DOES THE CREDITOR OWE THE BORROWER A LOAN MOD?

Many people have suffered when servicers lied to them about the need to miss payments in order to qualify for a loan modification.  But lenders owe borrowers no duty to give them loan modifications.

Lueras, 221 Cal. App. 4th at 68 (defendants "did not have a common law duty of care to offer, consider, or approve a loan modification, or to offer [plaintiff] alternatives to foreclosure," nor "a duty of care to handle [plaintiff]'s loan `in such a way to prevent foreclosure and forfeiture of his property;'" however, "a lender does owe a duty to a borrower to not make material misrepresentations about the status of an application for a loan modification.")

Borrowers should get all loan mod offers in writing, particularly claims that the borrower must miss payments to qualify.

Remember:  An oral agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on!