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I was contacted by this company shortly after President Obama announced his program for reduced rates and/or modified housing loans to assist folks in need due to loss of job or income in an effort to avoid foreclosure.
I am a disabled person who became a widow in April of '09, reducing my income by about 2/3. The Law Offices of Brian J Colombana (Housing Law Center) promised that I qualified for this program due to the death of my husband and the loss of his income. They basically led me to believe that once they had my financial statements, they would call my lender and within a few hours or a few days at most would be able to secure a new loan for me. They promised a great reduction - possibly even as low as 2% due to my circumstances. They charged me $3000 to act on my behalf negotiating with my mortgage lender. Since June of '09, I paid them $2500, as they agreed to payments because I could not afford to pay all at once.
I scanned all the necessary paperwork - financial statements, P&L statement, bank statements, tax records and a hardship letter, as well as an authorization letter allowing my bank to discuss my loan with them. Once I sent this to them I expected that they would forward to my lending institution. Weeks went by and the bank never received my paperwork. I updated and sent to LOBJC these papers 4 times - and each time the bank did not receive them. Finally in October - a full five months after I contracted with LOBJC, the bank received my paperwork - but only after I researched the bank and came up with the proper fax number and the fact that the bank does not accept electronic faxes. To date - six full months after signing on with them, LOBJC has never contacted my bank, and only managed to get one set out of four faxed to the bank.
During the phone calls I was lucky enough to have answered, I managed to collect five or six names and email addresses - NOT ONE of these people knew what the status of my case was, nor knew what the others had said or claimed. I have discovered that they are completely unprofessional, that they tell lies, do not update your information and that they do not use lawyers to negotiate, but rather real estate agents or other uneducated (in legalese) hires. I was actually told by one gal that they "were attempting to do the services for free" while another said that ''she is not all there''. This is professional? I have gotten nothing but a runaround from this company, and no progress whatsoever.
They have, however, called several times trying to get my final payment - I wrote to all of the contacts I have with LOBJC, informing them that I would not pay the balance until I had some action on my case. They have a bully on staff named Bertha, who has called with threats. She is uncaring, ignorant, arrogant and besides threatening me has actually hung up on me - regardless of my pleas for some action and some help.
In six months time they only managed to fax my financial statements to the bank once. They will not return my calls, or my emails. They do not keep records, they have not called the bank as promised. They have not done any thing that they promised to do. They have in effect STOLEN my money. Money that I cannot afford to lose. Now I find on the internet, countless complaints against this company. I have been the victim of a scam. These people are nothing but ambulance chasers - they want your money, but will not do what they promise. That is my experience with them - they have defaulted on their contract and promises.
I am disabled and I am a recent widow. I watched my husband die of cancer. It took eight months. I am now fighting for my home and I am the victim of a huge scam by a company of uncaring, arrogant bullies who are interested only in my money. If YOU are one who claims to have been helped by this company - good for you, count your lucky stars. If you have also been scammed, like me... lets join together. Perhaps we can start a class action civil suit.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My Husband I were also victims to this scam artist and his employees. They scammed us out of over $3000.00 dollars. I was pregnant with our 4th child. We sent them over all documentation that they requested and once they received our last payment we never heard from them again. They changed all phone numbers and we were unable to contact them directly. We ended up loosing our home to foreclosure after we thought we were doing the right thing to keep it. If there is a lawsuit count us in.
Nothing new to add here except they got me too. Grevious harm done to me and my family because they encouraged us NOT to pay our mortgage while they "negotiated" on our behalf. House is gone, had to move from California to Virginia for a new job, etc.., etc... count me in for a law suit--someone ought to pay.
I don't know if anyone has looked at the State Bar of California but Mr. Colombana has filed responses against the decision to ban him from operating in the State of California, that are quite comical. He either believes he did a good job for all the people he ripped off, including myself or he is the WORLDS BIGGEST LIAR! Go check it out, hopefully you will find it as amusing as I did.
Anybody looking for Brian I know where he is right NOW as of 8/1/2010.
New Business name:
PREP-U-SIGN or PREPUSIGN
22600 - C Lambert St.
Suite 908
Lake Forest CA, [protected]
I will try to get the new phone number...
Your Friend
The [censor] Hunter
If anyone here has any stories about Colombana, Kinney, Wilburn/Gene Malone, or Glen Malone, PLEASE email me at surfsmack@hotmail.com.
These people (and others) have pulled some fast ones on a lot of people, and it is time to stop them.
