workout package and just hope for the best, they’re a waste of your time and money.

By the way, if you’re an attorney and interested in working with homeowners, please contact me. I’ll teach you everything I know.

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