Wednesday 4th December
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State Bar Hypocrisy on Display – Bar to Offer Grants to Fund Legal Help with Foreclosures
Written on 4 Feb, 2013 at 2:51
One thing I will say about State Bar Executive Director Joe Dunn is that his political skills are nothing short of masterful... it's breathtaking, really. So, stay tuned... with hypocrisy operating at these levels, absolutely anything is possible. ... (Continue reading)
O.C. Superior Court Judge Agrees State Bar WRONG on SB 94, But…
Written on 25 Jan, 2013 at 7:11
Apparently, Orange County Superior Court Judge William H. Monroe is not only a judge and a lawyer, but he's a READER too! And one might think that lawyers all over California would be popping open the champagne... or at... (Continue reading)
GUEST POST: Runaway Train: Civil Code Section 2944.7 and the CA State Bar
Written on 25 Jan, 2013 at 6:38
So here we are a year later. Like a runaway train, the State Bar is moving full speed toward a unstated goal that is inconsistent with the public interest: no lawyers available for borrowers who need assistance.... (Continue reading)
A 10 POINT SCANDAL – CA State Bar Exec Director Dunn Should Resign
Written on 18 Dec, 2012 at 6:19
Beginning in the fall of 2011, and increasing in speed and ferocity after January 1, 2012, the State Bar begins using its newly concocted interpretation of SB 94 as a hammer to threaten and strong-arm lawyers who have received a... (Continue reading)
California Bar: Disregards Attorney General’s Views, Screws Homeowners
Written on 10 Dec, 2012 at 12:34
What's even harder to understand is that the State Bar's most recent interpretation of SB 94 completely disagrees with how California Attorney General Harris and Governor Brown interpreted the law in documents filed with the court last year when... (Continue reading)
California State Bar RECENT Decision to Cause More Harm to Homeowners in Foreclosure
Written on 1 Dec, 2012 at 22:30
The recent decision by the state bar court now effectively prohibits the charging of fees by lawyers even AFTER services have been completed. Yes, you read that correctly... lawyers can't take advance fees, nor can they be paid after... (Continue reading)
California State Bar Court Lacks Fundamental Knowledge of Loan Modifications
Written on 24 Jun, 2012 at 4:52
Your state assembly representative and state senator needs to hear from you on this issue. You should care a great deal that you have access to legal counsel should you decide you want or need it... no matter what...... (Continue reading)
Through a Glass Darkly – The State Bar’s Lack of Transparency On Loan Mod Lawyers
Written on 21 Jun, 2012 at 22:13
What the state bar is left with are not the lawyers that SB94 was intended to address but a target nonetheless because of SB 94's overly broad and possibly unconstitutional remedy... lawyers simply caught up in the loan mod dragnet.... (Continue reading)
Why is CA State Bar Making its Job Protecting Consumers HARDER?
Written on 4 Jun, 2012 at 3:57
The easiest way for California lawyers to lose their licenses is to have a banking irregularity in their trust accounts. ... (Continue reading)
Bar Defense Atty David Carr Exposes the CA Bar on Scammers and SB 94 – A MM Podcast
Written on 2 May, 2012 at 1:40
If you're a lawyer or real estate licensee that has been involved in helping homeowners save their homes from foreclosure over the last few years, or a homeowner struggling to understand the crisis at hand... I PROMISE... YOU DO NOT... (Continue reading)
Bank of America Does the Wright Thing – DOERS Did It Again. JOIN US, BE A DOER!