YEs those three did associate or continue to assiciate with each other...who knows what the deal is but just fyi...the person we all were told was named Gene Malone is actually not...he was the owner of "The Law Offices of Brian J. Colombana that was located off lake forest and mill creek. I believe his real name is Wilburn Malone something I saw a posting somewhere else. They actually used Brian's name and bar number to operate his office. He had some slutty asian that was named jean wong who would be in charge of the office supposively. I wouldnt be surprised if he even ripped off his own employees cause it was just a coincedence that every time I called he had new people working for him and the person I had just spoken to days before no longer worked there. If there is anyone that actually worked for him please post here so that we can try and find a way to get our money back from these jerks!
Can anyone here provide information on any associations with Adrian Kinney, Glen Malone, or Gene Malone? These three people seem to have an association with Colombana, and there are various people now inquiring as to what this association is. They appear to be fronting numerous companies, all inflicitng some level of scam upon unsuspecting people.
Mr. Colombana, if you are reading this, you need to know that these people are using your name in their business...
Any information on dealings with these individuals would be greatly appreciated.
Please post it here, you will be helping numerous people.
My wife and I were ripped off by this company as well. They took our money, it took months for them to attempt to contact our lender, then nothing more. They closed offices in one town and all our contact numbers disappeared. If there's a way to recover our money I'd love to hear it.
Thanks
I will have you know that I have called your phone numbers, I have sent you emails to your numerous email addresses and in the end I went through my own mortgage company to modify and even in that process I am still losing my home. You did not render services that I paid for. And I would very much appreciate a refund.
We closed escrow on our new house and the previous owners are refusing to leave after an approved shortsale saved their credit. We have given them an eviction notice and just received a letter from Law Offices of Brian J Colombana, disputing the sale and the removal of the previous owners. Now that I have read all of your complaints I am surprised that this guy is still practicing law and holding up the moving into my new house. I wish you all well with your fight against such attrocities.
FYI - Hope you all filed your Complaint against Colombana. Fee Arbitration - check out that options, fellow victims!
Here's the latest on Colombana's case with the California State Bar Court.
Case Name: Colombana, Brian John Case Number: 10-TE-1310
Member #: 238272 Venue: LA
Status: Open Case Filed: 04/08/2010
Counsel: Pro Per Deputy Trial Counsel: Timothy G. Byer
Assigned Judge: Richard Honn
Date Description Notes
06/17/2010 Hearing Decision TRANSFER INACTIVE 6007(C) EFFECTIVE DATE: 06/20/2010
06/07/2010 Trial HELD, SUBMITTED
05/20/2010 Hearing Decision VACATE SUBMISSION
05/20/2010 Document ORDER VACATING SUBMISSION DATE AND NOTIC E OF HEARING
05/20/2010 Ruling On Motion Filed 05/10/2010: Granted VACATE ENTRY OF DEFAULT; CONSIDERED BY THE CT. AS MOTION TO VACATE SUBMISSION
05/17/2010 Motion Response VACATE ENTRY OF DEFAULT; CONSIDERED BY THE CT. AS MOTION TO VACATE SUBMISSION
05/13/2010 Trial NOT HELD, SUBMITTED
05/10/2010 Motion: Motion/Request by Respondent VACATE ENTRY OF DEFAULT; CONSIDERED BY THE CT. AS MOTION TO VACATE SUBMISSION
05/10/2010 Document RESPONSE TO APPLICATION FOR INVOLUNTARY INACTIVE ENROLLMENT; MEMO. OF POINTS ETC
04/29/2010 Document SUBMISSION ORDER
04/26/2010 Document DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
04/09/2010 Document DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
04/09/2010 Document NTC OF ASSIGNMENT & NTC OF HEARING PURSU ANT TO AN APPLICATION FOR INVOLUNTARY
04/08/2010 Document APPLICATION FOR INVOLUNTARY INACTIVE ENR OLLMENT; MEMORANDUM OF P&A'S
Check this link.
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/94862462-4a2e-4316-bb6d-c929ffd378d2/News/State-Bar-Wants-to-Revoke-Home-Loan-Lawyer-s-License-After-Complaints
In addition, for all of you who have not yet filed a complaint at The State Bar of California you should do so. Your complain will help to discipline Brian Colombana. This will hep to get a refund of the money he took from you.
