Question:

How do you rate Haffar& associates

by Guest7479  |  12 years, 9 month(s) ago

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I am interested in mortgage modification and Haffar & Associates offered to help me. I want to know if am dealing with a reputable company. Have there
been any complaints against them?

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  3. Guest3192
    RUN FROM HAFFAR - MAJOR SCAMMERS! DON'T GIVE THEM A DINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  4. Guest9550
    My friend was also recently contacted by Haffar & Associates to help her with a loan modification. If you had a bad experience with them, would you mind elaborating. She is considering working with them. I don't want her to get scammed. Thank you so much.
  5. Guest7919
    I have worked with Haffar & associates and cannot even begin to fathem them being called a scam.  Personally I have worked with them for about 4 months calls after calls.  When I say this I mean I couldn't stand the collection calls , however it's just part of the process and now we are only a few Weaks away from completing my 3rd trial payment which haffarlaw got me. Great work !!. Keep it up. Without you we would be in a house that would not be called " home "
  6. Guest1469
    I also got SCAMMED into their paying their huge retainer fee. It has been months and they never call you back. you have to leave a message with a answering service group that records your calls and forwards it to your dumb airheaded member of staff. You don't even get a real lawyer to work for you. You get the kids that just got out of high school and know how to pick up the phone and make the same d**n request you just did do your mortagate company. Do do absolutely nothing! What everyone tells you about not getting any company to do your leg work is right. Because I do more of the leg work for Haffar. Everytime a new step has occured they have to revisit my whole case like they never heard it and have to retell things that they alreay knew but somehow forgot, which then eF's up any chance of getting things correct for the mortage company. I am rambling on and on but this company is so unprofessional they should be arrested. RUN AWAY, calling the bank or even going to the goverment approved Assit company is your best chance. That is if you even have a chance to save your home. I went to the goverment assist places and was told i had no chance. Haffar knew the same information and took my money anyway. Now i am about to lose the house. Don't do the same mistake many of us already have. If anything else go to someone else but they will most likly take your money too. You either have a chance or not its that simple and the goverment places will tell you for Free. AHHHH!!!
  7. Guest8829
    we paid their retainer back in october. we were verbally promised weekly updates as to the status of our request for a restructure. They never call the same number, sometimes they e-mail us instead, and that only happens every 2 weeks. She told me I'm lucky because i get an update every two weeks because new clients only get an update every three weeks. I agree their is no lawyer working for u at all. In fact is it just a bunch of young people doing for you what u could do your self. I even call them to let them know we were told we were denied, and I wasn't called back until my next apointment 1.5 weeks later, and she acted like she never recieved anyone of my phone calls or e-mails, tol dme the person from wellsfargo was wrong because who she spoke to from wells fargo had told her we were still under review. We recieved an offical letter from them a month later dates on the 14th of that month stating we were denied. funny cause we received a phone call from our lady on the 17th saying we were still under review??? really?? I find that funny, and everytime I complain about ym quality of service, the next appointment gets worse. STAY AWAY!!! I could go on and on with other things they have done too
  8. Guest6458
    I was ripped off by Haffar and Associates... I never even received updates... they just got a 3-way authorization and did nothing else... They just took the fee and ran... never got me anything or even tried...They are fraudulent... I recommend them not being used... Ask Hud... they will give you reliable company to use... a new law was passed in oct of 2009, that these mosification companies are not supposed to charge until they have got you the loan modification...
  9. Guest1608
    DO NOT USE HAFFAR... THEY ARE VERY FRAUDULENT AND VERY UNPROFESSIONAL... THEY ARE SCAMMERS... DO NOT GIVE THEM MONEY... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED... THEY HAVE MANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST THEM... CALL HUD THEY WILL SEND YOU TO REPUTABLE HELP... HAFFAR ARE NOT RELIABLE DO NOT USE THEM...
  10. Guest4218
    I retained Haffar & Associates back in October of last year. As of today I was denied a loan modification twice and my house in abt to be sold. I would not give these crooks one dime.....THEY ARE SCAMMERS..... I am going to report them to the California State Bar today. They promise bi-weekly conference calls and never call....EXTREMELY UNPROFESSIONAL......A real attorney does not work on your case. Young inmature people work on you case......the list goes on and on......DONT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY....SAVE yourself a headache
  11. Guest3441
    July 19, 2010 - after reading all the complaints above, I feel I just became one of the haffarlaw victim, cause after paying them a so called legal fee services in the amount of $3,500 for a homeloan mod, the case manager, her name is Yvette Arce failed to call on the day she said she will for an update, then never reply on emails. I am thinking I will get a hold of k**i News Michael Turko, so he can investigate and expose the so called Haffarlaw
    and associates secrets.
  12. Guest3367
    DO NOT USE THEM, THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY THEN AVOID YOU... I PAID $3350.00 IN MARCH 2009 AND THEY CASHED IT A WEEKLATER WITH NO RESPONSE TO ME AT ALL.... THEY TOOK OUR LAST SAVINGS AND TOOK 6 MOTHS TO CONTACT US BACK..AND ONLY AFTER i LEFT THEM ABOUT 500 MESSAGES... THEY GUY THAT WE MET WITH HANDED US OFF TO SOMEONE ELSE, THEN WE HAD ANOTHER PERSON ANSWERING THE EMAILS, YES EMAILS... THIS IS HTE ONLY WAY TO GET A HOLD OF THEM.... THEN SAID THEY NEEDED MORE INFO... BLAH BLAH BLAH..... DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY !! THEY WILL TAKE IT AND RUN!!
  13. Guest3766
    These people are awful. They take your money up front, make all kinds of promises and then try to say the delay is your fault due to lack of information. I recommend contacting the CA department of consumer affairs, the CA Bar Association and any other watchdog organization you can find. We need to put these criminals out of business. Mr. Haffar has been suspended from from the CA Bar Association twice due to lack of dues payment. What a bunch of crooks!
