CALPIRG’s Morillas Proves His Ignorance on Loan Modifications
The California Public Interest Research Group, CALPIRG, if you favor a wonky acronym, is a group that claims to exist in order to “take on powerful interests on behalf of Californians, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being.”
CALPRIG’s Website says that the organization has “researchers, advocates, organizers and students.” And it says that they “stand up to powerful special interests to stop identity theft, fight political corruption, provide safe and affordable prescription drugs, strengthen voting rights and more.”
“When corporate wrongdoing threatens our health or our safety, or violates fundamental principles of fairness and justice, CALPIRG stands up for the public.”
They also claim to do investigative research, which is then used to publish reports and even exposes. And lastly, they claim to be advocates of “new laws and other protections at the local, state and federal levels.”
“And when necessary, they say, “we take corporate wrongdoers to court.”
Wow… they sound almost like Superheroes. How come I’ve never heard of them before? Do you suppose they wear uniforms? Jumpsuits? They need a logo and a catchier name… like the Justice League of America… or whatever.
Okay, the truth is I don’t have the foggiest idea who these people are or what they do, or have done. They could be God’s gift to comsumers, I really don’t know. Here’s what I do know… When it comes to good old loan modifications, they’re no better than the rest of the clowns that have moved to take action and spew opinions without having any idea of what they’re talking about.
Here’s all I needed to see in order to form my opinion. It ran in the LA Times Business Section today under the headline, “Regulators consider ban on upfront fees for loan modification help,” which went on to talk about the FTC considering a national ban on up front fees, a move that would do more to increase the number of people getting scammed than anything else of which I could think. Here’s the paragraph that establishes everything about this group for me:
“People are paying upfront and then have no real guarantee that the modification service will actually modify the loan,” said Pedro Morillas, consumer advocate for the California Public Interest Research Group, which supports a fee ban.
I’m sorry, but can you believe that? And don’t just say yes, because you’ve got to admit that’s an exceptionally stupid statement for anyone to make, let alone a group claiming to “conduct research” and fight “powerful special interests”. Mr. Morillas doesn’t even know what he’s talking about, so the research seems light, and as to fighting interests, special or otherwise, let’s just say it’s not easy to imagine and leave it at that.
CALPRIG you are clowns. There’s no excuse for your lack of knowledge and perspective at this stage of the game… you’ve had time to learn something about what’s really going on as related to loan modifications, the effectiveness of the government programs, something. But, no. And in that goofy statement above it becomes abundantly clear that you have no clue. Or you’re a puppet for the banking lobby.
Let’s take a look at that sentence, shall we?
“People are paying upfront and then have no real guarantee that the modification service will actually modify the loan.”
Okay, first of all… the “modification service” NEVER “modifies the loan,” jackass. The “modification service,” as you call it, attempts to navigate the lender’s or serivcer’s minefield of obstacles and lies in order to get a loan modification agreement from the lender or servicer. And even after an offer to modify does come from the lender or servicer, that modification service has to deal with things like modification offers that result in higher payments rather than lower, and a plethora of other such garbage.
And then, even after a trial period modification has been granted by a lender or servicer, that modification service has to make sure that the lender or servicer actually honors their agreement to modify the mortgage permanently, which is by no means a certainty. And throughout all of that, the modification service has to contend with the fact that the lender or servicer may at any moment violate administrative law by foreclosing while the homeowner is under consideration for a modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
And that’s just on the lender or servicer side of the equation. That modification service, you so easily malign, throughout the whole process, has to deal with homeowners who are scared, emotional, and who understandably cannot understand why their bank isn’t helping them over what is often a 10-month period when the President of the United States said that they would. Call them crazy, but it’s often difficult for homeowners to understand why it takes their banks three months to receive faxes, and how it can be that one can wait on hold for an hour only to be disconnected by a large bank whose television commercials boast of how customer friendly they are.
Being a modification service is a hard and thankless job, in part because of dolts like you who stand willing to open your mouth and speak about a subject you know absolutely nothing about in the press. It’s unbelievable, really.  And if it wasn’t so harmful, it would be comical.  As it is, it’s just sad.
And it should go without saying that there’s no guarantee that the loan will be modified. How can you think there would ever be such a guarantee? Does such a guarantee exist anywhere else? Your lender or servicer certainly won’t give you one. The government programs certainly don’t offer one either. How in the world could a private company guarantee you that Bank of America is going to do anything? From the evidence on servicer conduct as related to loan modifications, you don’t even have a guarantee that your bank will even follow the law, or the rules they themselves agreed to under HAMP.
Hell, even the Obama administration can’t seem to make the banks do what they want them to do… and that’s after giving them trillions and saving their collective ass from insolvency! Are you paying attention, Mr. Morillas? Do you watch the news or read the paper?
Getting your loan modification is hard even if you’re a so-called professional, because the banks and servicers don’t want to modify mortgages. Their interests are no longer aligned with the interests of this country. The administration’s report cards demonstrate this fact. The recent testimony in the United States Senateby attorney Diane Thompson shows it. The hundreds of complaints written by homeowners who have tried it on their own has established it to be the truth for all who want to know the truth.
The one thing this state of Affairs does not need is another casual observer blathering on about something he knows nothing about.
Wake up, Mr. Morillas… or for God’s sake… shut up.
