Kramer and Kaslow.com review: LOAN MOD SCAM 29

In a loan modification, you submit pay stubs, bank statements and hardship letters and plead with the clerks of the bank asset manager to modify your loan. If they don't like you, they can tell you your paperwork is lost or say you're missing page 47, and ask you to send it all over again. Or they can tell you that their outsourced loan mitigation company is no longer being used, and they don't have any of your paperwork.

Obtaining legal services is different. You don't go to the bank, you go to court. Often, attorneys don't get paid when they don't get a retainer. The reason why a loan modifier shouldn't be paid up front is because they can't deliver. The bank is under no obligation to change the loan terms.

When you go to court, you ask the judge to consider compliance with the Uniform Commercial Code and the Patriot Act. The bank has no real defense. They sell the loans into mortgage pools and no longer have an economic interest in the loans. It is as though to tore up the promissory note and deed of trust into thousands of pieces and sold off the pieces. Each piece holder has their rights to their piece, but they can't foreclose unless they get all of the other pieceholders to reconstitute the document. Another example is a cow. You can turn a cow into hamburgers. Each mortgage pool certificate holder has their rights to their hamburger, but they can't turn hamburgers back into a living, breathing cow that can foreclose on a defaulted loan. The securitization process kills the cow and it can't be resurrected -- if challenged in court.

Another thing your lender cannot do or will not do is produce a history of all of the mortgage pool certificate holders. Under the Patriot Act and international money laundering laws, the banks need to show legitimate proof of funds. No one should want their monthly mortgage payments to go to drug lords, terrorists, illicit countries or other illegitimate sources.

So even though the attorneys at the California Dept of Real Estate disagree, the offering of litigation services is not the offering of loan modification services.

I found a property in North Las Vegas that had issues with the loan. I purchased it without clear title or title insurance and sued the foreclosing parties. I paid the attorneys up front as I am testing Nevada securitization law. It's been 10 months and we are in discovery now. We are asking for the removal of the loan and treble (i.e. triple) monetary damages.

The real fraudsters are the major banks. They don't care about your loan or situation because they sold the loan. They designed option ARMs where your payment doubles after a 2, 3, 5 or 7 year period. They use "extend and pretend" accounting instead of marking defaulted loans down to market, and pled with Congress not to make them use mark-to-market accounting.

Appraisals are always based on current market. They're not based on taxable income or any cash flow approach. Larger multi-family properties tend to follow the 1-4 unit residential markets and are similarly misstated. The result is a pump and dump scheme where property values go way up and then crash. And all of the mechanisms are still in place for a repeat once confidence returns.

We need to take control. You should know your lender and they should know you. Local credit unions are a good alternative. Unless your bank is holding your loan to maturity, they are just loan brokers -- dishonest stewards. And it's time to put an end to the nonsense. The CEO of Taylor, Bean, a subprime lender is serving life for selling the same loans three times. It would be kind of like selling your home 3 times, taking the money and leaving town while 3 families all try to move in.

There is a lot most people just don't know about because they never question. Major banks complain about systemic failure unless they get bailout funds. What they're really doing is holding your money hostage. They are literally saying, "give us more taxpayer money. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to your bank accounts, now would you?"

The end result of all this offloading of risk by banks is that would be borrowers will also opt out of risk and choose to rent instead. Landlords will use non-traditional sources of financing like private equity, joint ventures and hard money to acquire properties with cash. What the banks are practicing is not capitalism, but fraud.

If you are a borrower or an investor, call me.

