FAQ

A Loan Modification is a process of negotiating with your lender to obtain a better interest rate, a longer amortization term (e.g. 40-year instead of 30-year) and although not as common as some modification companies claim, in some instances, a principal reduction. As mentioned, they are not as common, but they do indeed happen where the bank actually writes down some of the principal amount. A loan modification is a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a loan which will reduce your monthly mortgage payment that you can now afford allowing you and your family to stay in your home. In many cases a homeowner in need of mortgage help will qualify for a loan modification if the following are met: There has been some sort of hardship that has occurred that is the cause of you not being able to meet your monthly mortgage obligation. You wish to remain in the home. It can be demonstrated that once your loan is modified and your payments are lower, you will have sufficient income each month to afford the new mortgage payment.

A Bilu Law consultant will review the alternatives available to allow you to keep your home. The key to avoiding foreclosure is your taking action and your honest communication! Only through open candid communication with our consultants can we fully help you to stay in your home. For Homeowners having difficulties affording their mortgage payment, there are generally five available options: An investor may allow us to add the delinquent amount to your loan balance or temporarily, or permanently, reduce the interest rate. They may give you a "step-rate" in which they lower your rate and gradually raise your rate. And although not as common as many companies claim, they may agree to reduce your principal amount to assist in making your future mortgage payments more affordable. Forbearance: A forbearance plan is an agreement made between a mortgage lender and delinquent borrower in which the lender agrees not to exercise its legal right to foreclose on a mortgage and the borrower agrees to a payment plan that will, over a certain time period, bring the borrower current on his or her payments. That can include adding on any delinquent mortgage amount to the back of the loan or a separate agreement to allow for payments to catch up on the delinquent amount. A professional will negotiate what's best for you with your lender. Pre-Closure Sale: Bilu Law frequently works with homeowners who have experienced some legitimate hardship and can no longer afford their home. The decision to sell your home under these circumstances is difficult; in addition, fluctuation in real estate markets may leave you in a situation where you have little or no equity. If this is the case, we may be able to assist in the sale of your home. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure: In the event you can no longer afford your home and you cannot go through the marketing efforts or foreclosure; you may voluntarily request to return the property to the investor. If a deed in lieu is approved (after proving extreme hardship to your lender), you hand over the deed to the house to your lender and you walk away from it. This will show negatively on your credit report, but it is not as devastating as a foreclosure would be. Short Sale: A short sale is where you sell your house for less than it is worth. You must prove to your lender that there was a hardship that no longer allows you to afford the mortgage payment and the lender must agree to accept the less than valued sale price.

Consult with one of our attorneys or loan modification specialists about the best possible solution for your individual situation. Call any of the numbers listed on our site and one of our specialists will contact you within 24 hours.

A borrower must prove that a hardship exists. The lender must be willing to accept the short sale proceeds as full settlement of the debt. Often it must be proved that you attempted to sell the house at an amount not less than the current mortgage balance. Can Any Real Estate Agent Assist Me in Selling My Home in a Short Sale Situation? Possibly, but usually you have only one shot to succeed in a short sale transaction, it is therefore highly recommended that you work with a company experienced in short sale negotiations that can properly represent you and is specialized in this field. Bilu Law is not licensed to broker real estate, but we are affiliated with some of the best companies that we know of and will recommend them to you if this is determined to be the best course of action.

Absolutely not, but they will. When a mortgage company forecloses on a property, they usually lose money. It is estimated that each house foreclosed on cost a lender $75,000 in legal and other costs. They lose even more if they are forced to take ownership of the property called (real estate-owned) and are unable to sell the house at a Sheriff’s Sale. Because of the mortgage companies as well as the investor's likely losses on foreclosed properties, there are many ways to either avoid going into foreclosure or to get out of it. Unfortunately, you are one of millions having mortgage problems at this time. You're simply another number to your mortgage company and HUD's government workers and they don't have the proper amount of trained staff to handle this huge influx of families with mortgage problems we're experiencing in this country. While it may be encouraging to know that their financial interests lay in keeping you out of foreclosure, you should also realize that mortgage companies are some of the largest owners of real estate in the world. They will foreclose if they are left without a viable alternative that makes financial sense to them. They just need to be convinced that it is less expensive for them to modify your loan than the cost of foreclosing or Holding your property in REO.