  14. Guest3805
    Haffar & Associates is a debt relief agency and as a result is not very much liked by debt collectors, especially smaller debt collection companies. Their agents routinely pose as clients who are upset and post false complaints on the web as guests. Anyone inquiring about Haffar & Associates should ask for third party verifiable proof and references and proof of completed modifications or other forms of debt settlement. There is a gentleman by the name of Martin Andelman who can be emailed at mandleman@mac.com for references as he has expert knowledge of the loan modification industry. His most newsworthy piece of literature on the modification industry is posted at his website (copy entire string into your browser to read the article):
    http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/01/once-and-for-all-the-answer-is-yes-water-is-wet-the-sky-is-blue-and-you-need-a-lawyer%e2%80%a6-period/
    Please do contact Haffar & Associates at 760.858.2681 or 760.858.2685 if you feel you have an issue with Haffar & Associates. We have had a number of false complaints from competing law firms and ruthless debt collectors posing as home retention assistance personnel because we are so highly visible on http://www.martindale.com (#1 out of 7,874 lawyers in San Diego, #98 out 998,646 total lawyers overall). We do help people get out of debt by bankruptcy as well as settlement of debts outside of bankruptcy to avoid bankruptcy. I hope this helps shed some light on the complaints folks see on the internet. Thank you, Mohamed F. Haffar, Esq.
    http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=235731
    http://www.martindale.com/Mohamad-Haffar/35405871-lawyer.htm
  15. Guest8262
    f**k you haffar and Haffar & associates.
  16. Guest2615
    I had negotiated a loan modification with my lender in December 2009, Haffar & Associates told me that it wasn’t a loan modification. I acquired Haffar & Associates services for a loan modification in March of this year and paid them over 3k. I told them that we needed to have open communication the entire time. I have had nothing but troubles with Haffar & Associates, they did not summit a complete package to my lender, causing my home to go into foreclosure and they did not communicate well during the process. After a couple months Haffar & Associates informed me that the modification that I negotiated in December 2009 was in fact a modification. I am very disappointed with Haffar & Associates. There lack of communication, follow through; they did not know how to summit a complete package. I had to take matters into my own hands, I called my lender and had them reinstate my modification and I managed to save my home. DO NOT USE HAFFAR & ASSOCIATES they will take your money and do nothing. I am planning on taking them to court, if anyone would like to join me, you can contact me at sgd00@hotmail.com
  17. Guest7825
    I had negotiated a loan modification with my lender in December 2009, Haffar & Associates told me that it wasn’t a loan modification. I acquired Haffar & Associates services for a loan modification in March of this year and paid them over 3k. I told them that we needed to have open communication the entire time. I have had nothing but troubles with Haffar & Associates, they did not summit a complete package to my lender, causing my home to go into foreclosure and they did not communicate well during the process. After a couple months Haffar & Associates informed me that the modification that I negotiated in December 2009 was in fact a modification. I am very disappointed with Haffar & Associates. There lack of communication, follow through; they did not know how to summit a complete package. I had to take matters into my own hands, I called my lender and had them reinstate my modification and I managed to save my home. DO NOT USE HAFFAR & ASSOCIATES they will take your money and do nothing. I am planning on taking them to court, if anyone would like to join me, you can contact me at sgd00@hotmail.com
  18. Guest7793
    Haffarlaw and associates does business the stinky way.
  19. Guest1229
    We are trying together a class action law suit against Haffar and Associates. Please contact me.
    Vanessa Pacheco
    Vanessa.pacheco16@gmail.com
  20. Guest2509
    Haffar & associates are a pack of liars & thieves.
    Don’t use them.
    They should be disbarred.
    They don’t have a clue about mortgage modifications.
    All to complaints are true.
    It’s not competing law firms like dumbass Haffar says.
  21. Guest5143
    I have been working with Haffar for 6 months and in my case I have a good experience. They are a bit slow in calling you back for your follow up calls, but I am a persistent person, so I initiate calls to them. They do seem to know what they are doing,and they do have one person who continues to contact me on a regular basis to follow-up and make sure I am being handled properly.  We are very close to getting a modification letter from BofA, but BofA seems to be the one causing the paper chase and delays.  Haffar is slow at returning emails it's true, but I have consistently been working with the same people there for the whole time. They give me their cell phone numbers and they do seem to be working on my behalf.  Time will tell.
  22. Guest3062
    Wow. Really? Because someone didn't call you back a few times or because you got denied, due to I am assuming, either non submission of documents or not answering letters from the lender requesting something of YOU. Oh and wait--You can also be denied if you don't have enough income or if you have too much income, all of these above, is no fault of Haffar and Associates. I will say, we do a rough calculation to make sure you make enough money to even be in the running for a modification with the unpaid principal balance of your loan, but we don't make any guarantees of what the lender will do. We can't do that because WE ARE NOT YOUR LENDER. I happen to work for Haffar and Associates as a so called "Modification Case Manager" and happen to be working 10 hours a day trying to help good people keep their homes. So, if that equates to "no work being done on a case", and if you think that all that work should be done for free, then I don't know what to say except you are out of your mind. I would never work 50 hours per week for free and I don't think you would either. This is what we do at our firm and I am sorry if you didn't qualify, by something on your part and you are upset about it. This including not accepting a modification because you didn't like is. The lender doesn't have to give you another go around if you don't accept.