Michael Carrigan, [protected]

Under HAMP regulations they banks are supposed to look at a modification and not push you into foreclosure while they put the file into review. Guess what really happens? They sit on the file long enough for them to obtain the legal ability to take your home. The banks are the bad guys here, I have been fighting foreclosure for three years and the bank lied to me over and over again. The government came up with the Making Home Affordable plan to help slow the foreclosure rate. It has not helped as the government did not enforce it! Many well intended modification companies (and some not so well intended) have bit the dust. Do your research on MERS and see if your loan was sold through them, If so do a loan audit and see if they have the paperwork to legally foreclose. Then if they don't I would recommend legal action, there is plenty you can do if you are in trouble and in danger of losing your home, fight the banks. Do yourself a favor and see the movie "Inside Job" it explains how the financial industry got here to begin with. The Kaslow and Kramer firm was a loan modification specialist the banks are not approving loan mods like you think they should. So they switched from asking for a loan mod to suing the banks. Bank of America paid .03 cents on the dollar in stock trade for Contrywide Loan inventory, that was a deal the government gave them and how are they treating those folks? Foreclosures at a record pace, when one house payment would pay them back on the investment and then some. What about Chase Bank? They paid a fraction for WAMU inventory and they are not helping the people who need it either. Just ask anyone who had Chase stock when they bought WAMU they did really well. Now they are not helping either just sitting on documents and pushing people into foreclosure.

Kramer & kaslow, Mass Joinder lawsuit Scam, Scam Scam
Kramer& Kaslow law, Mass Joinder Litigation Lawsuit, Mailing Is a fraud! Please don’t fall victim to these scammers who are fraudulently using a reputable lawyer’s name and reputation to scam people out of $5, 000-6, 000. What makes this so hard to investigate is the fact that the scammers are using a recognizable name and litigation that is actually a valid case. But unless you really sign up with Philip A. Kramer, from Calabasas, it is not legitimate. The fraudsters use really similar names, which makes it really hard to decide if it is a scam or not. So Mr. Kramer has tried to put a stop to it by making a cease and desist order on all the fake company’s and websites, that are using his name and reputation to lure you in to there scam. Please don’t be scammed like we were almost and if you were I would like to here from you. Good luck in your quest for justice. Mandelman matters, interviews Mr. Kramer about the Case and the fraud. Please go to his website for the full informatio

I am so confused. I want to believe that these Joinder Suits are legit, because I want to keep my home. And I need to do something soon. I have had a great deal of fraud dealings with my whoever (s) owns my home.I have 3 banks and 2 investment groups claiming my one little house. The recorded documents I can see, along with the MERS involvement is shocking. All I ever wanted was an affordable payment, I did not ask for a principal reduction because I agreed to that loan amount. I got a proposed loan mod, accepted and never got my formal documents. That is yet another way they defrauded me. They want to sell my home for 40% less than I am willing to pay for it-that is appalling. They should at least give me a chance.
I do not want to throw good money after bad, but I see the complaints (lawsuits) that Mitchell Stein and Kramer and Kaslow have filed, along with the results thus far. In the B of A lawsuit, they have gotten injunctions and it looks to me like an agreement to settle the loans. Anyone who knows what is really happening, maybe you are in this B of A suit or one of the others and know for sure, please help us with your experience. It would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Sorry for the grammer my littles ones were tugging at me and I hit send before i reread it. :)

These guys are a joke. I will not get into the whole story, but I have done more work them and they have had 8 months to do it. They forged documents and advised to miss payments to the bank to make their job easier. SCAM SCAM SCAM!

Here is the offer I got. The notice has (suppposedly) to do with a lawsuit with First Magnus Financial Corp., (where my loan originated), whereas they are seeking (supposedly) $75, 000 per individual. In a call to them, they offered to be able to not only get this $75K settlement, but reduce my principle by 20% (another 50K) and get me a 2% 30 yr/fixed mortgage. (Note: I am totally current on mortgage, which I informed him). As I have always heard, if something sounds to good to be true, and almost always is!

While these guys may be involved in some legit business practices, they seem to also be engaging in frivolous and misleading actions. I just received an official looking notice of a class suit against Wells Fargo, claiming my loan is fraudulent, and that their aim is to simply void my mortgage, giving me 100% ownership of the house. They use an IRS-looking form # at the top, trying to look as official as possible. While I'd love for a bank to hand me over a 700k house and cancel what has been a perfectly good loan (not a "liar's loan" or subprime), I'm going to lump this in the same pile as 100 other loan modification and prop tax reduction offers from third parties.

