Loan Modification Business is Booming – Are These Companies Harming or Helping Consumers?

Question

I recently met the owner of a local loan modification company. Like most of the loan modification businesses out there, this company takes an upfront fee from homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages or are heading toward foreclosure. This business owner told me that his loan mod business is busier than ever. This is just one company in the entire State, which offers loan modification services for consumers.

I decided to do a little research about this loan mod company and found pages and pages of reviews. About 50% of the reviews were positive, and reported that this loan mod company helped them modify their mortgages and get into a better place. The other 50% of the reviews cried out about how they had been taken by this loan mod company for thousands of dollars and that the whole thing was a total scam.

Although there are hundreds of these loan mod businesses that have been shut down in recent years, there are so many of these companies still around and they are busy and thriving. What is your experience with these loan mod companies? Are they creating value for consumers or just taking advantage of a fleeting opportunity in the wake of a real estate meltdown? Please share your opinions or experiences.

Simon Campbell · Answer

Corey Dutton:

I don't want to bad mouth any particular company. But, you have to ask yourself about the morality of a company that wants to be paid upfront fees to help someone in a financial crisis.

You also have to question the 50% success rate. In terms of test scores, 50% is an "F", no matter how you look at it. It's as if they simply lucked up on the ones that worked.

The US government has been warning consumers for quite a while now not to work with these companies. The government has put non-profit programs in place so consumers can deal with trustworthy, skilled, trained, HUD-certified housing counselors. These HUD-certified counselors charge no upfront fees for loan modification services to stop foreclosures. They are also regulated by the government, so they must abide by a much stricter set of standards.