    Oh-and we're not a bunch of kids. I am a 28 year old adult trying to help people keep their homes. If you think you can do a much better job by yourself, then you should definitely take a shot at it before coming to us or any other firm. It's not something that can't be done, but having the backing of an attorney, and yes there is an attorney that works right down the hall from me and his name is Mohamad Haffar, helps. We make sure everything is being handled lawfully. I hope this helps clear the air for everyone out there. Have a great night. :)
  23. Guest7860
    Does anyone know if this is the same Mohamed Haffar who has mortgage companies throughout San Diego? One in particular called New Lending Solutions that keeps hard money investors happy?
  24. Guest6055
    Maybe you should understand that a modification does not take a few days nor is it set-in-stone as to what your payment will be. Imagine how many people are trying to get a modification right now? You stopped making your mortgage payments, you fell behind, you didn't have to hire a law firm to do your modification in the first place. You're stupid for not knowing those things. You are behind and looking for someone to take the blame on the mistakes you've made. You're skeptics and unwilling to work with someone who wants to help you, you want to fight them through it and then say either "thanks for the modification, we're happy" or "f**k you, it's your fault." Why do people even hire others to do the work for them when they can do it themselves with a calculator, figure it out people and stop trying to blame others because you can't manage your f*****g checking accounts or do anything but give someone a lot of money and say "yup, everything's gunna be fine." You are all the bad bunch, the ones who didn't get what they wanted when they wanted it so the proper solution for the what, 9 or 10 of you, is to try and bring a company down. Well good luck to you all, I hope you get what you want but don't you think your time could be better spent?
  25. Guest9269
    I've been a client for a while and they are always on top of their game! Our case manager was very professional and we are currently on month two of our trial modification :) I think some people may have had bad experiences but i think in this mortgage business that's what you get, not every case is the same. Do some research on the programs then decide what to do, that's what we did and we have more memories to come for our home now!
  26. Guest2636
    lol. Im no one but a 53 year old hard working all my life general contractor, that works on homes, don't have to tell you that I am not making enough to keep my current house payment with the housing market plunge and nobody able to get a 2nd mortgage to fix up their homes they are going to most likely lose it or are upside down do I? . Haffar & Associates also called me out of the blue with this great news how they can get me a modification in 6 weeks tops, no risk to me out of pocket, they said I dont pay if I don't get the loan mod. But the next step was to send them $3500 plus $895 for a Rest Report. www.restreportmatters.com Why would I pay up front for something I won't have to pay untill I get the Loan mod.? LOL. ......if its too good to be true........ contact me @ Honest101abe@aol.com
  27. Guest3967
    lol. Im no one but a 53 year old hard working all my life general contractor, that works on homes, don't have to tell you that I am not making enough to keep my current house payment with the housing market plunge and nobody able to get a 2nd mortgage to fix up their homes they are going to most likely lose it or are upside down do I? . Haffar & Associates also called me out of the blue with this great news how they can get me a modification in 6 weeks tops, no risk to me out of pocket, they said I dont pay if I don't get the loan mod. But the next step was to send them $3500 plus $895 for a Rest Report. www.restreportmatters.com Why would I pay up front for something I won't have to pay untill I get the Loan mod.? LOL. ......if its too good to be true........ contact me @ Honest101abe@aol.com
  28. Guest9322
    Restreportmatters.com is a company that offers a report to help haffar & associates complete mods like never before as well as many other law firms that are out there using the rest report.

    The rest report is the only way to know what you qualify for, before ever submitting to the bank and waiting 8-12 months you find out results in  24-48 hours

    Please feel free to take a look a www.restreportmatters.com we do offer the rest report to many firms, and it actually works

    This is a tool that was never available or in the toolbox till a few months ago. Now it's the best tool in any law firms arsenal.