Written on 26 Jan, 2012 at 6:23
By mid-day on Tuesday, Bank of America had responded to say they were looking into it... and by 4:30 PM that same day Bank of America DID THE WRIGHT THING, and gave Mr. Dale Wright his home back... from a... (Continue reading)
Bostwick Putting SB 94 and California State Bar on Trial
Written on 24 Jan, 2012 at 8:13
Even some of the people involved in the drafting of California's Senate Bill 94 ("SB 94") back in 2009, recognized that it wasn't going to fix or stop the problems it was addressing, and there's no question that it was... (Continue reading)
Calling All Lawyers to 5,000,000 Crime Scenes
Written on 20 Jan, 2012 at 10:21
Consider this... bankers say that they've been overwhelmed by the millions of homeowners unexpectedly seeking loan modifications and that's why applying for a loan modification has been such a nightmare. But, what about the number of foreclosures occurring in... (Continue reading)
Mandelman Speaks at California State Bar’s Annual Discipline Hearings
Written on 14 Dec, 2011 at 17:04
I also spoke to the members of the panel about the need for the State Bar to give more careful consideration to how it can better support the legitimate and ethical attorneys that could provide representation to homeowners in need... (Continue reading)
The World of the Investor with Attorney Talcott Franklin – A Mandelman Matters Podcast
Written on 2 Nov, 2011 at 10:40
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH INVESTORS? WHO ARE THEY? ARE THEY LOSING MONEY ON FORECLOSURES? What do the investors think about all these foreclosures? What's the relationship like between investors and servicers? Do investors want to modify loans? Do... (Continue reading)
CA’s Democrats in Congress Wake Up to Need to Address Foreclosures
Written on 16 Oct, 2011 at 22:39
Apparently, this past week, the sound of the economy's ship going down must have awoken the majority of House Democrats from California who then just jumped all over the Obama Administration for "failing to deliver on promises to curb foreclosures."... (Continue reading)
Mandelman’s Monthly Museletter – Version 15.0
Written on 20 Sep, 2011 at 9:30
1. Obama Administration Leaps Into Action on the Foreclosure Crisis. 2. Nation's poverty rate climbs to 15.1%, highest in 18 years. 3. Obama Says Government to Help More People Refinance... Again. 4. Mortgage Defaults Skyrocket 33% Nationwide in... (Continue reading)
Obama Says Post Office Should Cut One Day of Mail Delivery… Now there’s change we can believe in.
Written on 20 Sep, 2011 at 2:53
Obviously, Obama has been hard at work on this very important subject, and I think we have to give credit where credit is due. And he's got more ideas than just cutting a day of mail delivery, oh yes... (Continue reading)
No Friend to the Banksters… Attorney Nick Wooten – A Mandelman Matters Podcast
Written on 16 Jul, 2011 at 10:59
If I have to introduce Alabama foreclosure defense attorney Nick Wooten to you, then you're not much of a foreclosure crisis news junkie, because Nick has made headlines for his lawsuits against the banksters on behalf of homeowners as much... (Continue reading)
Mandelman SHOCKS Online Community, Says: “I don’t care about my readers anymore.”
Written on 9 Jul, 2011 at 0:54
And the best part of the whole thing is that even if you're weren't a DOER this time around... even if until now you've just been a "reader," it doesn't matter... ANYONE CAN BECOME A DOER AT ANY MOMENT. ... (Continue reading)
THEY ONCE WERE LENDERS – Understanding government’s failure to stop bankers OR scammers from destroying homeowners.
Written on 25 Apr, 2011 at 21:47
And, to add insult to injury, our government has stood by obtuse and witless as these same banks have been permitted to lie, mislead, abuse, disrespect, malign and outright torture homeowners trying to apply for a government program funded by... (Continue reading)
The California Department of Real Estate Issues “CONSUMER ALERT” Warning Consumers About “Mass Joinder” Lawsuits
Written on 18 Mar, 2011 at 5:39
The California Department of Real Estate has issued a Consumer Warning specifically to address the multitude of marketing efforts promoting participation in "mass joinder lawsuits," as filed by at least two law firms, The Law offices of Mitchell J. Stein... (Continue reading)
A San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners
Written on 9 Feb, 2011 at 9:58
SB 94 is simply a law written by the Senate Banking Committee to make it next to impossible for a homeowner to hire a lawyer when at risk of foreclosure. I bet the banks wish they could have passed... (Continue reading)
UNDERSTANDING MARS – A Webinar on the FTC’s Final Rule – With Compliance Attorney, Julie Greenfield
Written on 23 Jan, 2011 at 11:00
Mandelman Matters decided to produce this important Webinar because this new Final Rule is something with which EVERYONE involved, either directly or peripherally, in helping consumers avoid foreclosure will need to understand inside and out. This new federal rule applies... (Continue reading)
The Orange County Bar Association’s LAST DASH 2011! Mandelman, Greenfield & Bellicini – Continuing education for attorneys offering loan modifications has never been this good!