We are in the same boat as everyone else that has posted on this jerk. The problem is that I have talked to a local lawyer here in my town and they said that it would cost more money to go after this guy than I was willing to pay and plus he probably does not have any money anyways so then all you will have is a bigger lawyer bill and plus a ruined credit report and no house. Which that is where we are because of this guy. We are doing a short sale just to get out of our house and try and start over because of him. So keep me posted if anybody finds out anymore. 3psinapod@bresnan.net
FYI fellow victims:
Just cruising through the CA State Bar Dockets and found this:
Case Name: Colombana, Brian John
Case Number: 10-TE-1310
Member #: 238272
Venue: LA
Status: Open
Case Filed: 04/08/2010
Counsel: Pro Per
Deputy Trial Counsel: Timothy G. Byer
Assigned Judge: Richard Honn
Date Description Notes
04/29/2010 Document SUBMISSION ORDER
04/26/2010 Document DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
04/09/2010 Document DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
04/09/2010 Document NTC OF ASSIGNMENT & NTC OF HEARING PURSU ANT TO AN APPLICATION FOR INVOLUNTARY
04/08/2010 Document APPLICATION FOR INVOLUNTARY INACTIVE ENR OLLMENT; MEMORANDUM OF P&A'S
--------------
Brian, care to enlighten us about this?
Mr. Colombana apparently you don't know who I am since I never discussed any modification with you. I obtained my modification by filling the application papers directly to the mortgage company and I couldn't be happier. You took $ 2, 990 from me after I was led to believe that the web page http://bailout.hud-gov.us, which I contacted, was associated with the U.S. government. Later on, a federal district court granted the FTC’s motion for restraining order to immediately remove it from the Internet. The reason was that you marketed your “services” by giving the false impression they were affiliated with the federal government. So, from the beginning you were set up illegally and from there on everything else. By the way, the money you took from me came from money I didn’t have: a credit car and from the next month mortgage payment.
I have a copy of my own file and it's so messy that even if the mortgage company had they received it, they would've thrown it to the waste paper basket. It looks like an incomprehensive bunch of papers with no coherence whatsoever. So, stop whining, bulling people around, and face the consequences of you ill advice actions.
2 things you can do
File a complaints on State Bar. They will give you a case .
File a arbitration through your County Bar Association. Country Bar is very good in getting the arbitration and handling such cases.
Also on another complaints thread.. someone is already filing a case against Brian..
T clymer
see Mortgage Relief Law Center Comments - Fraud and lies
Is this the same Brian J.Colombana the had the company Ideal Real Estate Solutions? I was recommended to him by a friend of a friend. Of course, . after I paid my $$$$$, NOTHING. We were turned down by our mortgage company for a loan mod. "TAMMI" said no big deal put it through again. this was back in July of 2009. I have spoke with Alicia, gloria, Tammi, (Tahamra), Jose and a number of others. My fale was taken by Tammi to the law offices of Gregory Alan Baker, back in February. I was told to hang in there. You'll get it. You are SO close! I requested my money after we were turned down but she said she was still trying. I even spoke with the lawyer, G.A. Baker. He said why would you want your money back when you are so close?
Well...after months of not having any calls returned...being fed a crock...I finally got a John Carr to answer my call. He said that the company went bankrupted and that 80 files were turned down for their refund. This call was today. SO, do NOT trust IRS solutions...OR the law offices of Gregory Alan Baker. They held my file for months and now say they have nothing to do with the thing.
Wow, talk about fabrication. I've never been part of your dirty scam, Brian Colombana. If I had been, I would have brought damning evidence to the public about your bogus operation. No, I'm not a former employee or a former competitor at all. I was one of the many people you swindled and lied to with your Loan Modification scheme.
Isn't it funny how this guy claims to do work but fails to respond to phone calls but as you cans ee with his lengthy response, have time to respond online? Publicity - all for the sake of making people or potential client think that he's doing something. DO NOT BE FOOLED!
If you get a mail from this guy or anything associated with this guy, RUN. Keep your money. Work it out with your bank!
We lost our home and it didn't have to happen. The faxing and refaxing isn't even the issue. We were never told that there would not be a modification, therefor we did not sell our home like we could have. Also, I have an email from one of your workers stating that you WILL refund our money should a mod not go through. By the end of our ordeal your customer service rep was "working" on our case. Really? My credit is screwed and I have lost all the money I put into my home in the 5 years that we lived in it. This was one of the worst expereinces of my life and I got to go through it all while pregnant...yeah we have 2 1/2 week old baby which means we were being kicked out of our home while I was due. Thanks for the extra stress in my life. Mr. Colombana, you are an a-hole. You do owe me my money back, and not because I am dissatisfied, but because your employee guaranteed it to me.