    Any questions feel free to contact restreportmatters.com
  29. Guest8226
    Never ever call or talk to someone at this law firm. It is nothing but a group of scumbag people. Once you have pay the price of whatever you are asking for them to do for you, you're money is gone forever and all you get is none but frustration and disappointment.
    I am telling you or sharing you what my experience is with them.
  30. Guest2987

    They are going to take your money up front, Which is breaking the law for a Loan Mod. They get around it by sayibg its somethjiong that its not. Also, check out their new scam, The ' TheRestReportMatters.com ' made byu them to get an extra $850. up front and its all B.S. Go thru only a HUD approved Program for help. or your own bank who holds the note....their is no magic fix like Haffar and their lieing telemarketers claim.

  31. Guest650

    Strait up rip offs, I was lucky enough to find out that The Rest Report Matters is Haffar and Associates created compant, Tony Aune who Called me like a car salesmen, sent Emails using <a href="mailto:Taune@haffarlaw.com">Taune@haffarlaw.com</a> made the mistake of accidently sending me one from his other email addy<a href="mailto:Tony@RestReportMatters.com"> Tony@RestReportMatters.com</a> asking me to lie and add $2000 a month more to my P&L statement. Woops Tony, ..........busted.

  32. Guest4444

    Check out Rest Report Matters website, go to the bottom of the page, look at their address.


    © 2010 REST Report Matters. All rights reserved.<br />
    10052 Mesa Ridge Court, San Diego, CA 92126


    Now do a search of who owns that building, while your at it, get driving directions from the above address to Haffar and Associates. it isn't that far from point A. to Point B.


    Mr. Haffar, you should consider hiring me to show you how to cover your tracks a little better than you are doing with your present staff in place....of course, as per your policy, I'd want to be paid up front.

  33. Guest6245

    Im sorry for a follow up post, but I need to send a message to Tony Aune of Haffar and Associates, listen, If I made the $2000 more a month you asked me to lie about in my P & L statement, I would not need the Loan Modification I am seeking you moron.


    Hi Mike, can you please send me a new 6 month p&l with an additional 2,200 in income a month. Thanks.


     


    Haffar & Associates Website


    <br />
    Tony Aune


    <br />
    Tony Aune


    Jr. Underwriter


    Office: 858-227-4907


    Fax: 888-600-3161


    Email: taune@haffarlaw.com


    <br />
    2nd email address:


    Hi Mike, can you give me a call. 858-227-4907. Did you get the invoice?


    <br />
    Best Regards,


    <br />
    Tony Aune


    <br />
    Tony Aune


    Loan Disposition Analyst


    P: 877-737-8440 x 122


    F: 888-600-3151


    Email: tony@restreportmatters.com


    <br />
    Fax Numbers seem a little too close imo.<br />
     

  34. Guest8508

    If the Rest Report is the answer, would'nt you think the Federal Gov. who is already printing trillions of new notes and throwing it at anything that might help save this sinking ship, would also foot the bill for this?, how much are these Law firms profiting from selling you this vital information that the banks ALREADY have according to the advertisments, If the Banks already have it, why do you need to pay and show them?, lol, If the Rest report shows the bank that its in their best interest to modify your loan, and they already have the f****n program, HELLO !!!!

  35. Guest2474

    So, just so you know the Rest report is the key... to modifying loans.. go read about it.


    Rest Report Matters offers the report to many firms in fact most of the reports run through rest report matters... Here is some links for you maybe you can get a better idea of what is going on. Read the news. The banks are commiting fraud. Here is some links on the rest report and how it works... Remeber this however the banks have access to the software, yes the bank... however if the servicer were to run this report it would show they have to modify a loan... and they make 3-4x more foreclosing on a home. Now yes they should run them but they dont, and they will not ever. Unless faced with the Rest Report which will hold up all the way to the court level.  The servicers are in now way working in the best intrest of the investor although they are suppose to be working under a 800 page pooling service agrement that states they must work in the best intrest of the investor... Again sorry to say they arnt.... and who is going to say anything about it? I mean really Bank Of America foreclosed on another home they didint own do some research on whats going on.. its sad people think banks are who modify loans... there is servicers, and investors IE: Servicer would be Wells Fargo, Chase, GMAC, BofA... Investors would be Fannie Mae, Freddie mac etc...


