The Foreclosure Game is Changing and So Are We

If you’ve been reading my previous posts, you’ve probably picked up that the foreclosure game has changed, at least for us. The court decisions and all the new information I’ve learned in the past few weeks has convinced me that the market has spoken and we’re changing some things to better help you fight foreclosure on your own.

To my frustration, I’ve had a tough time finding lawyers who would even listen to me. I never thought it would be as difficult as it has been. I know one great lawyer in LA who gets it, but beyond that, I haven’t heard from any lawyers out there who understand enough to help homeowners without charging a lot of money. Money that a lot of you just don’t have right now.

So, I’ve heard you! And because it’s obvious to me that there are very few resources out there to help you, we’re changing some things here too.

First of all, we will make BIG announcement on Monday about a new resource we’re launching. This will be the culmination of several things Josh and I have been talking about behind the scenes, so please check back on Monday for that news and a special offer.

Second, Desert Edge Legal Services (my company) is moving away from the loan audit process as we’ve been doing it. We have enough information from the court decisions to know that homeowners aren’t winning based on TILA, RESPA, HOEPA, UCC, RICO, etc.

Thus, it seems to me that the analysis of TILA and RESPA aren’t even needed anymore, so we’re not going to focus on TILA/RESPA at all unless you are working with an attorney who tells you he or she wants one, or you’re going to DIY and you’re current on your house payments. Judges seem to take people more seriously if they aren’t behind on their payments or are represented by an attorney.

I’m actually pretty happy about this development, because audits take a lot of time to complete. In addition, because we have had a lot of trouble finding lawyers who understood how to help homeowners, the loan audit as a tool hasn’t been as useful as I would have liked.

It was the best tool we had in our arsenal and better than nothing, but it’s clear to me that the overwhelming majority of you are facing foreclosure on your own and there are few good resources out there to help you.

So, we’ve decided to expand our services – we are now offering a customized review of your documents and an analysis of the chain of assignment to determine what’s going on in your particular case and how you can fight on your own. If you don’t speak up about what’s happening with the fraudulent MERS assignments and the problems with securitization of your home loans, the courts will let a pretender lender take your house without proving they have authority to do so.

So, if you have a pending Notice of Trustee’s sale and are under the gun to do something sooner rather than later, a loan audit isn’t going to help you – but understanding what is happening with the chain of assignment WILL help you go into a courtroom and stall a foreclosure if the fact pattern is there.

Third, we are going to bring on an attorney in some capacity in the spring that can help some of you with representation or find someone in your area who can help you. It’s been my experience that a lot of attorneys have their egos involved and will not talk to me because I’m a paralegal and not an attorney. However, I will be involved with the training of this attorney and the plan is to help more of you for a reasonable fee. I might be wrong on this, but I still think you have a better shot at winning if you have an attorney who gets it.

Fourth, you’ll start seeing more information from Josh. He’s was behind the scenes mostly in 2009, but demand is picking up, so if you ask us for help, you might get a call back from Josh.

Finally, I’ve been kicking around the idea of going to law school part time here in Phoenix in 2010. I won’t be done in time to help our readers with this crisis, but it’s been bothering me that I haven’t taken that final step  – on some level, I feel like I’ve missed the boat on the foreclosure crisis. On the other hand, I also think things happen for a reason, so it will all work out the way it’s supposed to.

If you need our help, as always, send me an e-mail: Christine@DesertEdgeLegal.com. I will spend fifteen or so minutes on the phone with you to see if I can help you and we’ll go from there.

Stay tuned for Monday’s announcement!

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