Cry me a river, you don't own a home! Good! As for you not getting rich! Thats a joke! You took $3000 from all of us and did nothing! A modification is something you can do without ever paying a penny! So what costs do you have? Especially when you are collecting all these attorney fee's and NEVER doing a thing for your clients!
I have emailed you @ the e-mail you provided, several times! You are a joke! Why don't your phones work? We hired a lawyer, it is expected that we are able to speak to someone with our questions and concerns. What if we need a question answered immediately? As many of us do, we e-mail you and you never return it with a response. I hired you in May of 09! And what did I get for it? A foreclosure! Thanks for ruining the American dream!
What gets me is none of the emails they gave us worked anymore, none of the phone numbers worked, and no one returned our calls during the time we were trying get our modification. As he stated, once you are not happy and want your refund then they want to move on instead of trying to fix their wrongs. So instead of trying to make less money and keeping more people happy, they want more money not caring if people are happy or not.
They figure they can help 10 out of 100 leaving 90 people unhappy or wanting a refund because they took off more than they could chew. Instead they should have helped lets say a smaller portion at a time if they couldn't handle the load which would have had FAR less people wanting their refunds.
This law firm sent out those junk mailers to tens of thousands of people and he told me in a recent email that they got overwelmed. What would you expect when you send tens of thousands of mailers to people near foreclosure? If this lawfirm was over their heads, back in 2009 they should have stopped taking money until they could catch up with their workload. But instead they kept bringing in money as more people became unhappy.
Since he is a lawyer he will stay a float, but if this were a business and treat your customers like this nobody would return and he would go out of business.
OK. I just have one comment! Why dont you return phone calls or answer emails? I am sure many of the people above left plenty of messages but were either dragged on or not returned call backs. If you did this and was upfront honest from the begining or atleast at the point you realised things were not working out, you may have not had some of these complaints.
John J.
Hello all,
This is Brian J. Colombana. I just came accross this post online and I'm surprised that none of you have attempted to contact me. My website www.housinglawcenter.com has our contact email for all questions or follow up. It is STATUS@HOUSINGLAWCENTER.COM. If any of you have any question about what our firm did on your behalf, then you can contact us there. In fact, I still have employees working on files that date back over a year. We haven't taken on a loan modification case in 6 months. If any of you think this business was profitable, you're sorely mistaken. We've spent every dime we ever collected working on these files plus more. I continue to pay processors to work on these files and will continue to do so until they are all completed.
It should also be notable that prior to loan modifications, every business I ever ran had a A on the BBB. We only started this business because we thought we could help people. That apparently backfired for both of us. Notwithstanding, we did help a lot of people and had no complaints until the federal government started pushing programs like Making Home Affordable. In fact, I bet none of you signed up with us before March of 2009, when that program was implemented. I started doing modifications a year earlier and never had a complaint. Moreover, if any of you paid for the modification, then it was because you could afford to pay. We never turned someone away because they couldn't afford our services. We reduced our fee in several instances, as you'll see by the people who paid less than $3, 000 and in many cases we did not charge a fee at all. Yes, we took on many cases pro bono, that is without compensation.
So all of you know, YOU CAN EMAIL US AT STATUS@HOUSINGLAWCENTER.COM and we'll continue helping you with your case. We do not give refunds because you are dissatisfied with our customer service; but we will continue to work on your case. You should all know as well that we've probably taken on close to a couple thousand clients. You'll only find about 50-75 complainants online. Which means a vast majority of our clients had no problem with our services whatsoever. They probably went to our website, found our contact email, sent us an email, and we resolved their matter.
So let me start by responding to all of your complaints in order.
****************
jameck:
For all of you as this comes up a lot, just because the bank doesn't have a record of us contacting them or sending them documents, does not mean that we haven't. If any of you have tried doing this on your own, you will see that it is not as simple as faxing or mailing them documents. You have to fax or email them to the bank, then wait 7 days to see if it shows up in their system. 75% of the time, it won't, which means you have to send it again. That may also mean we'll need your updated financial information. Often times, we'll get the bank to acknowledge receiving documents, then a month later they've miraculously disappeared. No problem they say, we can just resubmit them. It is not a problem that we are the only ones facing. Do an internet search. The banks do it to everybody.
We do not only employ real estate agents. When most of you signed up, we had 4 attorneys, and countless support staff. It is not cost effective to have an attorney sit on hold for an hour to get a status update. If our attorneys did every task, then the modification representation would have costed $50, 000. Also, it is more prudent for us to have underwriters, rather than attorneys, assist in the financial package preparation because they are better equipped to prepare those documents. We are preparing those documents for the banks underwriters so it makes more sense that we have our own underwriters who know what they're looking for.
