Dear Fellow Travelers… a letter from a Mandelman Matters reader.

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I’m been lucky enough to receive many letters from homeowners since I’ve been writing on Mandelman Matters, usually from those whose homes I’ve helped save from foreclosure. This homeowner, however, didn’t write to thank me for helping to save her home… I was not involved in her foreclosure battle. She wrote to me because she wanted to tell others what she came to discover about Mandelman Matters after going through the same sort of journey far too many have been forced to endure.

I thought others might want to read it.

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Dear Fellow Travelers,

If you follow Martin, or have been lucky enough to recently find his website, Mandelman Matters, you will by now have no doubt as to the treasure trove of answers you have discovered. There is quite a bit written on this site. Reams in fact. It might seem overwhelming. But the good news is it is actually verifiable.

There isn’t anything for you to buy. He won’t have a salesman call and try to talk you into something. No place for you spend your money. Sorry. He doesn’t have the time or inclination for that. He is a man with a mission. And he isn’t paid for this. It’s just the kind of man Martin is.

Martin deals in “facts”. Quantifiable, reliable, verified facts. He even encourages you to go anywhere and everywhere else you need to verify the facts he is presenting here. He is more then willing to back up his facts with what ever you feel is necessary. Evidence? He’s got it. Documents? He’s got em. “Persons most knowledgeable”? Here by the truck load. Martin has done all the work for you. Take advantage of that. Use it.

Don’t waste time getting angry if you read something you disagree with. Nowhere does Martin offer a guarantee that you will like or agree with what he writes. The only promise he gives is that he is as accurate as it is possible to be. And after visiting hundreds of sites personally, I can tell you that in itself is amazing!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I myself have been angered over some of what is here. So much so that I intentionally set out to prove to Martin that his “facts” weren’t as accurate as he believes them to be. Sadly, after many, many, many hours (in libraries, on websites, reading court cases, speaking with homeowners) I couldn’t do so.

I say sadly only because the old ego was involved and I didn’t want to believe that I had been dumb enough to believe something else. It’s awfully hard, when you’re on this journey, to find that once again you have taken a wrong turn. It’s almost enough to make a grown up cry. Okay, it IS enough to make a grown up cry. I did. Many times. Tears of frustration, hopelessness, anger and, yes, self pity. Sound familiar?

I had to learn the hard way. I lost it all. Please, please don’t follow that road. If you’re here on this website then swallow your ego, your fantasies and your anger. As Martin says “I don’t care what path you take – loan mod, walking away, suing – I just want you to have the most accurate information to base your decision on.” So when you see those titles like “Your loan was paid off through credit swaps, insurance, etc” or “Produce the Note” theories…. STOP! It isn’t true! Don’t go there!

Now having said that, please know that yes, the banks have been atrocious, they did make mistakes (both inadvertent and deliberate!) and they haven’t been very forthcoming. The Government isn’t going to come charging in on a white horse and save you. That, fellow travelers, is our job.

If the banks, or whomever, did something wrong you have to prove that. Not just say they did it. PROVE it. You have to show how it harmed you. No, that doesn’t mean run into court and say “But your Honor, they bank took my home and it wasn’t fair.” That isn’t proof. No judge wants to hear “Well, I didn’t make my payments but the bank should have made allowances for me”.

So think carefully before you trod that path. It’s expensive, utterly time consuming and completely draining. And there is no guarantee you will prevail. Even if you are correct and the bank didn’t play fair and you have the law on your side, there is still a thousand other things that can derail you. Try the loan mod, if you have the income.

But let’s not delude ourselves and then blame everyone else for giving us the wrong information. You now have the facts. You are in a place to make an intelligent (hopefully) and well informed decision for what is best for you. Thank your lucky stars that someone has supplied you with that knowledge. Pass that information along. Walk away or fight if you feel you must. But do it with the facts. Because in the end that’s the only thing that matters.

And in case your wondering – No, Martin wasn’t able to do anything for me. I’m writing this because I believe with every fiber of my being that this is where you should begin your journey. This is where you need to begin the preparation for what ever road you decide to travel down.

I owe Martin nothing. Oops, that’s not true. Let me clarify. I do owe Martin. But not because he helped me save my home. I owe him because he took the time to educate thousands of us. He did the hard, tedious work of finding and elucidating and sharing the facts necessary to give us the tools to fight with.

Don’t make his work in vain. Share it. Learn it. Use it. I am. So for that, Martin, thank you a thousand fold!

Sincerely,

A traveler still fighting

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Obviously, it’s letters like this one that keep me going.

Mandelman out.