Open Letter to Real Estate Short Sale and Loan Mod Agents

To ALL Real Estate Short Sale and Loan Mod Agents:

Mortgage Exam Ethically Mandatory Prior to Negotiation with Bank

I write to toss a business philosophy gauntlet before you.  I do not run a business.  I function as ombudsman and consumer activist in support of mortgage victims.  I help people with mortgage problems obtain the best possible advantage for any negotiation with the bank and its agents, or to beat them in a lawsuit.


I consider ANYTHING that operates to defeat that purpose as inimical to it. So, I might become YOUR enemy.  I DO NOT SUPPORT efforts of negotiators and other service providers who undermine the mortgage victim's ability to negotiate from a position of power.  I shall explain why.

Mortgage Attack, the Only Worthy Methodology

ONE and ONLY one methodology has proven worthy at enabling the best financial outcome possible for mortgagors.  I term it the "Mortgage Attack" methodology.  The Mortgage Attack methodology consists of finding any and all of the ways the mortgage lender and its agents and associates injured the borrower, and using those injuries as negotiating leverage against the bank. This applies whether or not the borrower faces foreclosure.  And the negotiating scenario can include a simple negotiation for a loan modification favoring the borrower, as well as a lawsuit or counter/cross-complaint against the injurious parties.


The Mortgage Attack methodology provides a negotiating advantage to the borrower because it carries an explicit or implicit threat of litigation against the injurious parties for injuring the borrower.  It has become common knowledge that jurors loath lenders and associates who injure borrowers with scurrilous tactics.  Since lawyers for the bank know this, the smarter ones will encourage their clients to settle in some way to avoid the litigation and related damage to the lender's reputation, not to mention the possibility of monumental damages awards against the bank by the courts.

The Bad Guys in the Transaction

By "lender and its agents and associates" I mean the loan originator, owners of beneficial interest in the note, Realtor, mortgage broker, appraiser, title company operative, servicer, and/or related attorney.  In short, it includes everyone involved in the mortgage transaction and related events other than the borrower.  These are the "Bad Guys" in the transaction, EVEN IF the borrower erred too.  Why?  Because YOU work for the borrower, not the bank, etc.


The borrower's own attorney or other practitioner can become culpable for injuries to the borrower resulting from the attorney's failure aggressively to look for such causes of action and to lodge corresponding affirmative defenses, motions to dismiss, or counter/cross-complaints against the lenders and its agents and associates who injured the borrower.


By implication, EVERY PRACTITIONER employed by the mortgagor, including agents for short sale and loan modifications, has ethical and moral duties to guide the borrower toward the Mortgage Attack methodology before undertaking any negotiation for short sale or loan modification on behalf of a mortgage victim.  The reason: only that methodology lets you negotiate from a position of power for the borrower.

Mortgage Examination Critically Important for Finding Evidence of Wrongdoing

The Mortgage Attack paradigm requires a comprehensive mortgage examination by a competent professional to find the causes of action against the lender and its agents and associates.  The examination service provider should render a report showing the causes of action in a form that facilitates admission into evidence in a court of law.  I know of only ONE firm capable of performing such an examination and delivering such a report.  I shall happily divulge the identity of the firm to any with sincere need for the information.

The Challenge, the Gauntlet for Negotiators

I write this commentary to challenge short sale and loan modification agents to encourage their mortgage victim prospects to spend the necessary money on a proper mortgage examination (as above) BEFORE undertaking any short sale or loan modification effort.  The reason should seem obvious, but I'll explain it anyway.  The prospect might decide to sue the injurious parties instead of negotiating from a position of weakness.  As a consequence of winning such a law suite, the borrower might win huge compensatory and punitive damages, enough to buy several houses.  That will certainly leave the borrower in possession of the mortgaged property at risk.  Furthermore, the borrower can negotiate a short sale or loan modification or keys for cash deal from a position of power and strength, rather than from a position of weakness.


Certainly, the agents for short sale and loan mods will lose some commissions by advocating Mortgage Attack.  But they will also win better negotiated settlements AND more clients because of their integrity.

In essence, I assert in this commentary that agents for short sale and loan mod commit ethics breaches and violate their duties to their prospective clients by telling them a mortgage exam is not always the best way to go when the opposite is obviously true.

Mortgage Attack and Mortgage Exam ALWAYS Come First

Mortgage Attack paradigm demands that the mortgage examination ALWAYS comes first in an effort to deal with a troubling mortgage.  In point of fact, a mortgagor who owes more for a property that its actual value, and a mortgagor facing foreclosure, should ALWAYS purchase a comprehensive mortgage examination by a competent professional FIRST AND FOREMOST, before doing any other thing, to minimize the danger in the mortgage.  ONLY a mortgage examination can give the mortgagor the necessary negotiating leverage for dealing with a bank and its stable of attorneys.

You'll Earn More Commissions If You DO THE RIGHT THING

Agents for short sale and loan mod seem so terribly desperate for commissions that they will sacrifice the mortgagor client's best interest by denigrating a mortgage exam as the primary step in resolving the mortgagor's problems.  That is, plainly, unethical and immoral.


Thus the gauntlet becomes the challenge to do the right thing.  Recommend a mortgage examination for all of your clients as a prerequisite for doing business with them.

Here's How...

Contact me NOW for free help with that process.


Call 727 669 5511 • Or Click Here.

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Bob Hurt            Blog 1 2 3   f  t  2460 Persian Drive #70 Clearwater, FL 33763 Email Call: (727) 669-5511 Law Studies: Donate   E-Letter Subscribe Learn to Litigate with Jurisdictionary