At Bilu Law, we will make you a promise no other firm in South Florida is currently offering: 24-hour legal advice. That’s right, we are not only here to serve you from 9 to 5 on weekdays, but we will also provide you with our personal cell phone numbers and you will be able to contact us immediately at any time, anywhere, and for any reason. That’s evenings, weekends, and holidays included. Our philosophy is that if you are on call, then we are on call. And we understand that board members and property managers are on the front lines, so we don’t ever make you go it alone. We are there for you whenever you need legal advice or services.

Unless the bank has already taken the house back, it is not too late. We may still be able to help you keep your home. Until that gavel comes down at the sale, and your house is sold, it's never too late.

Be wary of firms that service too many communities. Many firms service tens to hundreds of communities across South Florida and beyond. Many of those types of firms tend to wear these lists like badges of honor and rely solely on their lengthy lists of communities to derive new business. They believe the impressiveness of their client list will convey a feeling of security to your homeowners, but you need to ask yourself what is more beneficial to your community? If the firm has serviced other communities for 15-25 years, your community will be “getting in line” behind the hundreds of other communities when it comes to prioritizing and dispensing emergency advice. At Bilu Law, we have the opposite approach: We specifically cap the number of communities we handle at one time to ensure that no homeowner, manager, or association ever has to wait for advice. At no time will your phone calls be ignored, postponed, or put at the bottom of a priority list. We always ensure that your community is treated as our highest priority.

At Bilu Law, we know how difficult and unrewarding the job of a property manager can be. At the same time, we also realize that there is no more important piece of the puzzle to a flourishing community than their property manager. Most property managers are forced to make many decisions on their own, without the assistance of legal counsel. This usually happens due to the fact that attorney time is too expensive, or attorneys are simply unreachable in emergency situations. As our management companies know, we are on your side and know all too well how difficult your job can be. That’s why it is our focus to make our entire office available to you twenty-four/seven. Like we stated earlier, if you are on call, we are on call with you at all times.

Our number-one priority is customer service, and as part and parcel of that service, there is no more important job than securing your association’s finances. At Bilu Law, we have been in the real estate, condominium, homeowners association, land use, and foreclosure business for more than 10 years combined, and we understand what many others fail to understand: Sometimes action needs to be taken to ensure payment from delinquent homeowners and that decision can be very complicated as many factors are involved in deciding a proper course of action. Our attorneys will conduct a full equity search in the public record to confirm whether a foreclosure would be in the best interests of an association. Sometimes foreclosures are unfortunately necessary, but our firm’s experience has made us aware of many other remedies with which to secure paymentIs Your Law Firm Assisting Your Property Manager with Collections & Collections Advice?

Yes, you can prepare your own financials, your loan modification package, and negotiate with your mortgage company all on your own. Just as some people act as their own real estate agents, accountants, or lawyers. Everyone's skill, talent, knowledge, and comfort level are different. However, some important information you may not be aware of is that the lender's representatives will employ intimidation tactics when speaking directly to a borrower that they would never employ when speaking to an attorney or law firm representative. For example, one tactic that lenders will employ when a borrower is negotiating for him or herself is to tell the borrower that they are “wasting their time” applying for a loan modification while they are current on their payments. This is one of the most overused lines in the collection process and it is a myth. While virtually 100% of my clientele have been told this information by their lender prior to hiring our firm, not one lender has admitted to our firm that they employ those tactics. This is just one example of why the old saying goes: “A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.” If you have attempted to negotiate a loss mitigation solution on your own behalf unsuccessfully, please know that it is not at all a reflection of you nor of your ability. Your lender never intended to give you a fair shot in the first place and that is precisely why legal representation is needed to obtain any meaningful solution from a lender. We are well aware that some well-meaning government officials recommend doing this on your own or that you don't need to pay someone to do this for you. We fully cover this issue in the Loss Mitigation section as well. How many financial transactions are as important to the average person as their home? Much like in any important matter, having the proper guidance and representation can make all the difference in the world. It can save you time, trouble and money and ultimately, your home. The individuals that are suffering the longest are unfortunately those trying to accomplish these tasks on their own. Again, almost 100% of our clientele have already tried themselves and failed due to no fault of their own. Don’t blame yourself if you have tried to modify or obtain short sale approval unsuccessfully, call us for more information.

