We paid The Law Offices of David Galanter $2,495.00 for legal services for a loan modification. The services (or the LACK of services) went through Justice Paper Processing who assured us that we qualified, then we didn't qualify, then they called our mortgage company and simply asked them if they would work with them to do the loan modification. We originally told JPP that we are in a bankruptcy and that our lendor would not work with us. They assured us that our mortgage company, through their legal process, would have to do the mod and lower our interest rate to 2-4%. They wouldn't. Within 3 days of our final payment we asked for a refund. They told us our refund would come in 10 days, then it was 20 days, then it was 30 days. We were then told that they would only refund 1/3, then they said they would refund 50%, then 60%. They wanted us to sign a declaration, basicly giving up our rights, which I refused. To date (it's been 6 months!) they have not refunded ANY of the money we paid. They lied to us, took our money and gave us Nothing in return. In the situation Americans are in today, it is appaling that these people would take advantage of people who are desperate to save their homes! The Law Offices of David Galanter and Jonothan Ende of Justice Paper Processing are stealing money from innocent people! They are lying and scamming homeowners!
Comment By Steve & Trina Rounds
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 10:28 AM
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Milwaukee mediation program takes aim at foreclosures
Faced with a dramatic increase in foreclosure filings in Milwaukee, last year the city launched a new mediation program.
The Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program is administered by Marquette University Law School.
Pursuant to Milwaukee County Chief Judge Directive 9-14, foreclosures filed since July 22, 2009 must include a “Notice of Mediation” with the summons and complaint.
About 20 percent of Milwaukee’s foreclosure cases filed since then have utilized the program, estimates Marquette Law’s Amy Koltz, the Mediation Coordinator. That’s about 550 cases as of the end of January. Since mid-September, about 200 have proceeded to mediation.
“At this point, we're looking at 107 cases where homeowners have been able to stay in their homes,” Koltz says, noting that just 12 mediations have failed, while the rest are pending.
Attorney Debra Tuttle serves as the chief mediator. She says there's no better feeling than when a foreclosure case she has mediated ends with a homeowner asking to shake both her hand and that of the lender’s representative.
Tuttle conducts most of the mediations, with assistance from Koltz, Prof. Natalie Fleury, and a roster of trained volunteer attorney-mediators.
To be eligible for the program, borrowers must own and live in the property and must request mediation within 15 days of being served.
Both parties must consent to the process and pay a $100 administrative fee, and the borrower must meet with a HUD-certified housing counselor prior to the mediation.
The program’s start-up funding came from the City of Milwaukee, which kicked in $100,000, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which contributed $310,000 from recent successful litigation against Countrywide Financial Corporation.
Frequently, borrowers are unrepresented, says Koltz. On the lenders’ side, along with an in-person attorney for the bank, the representatives of loan servicers often appear telephonically because they’re in other states.
Deborah Blommer, a lenders’ attorney in Brookfield who sits on the program board, says she hasn’t participated in a mediation, but other lawyers at her firm, Blommer Peterman SC, have. They uniformly give the program high marks.
“It’s popular with our clients because more than anything, they want to get everybody at the table to figure out a solution to mitigate everybody’s losses,” she says.
Edward Harness, who represents borrowers, acknowledges that the program is well-intentioned. But he says it has its limitations.
“It’s not even a true mediation because you're not allowed to mention the merits of any defense that may be raised as part of the action. It’s more like a foreclosure loan modification settlement conference,” he says.
According to Tuttle, the program is looking to address that concern by adding a second track of mediation for contested cases. For now, however, the program’s main focus is cases where the default is conceded and losses are to be mitigated.
Wauwatosa lawyer Michael Maxwell, notes that the program’s effectiveness depends on “whether the person on the lender’s side of the table is a decisionmaker. In the civil litigation model, judges don’t hesitate to order that someone with … settlement authority be present at the mediation. That hasn’t happened in the foreclosure mediation system yet.”
The program has just begun accepting applications in Waukesha, Buffalo and Pepin Counties, and they are talking with other counties as well. The goal is to take it state-wide, says Koltz, noting that Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen expressed that sentiment when committing Justice Department funding to the project. But no timeframe has been set for that expansion.
Bill pending
One possibility is making mediation a statutory option.
2009 Senate Bill 255, introduced on Aug. 11, 2009 by attorney and State Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), would allow residential-property borrowers to seek mediation as a means of staying a foreclosure.
The measure would require the borrower to see a financial analyst for advice regarding the mortgage foreclosure, and lenders to “consider debt restructuring alternatives as a method of resolving the default.”
3 Comments on This Article
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I was looking to lower my mortgage rate & came across freeHAMPreport.com website. I made the mistake of thinking free Hamp Report would be free! After registering & imputing my information into the website they started asking me to pay $495.00.
Then my phone started ringing off the hook with sales people calling telling me to pay them the $495. I found the amount of calls & email from free HAMP report to be stalking in nature! When I refused & asked them to stop calling me they sold my personal information to every internet marketer that would pay them. My personal information was sold over & over! It was such hassle! My son Ron had an emergency & needed to get a hold of me but my line was jammed up with unwanted sales calls! I called & spoke to both Jason Saltzman and Jonathon Ende who just told me that if I just paid them $195.00 it would stop the harassing me. They even offered to throw in some kind of package that my lender wanted? When I searched the Ripoffreport I found out they are so slick at the Rip Off Game that they were able to scam lawyers! http://www.ripoffreport.com/real-estate-services/hlaa-david-galanter/hlaa-david-galanter-law-justic-83d75.htm I'm going to file an attorney general complaint for extortion! Brenda Comment By Brenda Monday, July 5, 2010 at 11:28 PM |
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Oregon just passed House Bill 3610-A which mandates that lenders form an affadavit that the borrower doesn't qualify for a mediation. I think that Milwaukee and the rest of the country should follow suit. The article also makes a great point that too many people go unrepresented but also don't understand the complexity of the program or how to apply. freeHAMPreport.com is a new site that I found that gives struggling homeowners the ability to check their potential eligibilty for HAMP for free. If they qualify it then offers them a comprehensive report for only $195. This is just a fraction more than the mediation cost and is ready to be sent to lender. It seems like organizations like this should refer the site to give homeowners affordable help. Annualcreditreport.com is another site that is really important for homeowners to go to and get free report so they can accurately fill out their financials before applying for help.
Comment By Gerry McCoy Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 3:17 PM |
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