    Interviewed Chase employee


    <a href="http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/09/inside-chase-and-the-perfect-foreclosure/">http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/09/inside-chase-and-the-perfect-foreclosure/</a>


    Real Rest Results


    <a href="http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/06/real-rest-report-results-remarkable/">http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/06/real-rest-report-results-remarkable/</a>


    Secret NPV


    <a href="http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/07/i-think-it%e2%80%99s-now-safe-for-me-to-speak-out-about-loan-modifications-and-the-secret-npv/">http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2010/07/i-think-it%e2%80%99s-now-safe-for-me-to-speak-out-about-loan-modifications-and-the-secret-npv/</a>

  36. Guest3945

    I am greatful to Haffar and Associates for saving my home after it was sold by GMAC and the investor was IMPAC. After trying for a year to try to get a loan modification, I lost my home because they didnt believe my occupancy. I had a verbal agreement to not foreclose and GMAC foreclosed. After contacting the investor's lawyers, Haffar & Associates was able to rescind the sale and get me back to my normal payments by capitalizing my past due on my loan and restarting me on my normal monthly payments. I didn't qualify for the Obama plan with a 1.1 Million dollar loan in the Bay area. My hardship was short term and my payments were affordable before i had the family health hardship and fell behind. I am happy to provide a reference for Haffar & Associates and I met Mr. Haffar at my Mosque where he prays every Friday. He is an honest man and without him I would be homeless. If you need a reference, please do mention my last name is Al-Koni and I am real person, you can reach me by referencing my name when asking with Haffar & Associates. I don't feel  safe giving out my phone number and email online, but I am happy to stand up in any court and swear under oath that Haffar & Associates are real and do help as they did help me.

  37. Guest4377

    How do I rate Haffar & Associates? Well, where to begin? I still can't believe the trouble I had when I first came to Haffar & Associates after being late almost 2 months with Wells Fargo. I started the process back in December of 2009 after the California law changed for modifications. I answered an advertisement from the San Diego Reader here in San Diego. I needed help as my bank kept telling me that I was being reviewed but needed to get paperwork to them weekly. I saw firsthand what they put me through. At first, they wouldn’t help me at Wells Fargo, then when the pressure finally made me realize I couldn’t do it alone, I called HUD and couldn’t get anywhere other than apply and keep calling and working with my bank. I went to a free local seminar at the convention center downtown, and they all told me the same thing. “Don’t pay for a loan modification” and “keep on top” of my bank’s requests because they were behind in processing loan modifications. I kept insisting that I had done that. As a civil engineer, I am very detailed and oriented toward solutions. Unfortunately, my position at the local civil engineering firm was cut back and I lost 28% of my income. I realized that I qualified for a workout based on the information and documents provided to Haffar and Associates. I didn't understand how a law firm could tell me I was “approved for a loan modification” because I had read about the laws and how nobody could tell. Then I asked some more questions like I normally do when I don’t understand something. I am tenacious and it is one of my strengths and luckily it helped me by asking. I realized that I was “approved with Haffar and Associates” because of several reasons. First, Wells Fargo should not have threatened foreclosure due to California civil code 2923.5 and 2923.6. I thought to myself, why they wouldn’t follow the law when Haffar pointed out why - profits are greatest in foreclosure for banks. Next, they told me, after I asked them, that my payments were too high in relation to my newly reduced paychecks, a ratio of 31% for my house payment was good for the Obama plan. My ratio was 72% and I didn’t even know how the bank calculated income or why this ratio was so important. I said "great, so how does that make me approved?" The answer was in my first love. The math was working in my favor. I could qualify for the loan; they sent me the links and documents to read about how the Obama plan works. After spending about a month checking around and trying to decide and reading about the modifications, I came back to ask some more questions from the folks at Haffar and Associates I said, "how can you charge me for a loan modification before I get it?" The answer was simpler and straightforward when I spoke to Mr. Haffar's senior staff, and to re-assure myself, I wanted to speak to Mr. Haffar himself. It was only after talking with him, that I realized how easily Wells Fargo could modify my mortgage. They spent so much time with me in planning and preparing for submission, and making sure my questions were answered I finally relented and passed my skepticism and accepted the contract for the services that they had provided and paid for the work they did till that point. They explained to me that law firms can break up services under the California law against advance fees, and even made me sign a document stating that I understood the new law and I was only paying for what I had already received, and that what I was paying for was already done. So they went ahead and helped me by submitting my file after spending a good several hours in fine tuning by budget and hardship letter in the next stage at no additional cost. Then they went to why people get denied. I didn't realize that banks look at your credit report when giving you a loan modification. That didn’t make sense to me. My credit was shot, why would that matter? My case manager helped me to understand that the bank was always looking at my credit because they are a creditor and they can assume it’s correct no matter what. So I went to freecreditreport.com (it was supposed to be annualcreditreport.com as i later found out that is the right site) and got a copy of my credit report to see what was there. Then, the next day, I spent another morning going over my case. Then again, then again at about for 7 weeks I was preparing after I had paid my fee for the services they had already done. This was the only way they could help me, by first investigating, researching, reviewing, analyzing, asking me numerous questions and a list of documents to review to make a plan, and fine tuning it seemed. They gave me a script to follow when the collections at Wells called me. Once I was submitted, I had appointments to make sure they had my file. This "stage" as they call it was at no charge. In fact they spent 42.5 hours over the course of several months before Wells Fargo finally relented at the end of July. Haffar reviewed my modification and realized that there was a payment error in the modification documents! The bank was making a math error in the amortization, and when it comes to money, wouldn't you know it, it was in their favor! I WAS SHOCKED (not really at this point, nothing Wells was doing was shocking anymore). I was tired, I was pissed off. I got pretty upset in one conversation with my case manager at Haffar and Associates and then again with Haffar himself. They always welcomed a call with the lender and I was always relieved after being on the call and listening. He explained, after a little back and forth banter that the banks do this all the time. All of them, except the credit unions in Haffar’s experience. The big banks torture homeowners and hope they give up so they can steal the home! The icing on the cake was the problem how my payments didn’t amount to 31% of my income. After another three month delay, they finally came through with the correct payments on the correct modification documents. I seriously don't know why Wells Fargo can do this and I can't really do anything about it except spend more money on an upside down home by suing them. The way I looked at it, it was good for them since my loan was worth more than my home. Anyways, I am happy with the way things turned out. I really do like Haffar and Associates as a result of this experience and can recommend them to anyone. I am sure if I hadn't gotten what I wanted, I would have screamed bloody murder and gone after anyone I could. I want everyone to know that Haffar and Associates helped me a great deal and if anyone is thinking of using them, go ahead, research, learn and take your time then give them a call. The big banks are definitely not on your side in my opinion. Oh and by the way, it helps to get plenty of rest, exercise, don't drink when depressed and eat ok. These were all things that did help me get through the experience of the modification from h**l. Do you ever realize that nobody it seems is ever happy about the modification process at their bank? I tried to see how happy homeowners who have nice things to say about Wells Fargo because of their modification experience and their modification process and I couldn’t find any online before contacting Haffar and Associates. I think its funny how so many people blame the guy who is easiest and not the bank. But I do understand. If this was easy, then we wouldn't have a foreclosure crisis that fuels banks' profits. We wouldn’t have an ineffective Obama modification program. We wouldn’t have banks telling the government homeowners don’t return documents in time after they didn’t make payments on time and the government and Obama believe them. What a joke. I'm glad the election went GOP and hope things change for the better. This is ridiculous and I am happy with Haffar and associates, and I wish there was something I could do against Wells Fargo for the torture they put me through. I hate them really, but they aren’t one person, they are this big giant blob of a company without a care except their profits. Please note, I have nothing bad to say about Haffar and Associates, other than I wish I had asked for help sooner, I suffered too much, lost too much sleep, wanted to beat the c**p out of someone at Wells Fargo, and I wish there were stronger forces that leveled this for all those having the same problems I had. I definitely knew Wells was full of sh*t when they claimed that they didn’t have “updated” documents from Haffar and Associates, and they did in fact, when a supervisor at a local Wells Fargo bank branch called them. I had faxed the documents myself from the branch and so did Haffar. The next time, Haffar asked me to do it myself and I was happy to do it. That way the bank couldn't blame Haffar even though I knew Wells was full of it. Even their own tellers were telling me it was routine for customers to use their fax machines because their modification department was always asking for updates or claiming they didn’t receive paperwork. Haffar and Associates couldn’t control Wells Fargo losing my paperwork anymore than I could and I doubt anyone, even Obama himself could make them not lose paperwork and conduct torture. And I thought torture was for those in Guantanamo Bay and was recently declared illegal. This psychological torture has left me with the firm belief that the banks are in control of this nation’s treasury and they can do whatever they please. Just my opinion based on my experience.

