One Small Step for Distressed Homeowners, One Badly Needed Step For Justice!

Every once in a while some regulatory or professional organization does something right. It is frequently too little too late, but it is at least a small step in the right direction, hardly a giant leap for mankind.

The California State Bar has announced the recent launch of several investigations against attorneys for misconduct related to loan modification services. This time their process was done right in that they are actually publishing the names of the unusual suspects to protect the public! The California Bar Association reports that these attorneys have “allegedly taken fees for promised services, but failed to perform those services or even communicate with their clients who face the possible loss of their homes. Their non-attorney staff may also be under investigation for unlawfully practicing law.”

They go on to mention that not all attorneys engaged in loan modifications are unscrupulous. The intention of the State Bar is to caution consumers to be careful when dealing with attorneys and others who purport to be able to obtain loan modifications.

They state that “Scam artists may intentionally associate or affiliate themselves with attorneys in an attempt to lend credence to their fraudulent schemes. The list of attorneys currently under investigation is available at:

http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10144&n=96395.

Good for the California Bar. Now where are the other state bar associations on this issue? The California Department of Real Estate has their suspect list, which is 100 times larger than this sixteen. What about other professional as well as state and federal regulatory agencies: where’s the beef?