All of you sound like victims... Victims of your own incompetence. Read contracts, be patient. Results never happen in less than 90 days. It took them 120 days or more to get me a mod. I am a mortage broker and most likely one of my agents sold one of you in this chat your mortage. So let me tell you this, younger most likely ignorant and do not understand finance or mods in any way shape or form. This is what 80!percent of the US think: I am the victim! And it not my fault! Bs, most of you chose to sign loans you could not afford and did not read or understand because you are uneducated or ignorant to the common sence that come with spending and lending. Be responsible and assume the action of getting your self in this problem and don't blame it on a service you signed into that stated clearly in the contracts that results are not gareenteed nor is a time line or progress. You all signed a contract for negotiating your loan, not suing your lender. If you want to get mad go look in the mirror, you made your own financial future. Kramer did good things for my Newport Coast home and same with my brother Craig. For all of you from different offices battling it out in this chat, stay out keep this fornthe consumers not the companies so fight each other.

These guys are ###s, they didn't even know that an MHA Refinance program exists and the guy hung up on me. More than likely they will rip you off

I wont start off with "OK" or "First Off". But I will end with this, I do not work or have worked for kramer and kaslow. I am a client and due to the horrible customer service and lies I was given by this office I only have one thing to say. I will get my money back one way or another. You just cant do this to people. When will you ### of the earth understand that. Enjoy your time.

This is ashame, there's and old saying thats very true "divide and conque" I have been going from site to site doing reserch on Kramer and Kaslow and others about the new suit being brought against BOFA which is exactly what we need to even the odds when taking on a multi-billion dollar banking Giant and all i see is dissenion like cockroaches when the lights are turned. As if this is n't harded enought to fight these people. We cant seem pull together for the common good of all.

I wish those of you talking about fraud when a 3rd party uses your name to talk to your lender would get your facts straight. When an emergency situation exists, such as a foreclosure or trustee sale of the deed, it can be necessary for ANY good company to call the lender saying that they're the borrower. Why? Because the Authorization you signed as a client to allow them to call on your behalf takes 48 to 72 hours or more to be posted to your account. If the negotiator waits that long to talk to the lender it could be too late and you lose. Because you have provided information such as your name, address, social security number and date of birth to the 3rd party...and signed your consent...it is not fraud. Especially because they're doing it to save your property...not theirs.

first off, they are not trying to help nobody. they are in this business to make money, thats all they care, they care NOT about helping, but only care to make profit.which is ok, but why do they need to send stupid notices made to look like they are coming from chase, when as a matter of fact they (K&K) are the ones sending the notices.
this method says a lot about how they are trying to lure customers
i'm not surprised they tried to call the bank, pretending it was on your behalf.it just shows how desperate they are to make a profit, even if it means committing fraud.
why not be upfront with their notices, in which they should explain very clearly that it takes time to mod the loan and also it would cost money big time to do it.
just another law firm preying on very little knowledgeable people in this mod loan matter

Ok first of all I do know that a couple of you are against he company because you used to work for them and couldnt keep up with your clients so you had to leave. -) Secondly this is one of the only companys that is actually tryingto help homeowners considering they do not take themodification approach. I've tried to get a mod twice and it failed. Getting with them is tyhe only option we have left, They stopped my sale withoutme signing upw ith them.! Trust me .. they have home owners in mind considering their own family are signing up with themk /. Thanks you

Franklin Gutierrez, I agree totally with you! Kramer and Kaslow saved my house and lowered my payment, its shocking that all these people, or maybe just one person with too much time and jealousy can do..lol
For this law Firm to be treated like this by competitors is awesome, it shoes you that when your the best the others really do try to knock you down. They got me results and I wake up everyday in a home thats still mine and one that I can now afford!
My favorite complaint is the one that give links to their own site, thats awesome..lol
These complaints are as false and lies, I would have lost my house if I would have listened to you fools!