  38. Guest8860

    The problem truely is the banks...the banks, the banks and not the advocates.  Sure Haffar & Associates takes a long time to return phone calls and emails but they do return them eventually.  In fact they invited me to come into the office and sit down and talk with me for over an hour going over my case and budget.  I cant tell you how many times Wachovia has lost my paperwork and asked for it over again.  Haffar showed me all their fax confirmations, they showed me all of their certified mail confirmation receipts.  Its f*****g amazing how Wachovia can be so stupid.  I am still in the process of getting a modification with Haffar...one thing I know is they are not my enemy..they are tyring to help me..I saw the stress on Mr. Haffar's face..not a fancy shmancy kind of guy.  The point is give the firm a break serously because the banks arent giving anyone a break at all

  39. Guest6945

    Haffar and Associates are under investigation for taking money up front , Wether they are  helping some or not, IT IS AGAISNT THE LAW TO TAKE MONEY BEFORE THEY GET THE CLIENT THE MODIFICATION> what part of this do you not understand??


    btw, Nice spin control attempt on the below recent posts Haffar.

  40. Guest5964
    In fact, over 1800 state bar investigations on attorneys are going on right now meanwhile all 50 state's attorney's generals are investigating all mortgage servicers. The last post implies like the she knows the law. Prove it. Somebody post the law that says its illegal to collect compensation before a modification is achieved. Let's see the law. Where is it? It doesn't exist. Law firms can break up services into individual parts when attempting to get a mortgage servicer to follow and obey CA civil code 2923.5 and 2923.6. Get your facts people. Haffar is doing a yeoman's job in each case and you are not the law because you think it says that compensation cannot be earned before a modification is achieved. And that is a fact.
  41. Guest9406

    ok, then please explain what PARTS you were breaking up when you asked for the entire $3500 plus $895 for a Rest Report UPFRONT Haffar?, go kick rocks, f****n Con Artists.


