Foreclosure Help Providers on Long Island Claim Success

In the midst of efforts by federal and state agencies to clamp down on fraudulent foreclosure prevention companies, there are still many lawyers and loan modification companies on Long Island offering foreclosure help for a fee.

Many of them insist that they are legitimate companies which have successfully provided foreclosure help to hundreds of homeowners in the area.

Salvatore Pane, head of Long Island’s biggest mortgage modification firm Amerimod, said the firm is currently working out loan modification for 1,500 mortgage loans and is managing over 600 employees who are working on a salary or commission basis.

Pane lauded nonprofit housing counselors for their work, but he said choosing a public housing counselor over a for-profit foreclosure prevention professional is like choosing a public defender over a private attorney.

Susan Jouard, a spokesperson for the housing counseling nonprofit agency NeighborWorks America, insisted she does not believe for-profit companies are able to provide better foreclosure help than nonprofit counseling agencies.

But Pane argued that it is not easy contacting banks and lenders for loan modification.

He said that nonprofits lack personnel who have the expertise to negotiate with banks and do not have adequate resources to provide foreclosure help to large numbers of troubled homeowners swamping the offices of nonprofit counseling agencies.

Lawyers have also launched their own loan modification businesses. Brett Margolin has hired legal assistants to do negotiations, sales calls and the legwork. He said he charges one percent of the loan amount and a retainer fee of $1,995.

Since October last year, Margolin has successfully modified 500 loans and has another set of 500 loans in current negotiations. He has increased his modification business partly by acquiring the mortgage cases of three failed loan modification companies on Long Island.

Margolin insists that he is providing foreclosure prevention services legitimately and that his office is doing modifications without violating any law.

Joseph Romano, executive of Farmingdale-based National Modification Service, said his firm has stopped doing marketing strategies that seem to be deceptive to other people such as postcards and Craigslist ads. He said his personnel are informing clients of their rights before they take on the cases.

One lawyer advocating for lower modification fees is Jason Bergman. A foreclosure help provider himself, he said that a loan modification fee higher than $1,250 is too high. He said that his law firm does not charge higher than $1,250. He explained that higher charges for foreclosure help are not justified.

Related Posts:

• Fraudulent Bank Reo Properties Prevention Schemes Abound
• Washington State Cuts Down Repo Homes with $250,000
• Indiana Attorney General Zoeller Fights Repo Homes Fraud
• First-Time Buyers Receive Help to Find Foreclosure Listings
• Nearly 200 Foreclosed Homes for Auction in Muncie