1. In any profession there are good people who do their job well and bad people who take advantage of others. In the matters of unearned fees reported in the Tribune, the problem is the bad people, not the so-called loop-hole in legislation.
2. The consensus among experts including the attorneys at our firm is that modifications are best handled by the homeowner, perhaps with some guidance, rather than any third-party advocate. This is not the same as being a pro se litigant, which we do not advise.

Joseph P McCaffery & Associates has handled hundreds of mortgage foreclosure and mortgage fraud matters.  We do not do modifications, though some of our clients have secured modified mortgage agreements.  We do represent our clients in foreclosure, a process that does not stop just because modification discussions are occurring, to protect their interests during that process.  We have a track record - batting 1000, in fact - in settling foreclosure cases with our clients having no personal deficiency on the loan. This has saved our clients more than $50 million.

When it comes to loan modification, the majority of our clients have found that most modifications simply don’t happen.  A lot of time, effort and frustration is spent with no gain.  While lenders may appear to be negotiating in good faith, few if any of our clients who’ve attempted modification would say that describes their experience.  Furthermore, modification simply adds back-end costs so in the end, homeowners pay more.  With many mortgages already upside-down, i.e., the balance on the mortgage exceeds the value of the home, this is not a winning situation for the homeowner, which is why our firm will continue to handle a foreclosure suit during modification talks, but does not "do modifications."

To quote JPMA Senior Associate Lee Hauserman's foreclosure post of last week , "Most people involve a lawyer when buying a home because of all the complex paperwork.  Do you really think you can understand all of those documents without a lawyer now?"

Our process is straightforward.  We charge an initial retainer, a modest one compared to similar models the media has reported on, to review your paperwork and outline a legal defense strategy that matches each individual situation.  In our perusal of closing documents, assignments and endorsements, we have found that numerous foreclosures - in fact most of those we've recently encountered - are being filed by plaintiffs who have no legal standing to be foreclosing or even to be collecting mortgage payments.  We prepare and file the appropriate court documents to forestall the foreclosure process - remember, the longer a foreclosure matter remains in the courts, the longer our clients can stay in their homes - and as new case law is established in this evolving area of law, there are indications that some of our clients actually may be able to keep their homes without further debt.

We are approaching four years in our mortgage foreclosure practice and, today, one of the very first properties we were retained to protect remains in our client's control.

We also charge a small monthly fee, scaled according to the complexity of the case, during the duration of the matter.  This covers ongoing court appearances and development of additional documents, as well as research into rapidly changing case law.  On this fee scale, our clients may save in excess of $22,000 per year versus paying their mortgage.  As the average foreclosure case we handle takes roughly two years to resolve, our clients have the opportunity for both sound, experienced foreclosure defense representation and to put together a substantial nest egg whether they are able to retain their current home or in preparation for their next home.