    Theres a reason why when somebody googles your name that a bunch of complaints show up first.

  42. Guest6728

    http://www.dumontlaw.com/haffar_and_associates_complaints

  43. Guest3365

    California Civil Code Section 2923.5 (MORE NOTICE FROM BANKS NEEDED) 

    http://law.onecle.com/california/civil/2923.5.html


    California Civil Code Section 2923.6 (BANKS TO WORK IN BEST INTERESTS)

    http://law.onecle.com/california/civil/2923.6.html


    California Civil Code Section 2944.6 (NOTICE FOR NO ADVANCE FEES)

    http://law.onecle.com/california/civil/2944.6.html


    California Civil Code Section 2944.7 (ALSO KNOWN AS SB 94)

    http://law.onecle.com/california/civil/2944.7.html


    "Professor: banks undermined traditional property system"

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/50633390-79/mortgage-foreclosures-mortgages-banks.html.csp

    By Tom Harvey

    The Salt Lake Tribune

    Nov 8, 2010The nation’s traditional property ownership registration system has been undermined by banks in their rush to process mortgages during the great real estate bubble, with consequences that now include a legal quagmire and huge financial liabilities for some of the nation’s biggest financial institutions.


    The fallout could rumble through the U.S. homeownership system for years, Christopher Peterson, a University of Utah law professor and recognized legal expert on the nation’s mortgage crisis, said at a forum Monday on the legal issues surrounding the surge in foreclosures.


    The 6.6 million foreclosures initiated since 2007, with an average of 2.5 people per household, have caused disruption comparable to a war, he said at the S.J. Quinney School of Law in Salt Lake City.


    “This is the sort of economic dislocation you’d expect to find with a small civil war,” Peterson said. “Imagine transplanting more than the entire metropolitan area of New York City in one go-around.”


    And, with Goldman Sachs projecting 12 million foreclosures initiated over the next five years, “really, the truth is we’re not even halfway there in terms of the numbers of foreclosures the best analysts project are coming through our pipeline.”


    Peterson said traditionally in the United States, ownership of property involved physical documents that included the promissory note with a lender and a deed of trust that gives the lender the right to foreclose on the property if the borrower doesn’t meet their obligations. Going back to the British colonies of the 17th century, these types of documents were recorded with local governments.


    But the mortgage industry found this system wasn’t fast enough or cheap enough when it wanted to sell mortgages to banks that, in turn, bundled them together and resold them to investors in what’s known as asset-backed securities.


    So the Mortgage Bankers Association created a company called the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), which in name now owns about 60 percent of all of the mortgages in the country. That allowed the industry to shovel mortgages through various hands and into packages without having to record the change of ownership each time with a county recorder.


    In many cases, the actual papers were destroyed or were missing, Peterson said, raising questions of how those mortgage agreements can be enforced under the law.


    “Of course it was unprecedented in American history,” Peterson said, because it subverted the role of elected county recorders and laws passed by elected legislatures.


    Attorneys general from all 50 states are investigating allegations of poor record keeping by banks and the companies that collect mortgage payments. The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators are looking into whether mortgage companies cut corners while pursuing foreclosures, including filing thousands of documents from “robo-signers,” industry representatives who signed tens of thousands of foreclosure papers without having done the legally required review.


    Steven Ramirez, a professor of law at Loyola University who also spoke at the forum, called the MERS issue a “huge problem” for home-owners who could face paperwork problems years from now. It also is a threat to “middle-class prosperity,” he said.


    Banks face major expenses trying to defend the issue in courts and great potential harm to their finances, with Bank of America facing at least $70 billion in claims, Ramirez said.


    “If it turns out that these mortgages are not valid, they sold trillions in mortgage-backed securities that have no mortgages,” he said. “That’s a huge problem for the banks.”


    In Utah, dozens of lawsuits have been filed recently over foreclosures, many of them related to the legal questions Peterson and Ramirez outlined.


    Attorney Abraham Bates said his firm has filed around 70 lawsuits during the past few months based on legal challenges to the MERS foreclosures and expects to have filed 100 by the end of the year.


    Under state law, the entity seeking to foreclose must have physical possession of the original mortgage document and have the property transfer recorded by the county recorder, he said.


    Lawsuits in Utah have had a mixed success so far, Bates said. Federal Judge Clark Waddoups in June overturned a district court judge’s order that had halted foreclosures in Utah by Bank of America, while state District Judge Kate Toomey recently issued an injunction halting a foreclosure.


    A proposed class action lawsuit against MERS, Bank of America and other entities was filed Friday in federal court in Salt Lake City by attorneys E. Craig Smay of Salt Lake City and John Christian Barlow of St. George.


