Loan Modification companies are springing up faster than weeds in a summer meadow!  Many are merely out to capitalize on the despair of others; similar to the lenders who dealt out mortgages to home owners looking to bridge the gap between wanting and affording.  The loan modification companies' promises are often empty, but their pockets are full with credit card advances taken from unknowing home owners in despair.  In the even to bankruptcy, those advances, ironically or sadly, may not be dischargeable!

California has a Foreclosure Consultants Statutes that strictly regulates such marketeers.  But only through the guidance of experienced counsel can a homeowner be truly and honestly informed of their rights and what is in the best interest of their family.  Mr. Esbin, working through the tried and true bankruptcy process, has developed a methodology to have bankruptcy courts value property in the course of a Chapter 13 or Chapter 11 case.  The wholly undersecured junior lien holders are treated the same as credit card companies; usually receiving pennies on the dollar.  If the homeowners makes their regular monthly mortgage and Chapter 13 or Chapter 11 Plan payment, the home can likely be saved!  Once the Chapter 13 or Chapter 11 Plan is complete and a discharge is entered (relieving the Seller or homeowner of the balance of their debt), the junior liens are removed from title - as a matter of California law, not by slight of hand.

Often, even though the junior liens are no longer paid and their liens may eventually be removed, many homeowners still struggle with paying the first, especially one that is ready to adjust.  Mr. Esbin believes that his second step in this process will gain relief for homeowners in bankruptcy.  Many lenders, such as Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, before ever considering a loan modification application, require the homeowner to default on the loan - an inducement to breach.  But, the adverse effects from mortgage companies' techniques are horrific.  Such lenders require the loan to go into default 60 to 90 days.  Thereafter, the lender offers to "consider" a loan modification application, often on parallel track to foreclosure.  Lenders know that in bankruptcy their first lien cannot be modified if it is secured by the residence.  They also know, or believe, that Congress will not force them to modify loans.  Mr. Esbin, however, has been seeking a remedy from the Bankruptcy Court to modify the first on grounds set forth under California and federal consumer protection laws.  Only using this alternative methodology, not by slight of hand, can homeowners gain relief from the ravages of an adjustable mortgages, not otherwise modifiable in bankruptcy.  And, certainly this is not a methodology or a remedy that can be obtained by less experienced attorneys or non-legal professionals.

The above discussed methodology is only now being debated in Congress for statutory implementation.  But, Mr. Esbin has been representing clients in such cases for years!  The first methodology is proven, while the second is at the forefront of legal practice with promising initial results.  Orders have been entered.  Lives and families have been saved!  Foreclosures are slowed and communities spared the disaster of empty homes scattered about the neighborhoods.

Once the Chapter 13 or Chapter 11 process is complete, or even near completion, based upon the prior real estate cycle, Mr. Esbin has found that his clients are more creditworthy to refinance completely out of the bankruptcy, or take advantage of a stabilized real estate market to sell their home through the same agent that originally referred them to the