When we spoke with most of you regarding our representation, we probably told you it would take 2-3 months. That is because prior to March, it was taking 2-3 months. However, we had no way of knowing that the cases we were taking at that time, would take 6-12 months. That is because just like you all, everyone else was seeking a modification from the lenders. They became overwhelmed.
Also notable, when we told you what we could expect to see in the modification, we were using the federal guidelines for Making Home Affordable to qualify you. Under that program, if you have a qualified hardship, the program should reduce your monthly payment to approximately 31% of your gross monthly income. There are some exceptions but the clients we took on, all met that criteria. However, the lenders never followed through. They gave out hundreds of thousands of trial modifications, but only a handful of permanent modifications. We do not control the banks. If they don't fulfill their obligations under the federal program, we cannot force them. The greatest error we made was assuming that the banks would follow through with what they said they would do.
While we were working on all of your files, the State of California, pushed legislation to prevent loan modification firms from collecting up front fees. It passed and completely tore apart every loan modification company in California. We were basically all shut down overnight. I even notice from several of your postings that many of you didn't pay your entire retainer fees. In fact, if we didn't charge up front, most of you wouldn't have paid. Not because you're dishonest, but because you have other priorities like food and shelter. You are all facing financial hardship, it does not make sense for us to collect after we finish the work. I don't know of any transactional attorney that works on that model because it just doesn't work. Despite losing our entire income stream, we have continued to work on the files the best we can. Apparently, you did not see our website post directing all inquiries to status@housinglawcenter.com. If you send an email there, we will help you out.
I can guarantee to you that we did work on your file because I've never seen a file we didn't work on. We did most of the work the first week after you signed up. That is really the bulk of what we charged you for. Prior to the Making Home Affordable Program, we only had to prepare the package, submit it to the lender once, and we'd get a response in about 60-90 days. We charged $3, 000 based on that model. However, after MHA, we had to prepare the package 3 times because we had to submit it 5 times. We had to sit on hold with the lender for an hour every time to find out they didn't have it. Then we had to resubmit updated financial information every 3 months because the lender still didn't get the chance to review the package. Hindsight's 20/20 but we would have charged much more if we knew what was coming. This is the largest reason for the lack of customer service. Files were coming in and none were getting done in the 60-90 days we expected. Our client base ballooned and we didn't charge enough to expand accordingly.
Ripped off in New York:
We never ran anywhere. If I told you we did the work, it's because I had the work product sitting in front of me. We don't make that stuff up. If we estimated that your rate would be about 3%, that was based on the MHA formula. That formula was provided to us by the federal government. If that was not the rate you received, then the lender did not follow through with the program. When it comes down to it, we are representing you, not selling you a modification. We are also not guaranteeing a modification. It is in every one of your retainer agreements under "Disclaimer of Guarantee".
More Aware:
So all of you know, "More Aware" is an ex employee of ours that we terminated. We sued her for making slanderous statements against our company. Her post is inaccurate at several levels. I did have a company named "Fast Pace Funding" but her address is completely inaccurate. I don't even know where that address would have even come from, we were in Lake Forest, not Costa Mesa.
We were never shut down by the Department of Corporations regarding loan modifications. My mortgage company had a California Finance Lenders license that expired. As we didn't renew, they issued a Revocation, which is at the link provided above. It has nothing to do with our loan modification practice.
We were also never shut down by the State Bar. Several states ordered us to cease and desist taking future clients in those other states, so we agreed and closed our doors. Those cease and desists were not the result of the work we did on our loan modification. It was more about those states specific licensing laws. The State Bar did start 2 investigations against our company. 2 of our clients complained that we didn't do any work on their behalf because their lender told them that. However, it turned out we did a ton of work on their behalf and our files on those clients were several inches thick. We did all the work we said we would do. Hence, those investigations were not pursued.
Tien Trinh:
As you can see from his post, we did submit everyone's loan modification packages. His was declined by the lender, even though he was initially prequalified. I recall his case and believe that we even offered to resubmit his package for free. We are attorneys, we cannot win every case. He is correct about the amount of work that goes into reviewing, analyzing, preparing, and submitting the loan modification package. That does cover about 90% of the fee we billed. His anger should be directed at his lender, or his broker who got him into the loan that he could not afford.
JP13:
Believe me, we do not like having to ask you to resubmit documentation over and over again. We do not benefit when your cases take a year. We would like everyone's case to take one day and for you all to get outstanding rates and principal reductions. We ask for that in every package. However, your lender may not agree and will offer you something differently.
