Many people today are suffering the loss of their jobs, their income and their homes. Legislation has been passed by Congress in an attempt to help these diligent home homeowners, who through no fault of their own are losing their homes to foreclosure proceedings by the banks and lenders. These desperate homeowners are contacting their banks and lenders in an attempt to modify their loans, for example by reducing their monthly payments, by reducing interest rates or tacking unpaid mortgage payments on to the end of their loan.

The banks received TARP funds, "bail out" monies, from the Federal Government with the intent to enable the banks to begin loaning money and/or modifying existing loans to stimulate the economy and assist these desperate homeowners who have fallen on hard times. However, no matter what you hear, the banks are NOT loaning money.

Instead, homeowners are being given the "run around". Homeowners make innumerable calls to their lender inquiring about a loan modification. Most of the time, the homeowner is met with no answer. Messages are left on the lender's voice mail; however, the messages are seldom returned. When a homeowner is fortunate enough to speak to a lender's representative, phone calls are put on "hold", disconnected, transferred, shuffled from person to person and department to department. Some homeowners state they have made over twenty (20) phone calls in a month and sent multiple copies of requested documents to their lender. When the homeowner is finally able to speak by telephone to an agent he/she is repeatedly informed that the agent could not find the homeowners documents, that the homeowner needs to call another department (often ultimately directing the homeowner's calls back to the first person to whom they had spoken, or, that the homeowner's documents were under "review"). The homeowner is often presented with a "plan" which is not a "loan modification" but a "forbearance" plan in which the homeowner is offered a payment plan (take it or leave it) with monthly payments in excess of their original monthly payment. This was not the intent of the Congress when they agreed to "bail out" the banks. In fact, this creates an even greater hardship for the homeowner. Meanwhile, the bank or lender is instructing its servicing agent to start foreclosure proceedings against the homeowner who is behind by several months payments while trying to communicate with and negotiate with their lender for a loan modification. While the bank/lender has started foreclosure proceedings through its servicing department/agent, at all times the homeowner is continually reassured that the bank/lender is processing their paper work for a loan modification; or that the homeowner is in compliance with a forbearance agreement for mortgage payment between the parties. At worst, this is intentional. At best this is a case of "the left hand not knowing (or caring) what the right hand is doing". Ultimately, the conscientious homeowner, while believing he/she is in negotiations for a loan modification with the lender, is served a Notice of Default and notice of foreclosure proceedings.

The banks/lenders are acquiring property through misrepresentations and unlawful and fraudulent means. The banks/lenders are in violation of a variety of laws meant to protect the consumer and help desperate homeowners. These violations include, among others, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAM), enacted March, 2009, Truth in Lending Law (TILA), Regulation Z, the Homeowner's Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the California Translation Act, Civil Code §1632, et seq., California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code §1750, California's Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Civil Code §1788, et seq., and in violation of California's Business and Professions Code, §17200, et seq. Lenders/banks through misrepresentations, fraud and breach of contract, in addition to the violations of the statutes referenced above have demonstrated a calculated and malicious intent to obtain an interest in the homeowner's property, by causing the homeowner's property to go into foreclosure. Instead of helping the homeowner, the lender is stuffing its own pockets by building its own real estate portfolio and subsequently packaging the homes foreclosed upon and selling them off as mortgage backed securities, therefore making a profit on the backs of homeowners.

These are not isolated instances. This is a pattern of misrepresentation and fraud perpetrated upon the homeowner. We have heard the same sad story over and over again. The courts are packed with homeowners who have been foreclosed upon and are desperately trying to save their homes. The courts are of little help and more often than not hold on the side of the banks and lenders. These, of course are only the homeowners who have managed to borrow or scrape enough money together to try to fight the banks and lenders who have unlimited resources for legal fees. The rest of the homeowners are in bankruptcy court, courtroom after courtroom, day after day.

Below is a bullet point list of some of the infractions and the unlawful scheme perpetrated by the banks: