The Real Deal Miami

When a home owner is seeking a loan modification, they often assume hiring an attorney is their best bet. Increasingly, though, attorneys are lending their names to fraudulent mortgage modification services, the New York Times reported. The Federal Trade Commission and New York state regulations prohibit upfront fees for loan modifications, the Times said, but with exceptions made for attorneys. It now seems a number of attorneys have taken advantage of that loophole, offering the services for sometimes thousands of dollars in upfront fees, which would be illegal for another entity to charge. Worse still, homeowners often find they don’t even get the services they’ve paid for, the Times said. [more]