Listen, the bottom line is this. Don't be upset with Kramer & Kaslow or any other loan modification firm. They are simply trying to help you achieve what the banks are MANDATED to do if they took TARP funds. If you paid a loan mod firm and they were not able to get you a PERMANANT LOAN MOD chances are it is because the banks are not willing to do for you what they are REQUIRED TO DO. This is the reason for the pending lawsuit against Bank of America and Countrywide Home Loans. I paid Kramer & Kaslow to do my modification and was told upfront like I'm sure most of you were as well that it could take time to accomplish. I knew what to expect going into this, and yes it did take a little longer than expected, but I ended up getting my mortgage reduced by about 40%. Loan Mod companies are in business because they provide you a service. Simple as that. Yes you can do it on your own, but unless you have the time, energy effort or education, good luck. These are proven attorneys who have the knowledge and experiecne to cut through all the BS to find out if the bank will modify your loan or not. That's what you are paying for.

Kramer & Koslov and all of it associated are scammer..no is legit. Don't waste your time getting your money back from them.

I do not work for this firm, or any other loan modification firm at this time. I have 12 years experience working in Real Estate and Real Estate Law. I was the Operations Manager of a large national lender. I have worked on loan modifications for the lenders/servicers/investors against companies and firms like Kramer and Kaslow.

First of all, although it is illegal in many states, including California and Florida, to take upfront fees for a loan modification, most law firms charge for other services necessary for the modification to be submitted. This can include financial reports, profit and loss statements, forensic audits, and federal court filings against MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems). Courts are now establishing precedents stating that since MERS is electronic servicing, and that no electronic system can sign or record a deed, (simplistic explanation) that homeowners have recourse against lenders and investors using MERS. This is the next big thing in non-modification options for homeowners.

Unfortunately, there are many scam artists as part of every industry. There are scam artists in the pizza business, in religion, in banking, etc. The best way to see if your company is a scam or not is to ask what do they give you in exchange for your fee. If the only thing they do is take your application, which you fill out, and turn it in to the lender without compiling/generating a comprehensive and customized financial report...it's probably a scam. If they say they do all the negotiation for your modification, that's BS because there is no negotiation on modifications. There's only communication to determine missing forms, providing updates and presenting your written application. For foreclosure sales postponement there is a sort of negotiation that must be done, as well as with settlements on 2nd loans.

You shouldn't be paying more than about $2500 for a standard modification package, including the financial paperwork and reports. That pays for the staff's time to continue calling your lender for months, completing the financial reports, reviewing and auditing your documentation and submitting and re-submitting your application. If they tell you that you're paying more to have an attorney work your case, run. Attorneys don't get involved in the paperwork, and definitely not in the process of calling your lender and waiting on hold for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. They have assistants for all of that. For court filings, such as a Fraudulent Foreclosure, Temporary Restraining Order or Federal Filing, an attorney will be necessary...but then you're talking about a $5000 to $6000 minimum retainer fee.

Lastly, there's no such thing as a bank paying the modification company or the attorney at the end of the mod process. This is not like a mortgage loan escrow. Unfortunately, laws designed to protect consumers by restricting or forbidding advance payments have taken most professional, honest companies and laws firms out of the business, and increased the number of scam artists.

Good luck.

I definitly smell somthing fishy here. I was contacted by someone from Kramer and Kaslow about my mortgage situation and they said they could represent me in court and that they have what is called a leader court case wich is kind of like a civil class action suet and that it was already filed in court in Ca. where my property is and for $3500.00 they would ad me and they would try to win my case getting my house free and clear Not a Mod. If at worst it would give up to 2years in the house mortgage free for it could be tied up in court for that long. I have done extensive research on these guys with help from my private in vestigater freind and have found that this is not a real law firm you can buy the web.site and start your own scam office. All they will do is set you up with a third party negotiator and that releaves them of all responcability other than to take your cash. they act more as a referal to attorny's or legal aids. In some cases they have helped some people out for publicity and take credit for things they had nothing to do with the resalting positive outcome. I asked them for proof of this case that they were going to add me to in Ca. and they sent me a copy of the case filing and complaint with all the info. (wich is public record) anybody can get this info. It had the Lawyers listed addresses and phone #. So I called all the firms listed on the file. One firm told me that this case was indeed filed on such date but no other litigans can be added to there case. As for Kramer and Kaslow he had never heared of them. He then told me to contact him in Jan, 2011 that he would be starting another case and will add me at no cost to me. Thats right free. They will make the banks pay all cost in the end. This was directly from an attorny representing the case right in my home town and will definitly be contacting him in Jan, 2011. Just do the research folks and ask many questions and investigate them on everything they claim. DON'T beleave links that they provide to be accurate and ligite cross examine everything before you give any money. I must say they did help me, buy sending me the info on this case. I have possibly found a lawyer threw them and did'nt have to give them a dime. If your smart you can't get scammed!