Written on 12 Jan, 2011 at 11:08
Mandelman, Greenfield & Bellicini will address updated Obama Administration HAMP Modification Guidelines and non-HAMP programs offered by Servicers to assist financially-distressed homeowners along with addressing the compliance issues for attorneys who want to handle Mortgage Loan Modifications as part of... (Continue reading)
Two Years Waiting for the New York Times to Write About Lawyers & Loan Modifications, and they Still GET IT WRONG.
Written on 28 Dec, 2010 at 13:04
Can you hear me now? Is that doing it for you? The facts about California attorneys who offer to assist homeowners with loan modifications as presented in the New York Times story are just plain WRONG. ... (Continue reading)
FTC Moves to Protect Homeowners With New MARS Rule – Regulates Loan Modifications Nationwide
Written on 20 Nov, 2010 at 6:53
In fact, in California specifically, where there is already a state law governing advance fees, known as SB 94, lawyers will see very little change when the new FTC rule takes effect at the end of this calendar year. ... (Continue reading)
Mandelman’s Uncommon Advice for Getting Through the Loan Modification Process Without Losing It
Written on 17 Oct, 2010 at 8:06
There's no point in sugarcoating this... getting a bank or mortgage servicer to agree to modify a mortgage is never a pleasant experience. In fact, it's pretty much horrible, even when it's good. You may finish the process... (Continue reading)
Vote for South Carolina’s Alvin Greene for U.S. Senate!
Written on 16 Jun, 2010 at 17:55
Apparently, Greene was arrested in November 2009, charged with showing a pornographic Internet site to an 18-year-old female University of South Carolina student. I realize that, traditionally, senators wait until they've been elected to rack up their first felony... (Continue reading)
Court Rules Private Right of Action Exists for Violations of CA Civil Code 2923.5 – Homeowners Can Now File Suit Against Lenders
Written on 11 Jun, 2010 at 7:00
The thing about this court decision is that, even if I think the law itself is marginal at best in what it offers, there is now a "private cause of action" attached to it. And that means that homeowners... (Continue reading)
At the Bank of America Signpost Up Ahead, Your Next Stop – The Loan Modification Zone
Written on 9 Jun, 2010 at 10:10
A homeowner wrote to me the other day, and I could tell from her emails that she had been through the ringer trying to get a loan modification. I've heard from so many thousands of homeowners that I've gotten... (Continue reading)
Homeowner tells Mandelman Matters of SCOVIS LAW GROUP, and I am DISGUSTED
Written on 7 Jun, 2010 at 10:03
Hey, McDevitt... you have no idea what you're talking about most of the time, do you. Expert? Published author? As seen on television? What were you on T.V. for... oh yeah... were you one of the... (Continue reading)
Nina Easton’s HOT Stocks for Homeowners Losing Homes
Written on 1 Jun, 2010 at 5:42
No, folks... the good news for our emerging foreclosure industry, and for my new Empty Homes Hi-Yield Bond Fund, is that our government has failed at every single turn in trying to stem the tide of foreclosures in this country,... (Continue reading)
Green Credit & Me
Written on 24 Mar, 2010 at 2:00
If the guys in Sacramento or Washington D.C. think that I view ANYTHING they've done to-date as being even remotely competent, let me be oh so clear... I DON'T. As far as I'm concerned, our government is functioning just... (Continue reading)
FTC Considering Wrong Approach to Protecting Homeowners in Foreclosure from Loan Modification Scams
Written on 7 Feb, 2010 at 9:14
How long did it take you guys to come up with this dazzling piece of regulatory virtuosity anyway? Don't tell me this wasn't the first idea that came up at meeting one, because there's no way I'm buying. ... (Continue reading)
Books I’ve Loved Reading… The Great Depression Diary
Written on 31 Jan, 2010 at 15:09
The Great Depression Diary By Benjamin Roth Benjamin Roth was born in the last years of the nineteenth century, passed the Bar Exam during the Roaring Twenties and was a practicing attorney in 1929 when over a few days in... (Continue reading)
Journalists on Crack: Are Lawyers Turning to Crime in Tough Times?