We never advised someone to miss their payments. In fact, if you want to keep your house, you should make your payments on time for the next 30 years. I imagine that was no longer possible which is why you all contacted us. If your lender required you to be delinquent on your mortgage to qualify for a modification, then that is what we would tell you. You must be delinquent. I'm not advising you to go delinquent but if you didn't we would not have taken on your matter. It's solely your decision. It should be noted that later on, many lenders said that people who were current would qualify for a modification. So we told people that we should be able to help them, even if they're not behind. Well, it turned out the banks lied and decided that they were too busy to get to files that were current on their mortgage. Those files were not a priority to the lender.
slg0729:
Again, just because your lender said they haven't heard from us does not mean they haven't. Every bank said that to every one of our clients. I spoke with a bank one day and they called the client later that same day and told them they'd never heard from us. It's all over the internet so I don't know why you would think we're the only company this ever happens with. Your anger is all based on what your lender told you; that is, we never submitted everything to them. Well, why haven't you requested a copy of your package from us? That way I could show you what we sent them. I saw your file and that is why I told you that we did the work. Obviously, we're not going to give you a refund when I did the work on your behalf and you in fact got a loan modification.
Dean Cordell:
I'm a little upset about your post. I'm still working with you and Daniel on your case to this day. Please take some time and look at some other loan modification companies that shut down after SB94 took effect in California last October. Look up "Home Relief Services." They really didn't do anything after they took people's money. The other companies didn't continue helping their clients like I am. They shut down. I have been footing the bill to make sure you all still get some help, even though I'm no longer able to take on new business. Yes, you have to hire a local attorney for your court action as I cannot represent you in that. I also did not agree to represent you in that. If you look at the retainer agreement, you'll see that litigation or foreclosure actions are not included in the retainer fee.
Ed Munson:
I do not recall of your case off hand but if you went to our website and sent an email to the address listed, you would have gotten a response within 24 hours. If you try now, I'd still be willing to help you out.
Silvia Oseguera:
I recall all four of your homes. I did a tremendous amount of work on your behalf. That is what you paid for. You paid for me to help you save your homes. I ONLY CHARGED YOU $995 FOR EACH OF YOUR HOMES! What did you expect? Did you expect that I would devote the next 6 months full time to your cases. For $4, 000, you get about 10-20 hours attorney times wherever you go. That's it. You got about 5 to 10 times that from me. If I could do it all over again, I would not have taken your cases, you can be sure of that. I spent $500 in just paper and ink for your files, they fill up a banker's box.
Malquez:
I haven't heard from you otherwise so I'm wondering why you never sent us an email. We were not shut down by the FBI. We were shut down because the business wasn't worth it. The state passed legislation preventing us from collecting advance fees, the banks were backed up to the point it was taking 6-12 months to get a modifications, they were losing all our documents, they would deny our clients after they told us previously they were qualified.
JGH:
Your handle does not indicate your case so please email me at status@housinglawcenter.com and we can probably help you with whatever problem you've been having. I can't help you with something if you don't let me know what the problem is.
Alext:
Similarly, I can't figure out who your parents are without more information. You need to send me an email and we can help them out.
JuanBen:
If you're who I think you are, I recall discussing your modification with you. We saved you a lot of money off your payment and you were upset because you were hoping to save even more. You're just being greedy. Have any of you ever thought of asking me for a copy of your file so you can see the work we've done? None of you ever asked for a copy of your file. You all just assumed that because the bank said nothing was submitted, that we didn't do anything. The State Bar will ask for a copy and I can assure you all of your files are substantial. So before you start jumping to conclusions, just ask.
JPC05:
Have you tried emailing us? I can't decipher your case from the handle so email me and I'm sure we can help you with whatever the issue you're having is. By the way, we will continue to help you but we do not give refunds because you are dissatisfied with our customer service.
Jasonp12:
I think we've already discussed all this. In Jason's case, he moved from his home to another state. The bank thought he abandoned his house and changed the locks. The security company they hired stole much of his property. To this day, Jason still owns his home because we've gotten his last 7 sale dates postponed. We got his lender to change the locks back. We did a lot of work on his behalf and are still working on his matter. We are not bank regulators. If the banks violate your rights, and they change your locks, or lose your documents, or don't give you the modification you're entitled to, take it up with them. I can only do so much as an attorney. The banks know they are large and powerful and can do pretty much whatever they want without recourse. They're basically getting free money from the government so what recourse could their actions really have.