I have been approached by a representative in Kramer and Kaslow law firm recently and said they can help for my loan modification with low interest rate as low as 2% and principle reduction to current market value even if I have $1 million in hand. It is too good to believe. The reason cited was that Los Angeles court has ruled for the lawsuit against Bank of America for the practice they used called "Mortgage Electronic Recording Systems" (MERS) was illegal. They need $6000.00; $2000.00 in installments. The process, first they file an injunction to the court. The bank should respond to it within 30 days, if not secondly, file a paper 998. If none was responded by the bank, it will go in to litigation.
I am very skeptical about this story and even the process. Does anyone has an insight to this. Please respond.

To Tall Goddess or anyone else concerned:

83 days ago a posted an email to tall goddess that contained an error and typo in the last sentence I wrote that said, "Kramer/Kaslow may be legit, but not Reliant Legal Services." The "but not" portion was a mistake in the sentence and also Reliant Legal Network is not "Reliant Legal Services, " Reliant Legal Network is a legitimate business that's connected with Kramer & Kaslow.

Sincerely,
John McCoy

To Whom It May Concern,

I have been a client of Reliant Legal Network in association with Kramer & Kaslow since July 21, 2010. Because of my situation, they may or may not be able to reach a resolution with my lender who is unwilling at this time to grant approval for a loan modification. After 280 days, I would expect that they would honor our contract and pay me back the $2500 I paid to them. I am solely responsible for my life situation which is preventing lender cooperation, and this has little to do with Reliant Legal Network. In my case, I need to be employed f/t again, living in the home; after which I might try and find a renter to rent one of the rooms and that might prevent the foreclosure sale. The probability of this happening is low.

John McCoy
Sebastopol, CA

so reliant legal services is legit? i called them and i liked what they said, i was just skeptical of the 3500 dollars up front. but if it's legit i would do it to save my house. i havent paid a payment in 2 years. not sure what to do.

The Reliant Legal Network is 100% legitimate. I've done my modification through them and worked with Alex from their sister office and even referred my grandmother and aunt to him. The only downside was there is a fee of $3500 but it was worth it because I got to keep my home and avoid foreclosure.

Dear Tall Goodess,

I was reviewing some of postings of complaints about Kramer/Kaslow in Calabassas, CA and was wondering the name of the person you were working with in Irvine, CA? I have been talking with Megan in Irvine that works for Reliant Legal Network. Is this a legitimate service working with Kramer/Kaslow or not? For reference, I noticed your posting of a compliant that was worded as follows: "I was solicited by Chip Skinner at a Pleasanton, CA satelite office. The people supposedly negotiating with my lender were in Irvine. Michelle Ochoa was the rep calling Chase and "impersonating" me"...

In my case, the home is in WA state, but I live in Santa Rosa, CA. The house is rented, but a auction is scheduled for the lender to sell the place on October 1st. Kramer/Kaslow may be legit, but not Reliant Legal Services.

Sincerely,
John McCoy
[protected]

well I am in florida and they just sent my mother in law a paper saying that they could help her but before they do anything she would have to pay 800 upfront and she is skeptical of their services.I thought it was illegal to ask for money upfront on a loan mod. Well I don't know for unsure but I will do my homework to see if they are trying to scam her because they can't even come to see her if they are in ca and we are in fl so how do we know if it is legit!

Disenchantedcy, what is your agenda? How is it possible that a firm would even be able to stay in business if they collected your money and did nothing? I doubt you were a real customer. What office were you working with?

I used this law firm and it was most definitely NOT a scam. I spoke to the attorney directly and was pleased to see he personally supervised the processing of my case. The process took about 90 days and I ended up saving over $700 a month.