It is actually quite natural because Florida is one of the states with the highest foreclosure rates. Bilu Law was founded out of a desire to help homeowners in all states, but many – if not most – transactions are completely done over the telephone, faxes, and emails – and because it is quite easy to assist and help homeowners of other States we decided to offer our help nationwide.

The total number of hours it takes to work each file from start to finish is approximately 25-60 hours. You can expect that the whole process should take a minimum of three to six calendar months, although this varies depending on the lender and loan involved.

It is legal for a licensed attorney/law firm to collect an upfront fee or retainer. All states vary who may collect a fee upfront, if any, and it depends if the homeowner is current or late on their mortgage payments. Many states now prohibit by law the collecting of a fee upfront from a homeowner that is 31 days late on their mortgage payment and that Loan Modification Companies may only charge for work that is completed. These laws exist to protect homeowners because many fly-by-night companies were opening without the proper experience, licensing, and ethics, and people were not seeing results after they already paid upfront. We're equally appalled by any instances of this and will help you seek recourse.

Many people ask this question. If you are current on your mortgage, we strongly suggest that you do everything you can to remain current. No one from Bilu Law or any of our affiliates will ever suggest that you stop making your mortgage payment. We always believe in "doing the right thing," regardless of the scenario, and the right thing to do is make your mortgage payment on time if you can afford to do so. However, if you find that you are falling behind and there is nothing that you can do to remain current, we're here to help. We have found that there are actually two positive things that come out of this. First, because of the number of families falling behind on their payments, the system is overloaded. Many Lenders have adopted the position that it is best to help those in need the most first. This means that if you're late on your payments, it's more than likely that a lender will review your case before someone that is current. Second, when you've fallen behind on your payments, we have found that most people just stop making their mortgage payments. Sometimes this produces the needed money to afford to pay a Processional to help you with your loan modification.

The most difficult thing about this whole loan modification business is that there are no concrete, set guidelines. This varies from lender to lender and situation to situation. For instance, while you may be presently current, there may be an impending hardship such as you have received a layoff notice, or your rate will be adjusting upward soon. It just varies and until we find out your particular situation it's difficult to give you a firmer answer. That said, we have seen many cases where someone was current and able to get a loan modification.

In our experience, there is no reason for concern here. From all the evidence that we have, this has not been an issue. Remember, the banks, lenders, and mortgage companies and their aggressive loan officers were equally guilty in all of these no-doc and stated income loans. It appears that no one wants to open up that can of worms! No one is concerned about the past, only the future and everyone just wants to do what is necessary to fix this huge national problem and move forward. However, should this issue arise, we would be happy to assist you in finding proper legal counsel to handle a matter such as that.

It varies from lender to lender and case to case. Not always, but often, if someone is several months behind on mortgage payments, lenders will require a good faith payment. We always advise clients that if you have, or you think you will be ceasing to pay your mortgage payment altogether, do not spend this money! Save it because your Lender may require one month or several months’ worth of payments – depending on how far behind you are – to show good faith on your part as part of the negotiated loan modification. If you're many months behind, often a forbearance agreement is the best option whereby the amount in arrears is tacked on to the back of the mortgage or a separate agreement is drawn up where you make additional payments to catch up. Previous clients often prefer and choose payments to be added to the back of the mortgage. Clients have a difficult enough time making the regular new mortgage payments without having the added stress of additional payments to catch up at the same time. Forbearance is an option to be evaluated like any other term in a modification agreement.