Catherine Sheperdson:
We are not on the scam list because we are not scamming people. In every case we've taken on, we did the work we said we would do. We reviewed all of your documents, all of your financials, prepared all of your financial worksheets, reviewed all of your hardship letters, prepared all of your loan modification packages, and submitted all of your documents to the bank. Most of you on this message board are upset because either 1) the bank told you we did nothing and you believed them, or 2) you acknowledge that we did work on your behalf but you didn't like the result.
Actually, after reading your post more thoroughly, I don't think you are our client at all. You appear to have signed up with another company. You'll want to look them up online and contact them as soon as possible. I can't comment on the veracity of your comments as I'm really not familiar with their operation.
djoanna:
If you stay in contact with us and use the status@housinglawcenter.com email, I doubt you'll ever have a problem with our service.
Donney:
Your handle does not indicate your case to me so if you email us, I'll be able to help you. You mention our "days are numbered" but their actually over. We're done taking on new files. I tried to help a lot of people and it backfired on us. However, email us and we'll continue to help you out.
****************
So you all know, many of the people who worked for our company were in the same position as you. Half our staff was facing foreclosure just like our clients. Some of the people who work with us have been doing so on a volunteer basis because we all want to help you out. We don't want to see anyone lose their homes. We didn't get rich. I don't drive a fancy car, I don't even own a home. I've spent every dime I ever made with this business trying to continue paying people to help you all out. I've had to take alternate employment just to pay for this.
Again, if you email us at STATUS@HOUSINGLAWCENTER.COM, we'll get back to you and do our best to help you. Please do not send emails here if you're just interested in a refund. It only distracts our employees and takes them away from getting to other more urgent clients issues. Besides, our agreement states that our clients have only 5 days to cancel and receive a refund. It's long past that and we've done the work you all paid us to do, despite what your bank may have told you.
Best regards to you all,
Brian J. Colombana
I too have been affected by this group. The practices of this "firm" are unethical, unprofessional, and down right illegal. Somehow they seem to circumvent the law and continue to do business. This business and it's associate's days are numbered. People are getting hurt, they're losing their money and homes while this firm is laughing all the way to the bank. Action will be taken and justice will be served. Mark my words.
oooo noooo my mom and dad just got him to help them out and paid him already.he better not do us wrong ! if not im going to take action and give him wat he diserves a big fat law suit...!
Count me in havent heard anything since they recieved my payment if u would like keep me informed about the lawsuit the more the better.
Hello,
My Husband and I suffered the same rip-off as well. I am disabled, which cut my salary 75%, and my husband was injured on the job. We were worried our variable rate was to kick in and we would not be able to afford our home. Even with equity in your home, through Workmans Compensation, and SSI, we have no Proof Of Income to refinance. So, we looked into a Home Modification program. We are savvy to scams. I went on-line to the known scams. This company was not on the list. I looked each day for updates to see if they made the list. Satisfied they were legitimate, , We paid the $1, 600.00 amount they asked for to modify our high variable interest rate. Their policy also stated they would not give any legal or finanicial advice. (I did not read the the policy until I thought something was not right.) The initial interview gave us procedures to follow. In order to recieve their payment, we were to not pay that months mortgage, because it will get put on the back end of the loan, once the approval was accepted. They also advised us Not to speak to our mortgage company, Do Not tell them you hired us! ( Which we ignored) This was blantant breech of Contract, advising us both legally and finanically. After numerous refaxing paperwork and in constant contact with Hope Audit Solutions, we had not recieved any compromise. I again attempted to contact Hope Audit Sloution and found another company, General Assistance Modification Center bought Hope Audit out. I contacted these new people and to no advail it has been7 months of nothing and no answer. I told General Assistance, since their company bought out Hope Audit, it was now their responsiblity to refund our monies, since the 30-90 days policy had elapsed. (under Hope Audits policy) Instead I got "We are re-submiitting your paperwork, please be patient." Of course I have not heard or been able to contact anyone from General Assistance.
This has put us behind in our mortgage and possible foreclosure. We then contacted our mortgage company and found they Had Not recieved Any paperwork from Hope Audit, but recieved one from General Assistant. We are very frustrated. since these companies are a" Franchise" and continue to insult us with their lies and scam by delaying us and our money, I would like to bring Legal Action against them. I have every email, fax and paperwork from them to prove they deceitfully STOLE our money and put us in a " State Of Panic". They Are Theives that commited Grand Larceny. If this were us or you doing the same thing, We would been convicted of a felon and heavily fined with maybe jail, probation or community work. Let's not forget, we also would have a legal record that would follow us to our death! Please advise us of any legal action we can take against both of these companies...