Written on 25 Jan, 2010 at 6:35
Oh for Christ's sake Miller, don't you have anything better to do than to scare people out of hiring a lawyer when at risk of losing their home? Because that's all this kind of crap is accomplishing, don't you... (Continue reading)
Returning Home From Speaking at the ABA’s Consumer Financial Services Conference on Loan Modifications
Written on 23 Jan, 2010 at 23:20
If any private sector attorney thinks that he or she can practice autonomously, hidden away in a little box, pretending to exist under some sort of imaginary radar... and that somehow federal or state regulators are supposed to know that... (Continue reading)
OC Lawyer Arrested for Defrauding 400 Homeowners with Promises of Loan Modifications – DA Presses Criminal Charges
Written on 22 Jan, 2010 at 21:30
awyers that "scam" people harm their victims, harm the profession, and harm our nation. They scare homeowners from seeking legitimate representation. We are entering a period in which we as homeowners, will need to depend on lawyers to... (Continue reading)
THE JURY IS IN: Obama’s Foreclosure Program Run by Morons… and Trial Modifications are the Biggest Loan Mod Scam Ever
Written on 3 Dec, 2009 at 19:11
I don't know about you, but 1700 out of 650,000 makes me want to believe that the 1700 were mistakes that slipped through. It makes more sense to think that the HAMP program was designed to create foreclosures... and... (Continue reading)
ANNOUNCING WEBINAR: Law Firms & Loan Modifications – November 20th, 10:00 AM PST
Written on 15 Nov, 2009 at 18:34
Greatly Reduce or Even Eliminate Client Complaints, Increase Firm Effectiveness, Improve Morale & Increase Profitability. If you’re helping homeowners with loan modifications, this shouldn’t be missed under any circumstances. It’s shouldn’t be considered optional, and I’m only doing it live... (Continue reading)
BREAKING NEWS! CA STATE BAR PUBLISHES GUIDANCE FOR LAW FIRMS ON SB 94
Written on 30 Oct, 2009 at 18:32
Wading through ambiguities in language in order to interpret the legislative intent of a new law isn’t easy, but the moral of the story is that it can be done, and thanks to the combined efforts of the attorneys and... (Continue reading)
California Bar Journal Runs Ads for Loan Mod Firms? Seriously??
Written on 20 Oct, 2009 at 8:34
So, come to find out that the California Bar Journal is running ads for a company called "Nice Mod," a DRE licensed company that presumably accepts no money until the client's mortgage has been modified, paid off in full, and... (Continue reading)
Gov. Arnold Rips the California Bar a New One: Refuses to Sign SB 641
Written on 14 Oct, 2009 at 3:05
There's no question now, but that the Bar is going to have to fix up their own glass house before their going to be allowed to collect dues from their members, and since they've been spending so much of their... (Continue reading)
Gov. Schwarzenegger Does the Right Thing: Signs SB 94 and Vetoes AB 764
Written on 12 Oct, 2009 at 18:21
I have to say that I was not originally in favor of SB 94's provisions on advance fees, as I saw the language and what I thought to be the original intent as being harmful to homeowners as I saw... (Continue reading)
If Governor Signs AB 764, Homeowners Won’t Be Able to Hire Attorneys When Losing Homes
Written on 7 Oct, 2009 at 0:17
I'll jump in with an answer to that one: Because the banking lobby isn't interested in promoting those... they're only interested in promoting stuff about loan modifications because they don't want homeowners to have professionals helping them when attempting... (Continue reading)
The Commission on Homeowner Representation Moves Ahead
Written on 8 Sep, 2009 at 1:25
Regardless, the Commission has determined that there is an acceptable way to work under SB 94, AT LEAST UNTIL THE LAW CAN BE CHALLENGED IN THE COURTS. And the thirty-some firms will soon be forty-some and then fifty-some. ... (Continue reading)
CA SB 94 on Lawyers & Loan Modifications Passes Assembly… 62-10
Written on 4 Sep, 2009 at 5:40