Thank you for your time and effort,
sincerely, adamselnsos@aol.com
He screwed my family too... I lived in Colorado till they lost our house and NOTHING ever happened after they got our money..
Ok! We all have the same story! This is ridiculous! SO we all agree on a class action lawsuit, how do we get started? I live in Ohio.
Thanks Slgo729 for the suggestion of contacting the State Bar of California, file a complaint and ask for the application of the Client Security Fund for a reimbursement of the amount lost. For the moment, everybody should start this process. It's a small consolation after being subjected by the Colombana's Rip Off. If anybody plans to start a civil lawsuit I'll join you. In the meantime do what Slgo720 suggested and see what happens.
Same thing happened to my parents they are both in the early sixties and these people just took advange of them. They were very adamant about getting the money upfront, now I know why.
I have requested a refund which is the first recommendation by the attorney general at our state. I am interest on a civilaction lawsuit.
My goodness! This is exactly what happened to us and our friend! They have been given us the runaround since August. We paid $2770 up front.
These guys have have taken us for a fool. Now that we know there are so many of us out there, we will be filing with the State Bar as well. Let's keep each other posted!
i filed the complain to the state bar of ca.i have a case no .already.i didnt realize there's bunch of us on this .everyone should file thru state bar so they can speed our case coz as i was told by the investigator handling my case, its numerous complains theyre facing and they go of course one by one .also, refund is possible if the lawyer will be disciplined by the board and will take approx 8-1 yr.if the board will get numerous complains against this crook, i think our case will be faster .i paid $4200 up front with a middle man Jonathan Delgado, who after telling me what happened to the law firm .was shut down on 10/19/09 by FBI, working hard to get another lawyer that i need to pay again.be aware of this man.now im doing my own negotiation with my bank which i paid them for .same story, only thru email, faxed many times for needed docs.even if i had faxed them, no activity with my bank for 3 months .its a hell of life after this.its a bad dream.this lawyer should pay us back.
Can we go to the small claims courts? Maybe all of us filing together so that the court sees we have a problem. Maybe we can meet at a place and fill out the paperwork together. It only cost about $50-100 and i am sure we can be stronger in numbers. I can put this together. Write to me WITH PHONE NUMBER so that i know you are serious. No phone, no answer. This crook took close to 4000 from me and showed nothing for it. He also gave me the story that he worked hours and hours on my behalf. RIGHT!
All of the complaints I have read is exactly what happened to us. We paid this so called law firm 2500.00 to negotiate a home loan modification.That was 7 months ago. I now know why they never returned my phone calls or responded to my e-mails. I want my money back, I want all of you to get your money back and we should all get his money for compensation. I would take part in a civil action lawsuit against him.
I have been scammed also i am in texas and hired brian to take care of a mod on my house i have been treated the same way as all the rest of yall. paid my money they dont answer the phone i have faxed the papers they need atleast 5 times and no mod now i have to go to court and they tell me i have to hire a lawyer to make a answer to the court more money i dont have, i would join in a suit with yall i am not very happy ...
I was scammed by this guy as well. I'm out $2, 400. You need to contact the State Bar of California to file a complaint and also ask for an application for the Client Security Fund. You may be able to get a refund through this fund through the state of California. I ended up getting my loan modification by myself when my lender. I would be interested in a civil lawsuit as well. I actually had email correspondence with this guy yesterday. He's trying to claim I got the modification because of his company. I've verified with my lender they never even spoke with him. Everyone needs to file a complaint with the State Bar of California and get this guy barred from being an attorney. The State Bar of California website is http://www.calbar.ca.gov Good luck everyone.
My family just lost our house because of these people. We paid them $2500 to negotiate a modification for us because our lender denied us. We were guaranteed a good rate. This was 9 months ago. We spent about $200 in faxing and re-faxing our financial info to them and our case was moved to two different people within the office, finally ending up on the desk of their customer relations rep! We completely got the runaround and bad info the whole time. On advice from them, we were not making our mortgage payments. I want to sue them. Count me in.
I'm his victim also. He did not keep his promises. When my application had been denied by the lender, I emailed him, he answered that my application is in process ( that's a lie, because if he did contact the lender, he had known my application had been denied already).
Then I requested for refund, he emailed me that 90% of my $2795.00 which I paid upfront, had been used for prepairing and submitting my application ( he quoted he spend 7hrs to prepare and submit my application, and his salary is $400.00 per hour ).
If anybody starts a Civil Action Lawsuit against him, I would like to join.