Extending unsecured credit to homeowners that are already struggling to pay their bills, and then having to sue them in order to collect simply isn't a business model that attorneys, or anyone else for that matter, are likely to embrace.... (Continue reading)
Lies and Damn Lies About Getting a Loan Modification
Written on 1 Sep, 2009 at 22:32
Months ago we weren't sure of many of these things and so you could say just about anything related to the loan mod process and no one could call you on it. Now the jury has come in. Guess you'll... (Continue reading)
FOR THE IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION OF ATTORNEYS IN CALIFORNIA
Written on 31 Aug, 2009 at 4:21
Further, if the legislature is allowed to affect attorney compensation practices in this instance, what will they attempt to limit next? Homeowners have the right to representation before losing their homes to foreclosure. Attorneys have the right to... (Continue reading)
A Bill in California Will Establish That Lawyers Cannot Be Trusted
Written on 30 Aug, 2009 at 3:15
Yet, here in California, the legislature is dangerously close to passing a bill that would establish quite clearly that lawyers... all lawyers... are individuals not to be trusted. And even more so, that attorneys in large number are the... (Continue reading)
MY SWAN’S SONG: Testimony Before the United States Senate on the State of Foreclosures & Loan Modifications
Written on 25 Aug, 2009 at 8:25
I read her testimony throughout last night, until the sun started to rise outside my window. And when I finished, I sat there and I cried. It's been a long road... and I pray that this document at... (Continue reading)
Did Attorneys “TURN BAD” in 2009? What… Is There Something in the Water?
Written on 21 Aug, 2009 at 0:54
In 2009, not only did all of that happen... and more, but more importantly, in 2009 we all started to realize that our way of life... the one we've come to know over the last thirty years, would not be... (Continue reading)
Federal Reserve Recommends Consumers Contact an Attorney to Resolve Contract Disputes With Banks
Written on 6 Aug, 2009 at 16:12
I've got it now... so, the Federal Reserve recommends that consumers contact an attorney when involved in contract disputes with banks, but the California legislature is about to pass a law saying that lawyers can't charge a client a fair... (Continue reading)
Attorneys Offering Loan Modification Services Find a Friend in NACBA
Written on 19 Jul, 2009 at 21:37
One of the things the Commission has wanted to do from the beginning was lobby against SB 94 as it was written, and that became more important when the bill was modified just before July 4th to prohibit attorneys from... (Continue reading)
Economy Watch: State of California Says Attorneys Stealing Smaller Sums
Written on 7 Jul, 2009 at 5:53
It wasn’t that long ago when you couldn’t get a practicing attorney to even consider stealing anything under seven figures from a client. And the Ivy League law school grads wouldn’t be caught dead ripping off anything under eight figures.... (Continue reading)
Gov. Schwarzenegger Move Will Deprive Homeowners of Legal Representation When Negotiating Loan Modifications
Written on 5 Jul, 2009 at 9:34
The only group this provision helps is the bankers, and with the hundreds of billions of bailout dollars WE'VE GIVEN THEM, don't you think they've have enough going for them? Homeowners NEED help. Don't deprive them of their... (Continue reading)
California Senate Passes SB 94 Legislation, Now Up To State Assembly
Written on 26 May, 2009 at 17:49
The California State Senate has passed Senate Bill 94 (“SB 94”), legislation proposed by Sen. Ron S. Calderon (D-Montebello), Chairman of the Banking, Finance & Insurance Committee. The senate passed the bill on May 21, 2009, by a vote of... (Continue reading)
I’ve Got SIX QUESTIONS for Loan Modification Experts?
Written on 5 May, 2009 at 8:18
But surely something should change, right? Everyone I've spoken with agrees that the industry should be better regulated, because no matter how many people were "scammed," no one wants to see any homeowners scammed. So, how can the... (Continue reading)