    Dumont law is after quite a few people on her website including the Rescue Rooter, Clear Debt Solutions complaints, American Debt Services complaints, American Debt Settlement Group complaints, American Financial Services complaints, Alliance Debt Management complaints, Fidelity Debt Solutions complaints, I'm surprised she isn't going after the deep pocketed bankers.


    http://dumontlaw.com/rescue_rooter_complaints

  44. Guest4667

    Rescue Rooter did not ask me for $3500 plus $895 UP FRONT, to clean out my drains or my bank account....Haffar and Associates did. They also, just like a couple of the earlier comments on this page, asked me to LIE on the paper work I submitted to them. Stating "don't worry about that right now, lets just get the ball rolling and go from there, we promise you will get a new loan modification. Now that they have my money, I can't get a call back, when they were wanting the money, I got 3 maybe 4 calls a day. I recorded all of  the phone calls, I have all of the emails, I spoke with another attorney concerning getting my money back, their response was "It would cost more than you are seeking to recover, to fight them in court".  How about Small claims court?, " Do you really want to go to any court and fight agaisnt a Law Firm and think you will win?"


      When I questioned them why they couldn'nt help me get this for sure, gauranteed loan modification, and then pay, Haffar's representitive stated, "we have no way of making you pay after you get the loan modification, and $3500 isnt worth the time it would take to recover it from you thru the court system for us". Its been over a month and still nobody will call me from their office, I never get a live person (only get an answering machine) nor have I pre paid or post paid, ever had someone pick up the phone when I call, the difference now is, they called me right back before I paid, and pressured me and my wife to hurry up and pay before we lose our home, now, nothing, not one single returned call. Maybe, just maybe, I should of took a chance with Rescue Rooter to help me get a loan modification?, at the very least, my sewer system would work better?. 

  45. Guest7407

    Wow...I cant believe all the noise out here!!!  Havent you all heard about the thousands of americans filing class action lawsuits against the banks for not working with homeowners and their thrid party advocates in good faith?  I guess its easier to blame a lawyer trying to help homeowners rather then go after the deep pocketed banks..  Well just to inform you the National Consumer Law Center is involved in class action law suits against:


    JP Morgan Chase


    Bank of America


    Wells Fargo


    Wachovia


    If your interested in joinin the lawsuit you can.  Meanwhile we are still trying to close modification cases with cleints and arent backing down.  Say what you will about Haffar but its hard for a law firm to do their job when the other party isnt follwoing HAMP at all.  Remember it takes two to tango and right now the bank is a corpse partner. 

  46. Guest7007

    * Discussion Board

    * Topic View


    Topic: Bank of America Sued For Not Modifying Mortgages

    Displaying the only post.


    *

    Secure Law Center, P.C. Foreclosure Defense, Modifiy Mortgage, Default Strategy




    Homeowners have sued Bank of America Corp for allegedly reneging on a promise it made to modify troubled mortgages as a condition of accepting $25 billion of federal bailout money.


    In a lawsuit filed Monday in Seattle federal court and seeking class-action status, two Washington residents allege the largest U.S. bank puts its own financial interests ahead of obligations to help struggling homeowners.


    According to the complaint, Bank of America agreed to take part in the Treasury Department's $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP, because it accepted bailout funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.


    But the complaint said Bank of America had an incentive not to modify loans because doing so might cause it to repurchase more loans, collect lower servicing fees, or assess lower default charges because fewer payments would be deemed late.


    As a result, Bank of America "has serially strung out, delayed, and otherwise hindered the modification processes," leaving thousands of borrowers "often worse off than they were before they sought a modification," the complaint said.


    The plaintiffs Kamie and Daniel Kahlo alleged that they sought to modify their mortgage after their annual income fell to $20,000, too low to cover their $1,460 monthly payments.


    They said Bank of America advised them to become delinquent so they would qualify, and that they then signed an agreement to cut their monthly payments almost in half.


    Nevertheless, they alleged that despite their making the lowered monthly payments, which were cashed, Bank of America served them with a default notice and failed to provide final modification documents.


    A Bank of America spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the bank had not been served with the lawsuit. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender has repaid the $25 billion of bailout money.


    The complaint seeks class-action status, an order for Bank of America to perform its obligations under HAMP, compensatory and other damages, and other remedies.


    The case is Kahlo v. Bank of America NA et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 10-00488.


    If you or anyone you know are facing foreclosure with Bank of America or any other lender that is not modifying mortgages; call us right away for a free consultation at

  47. Guest1063

     I'm a former current client and all I know is that Mr. Haffar's cell phone hasn't changed and neither has his toll free line in the past two years. He went to great lengths to explain how he believes he is compliant with the legistlative intent of the new Civil code mentioned below, 2944.7 and 2944.6. I had mentioned to him that I found this article online:

    Gov. Schwarzenegger Does the Right Thing: Signs SB 94 and Vetoes AB 764


    Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 94, and vetoed Assembly Bill 764. Here’s the Governor’s message to the California Assembly on why he chose to veto the bill:

    Governor Schwarzenegger:


    "To the Members of the California State Assembly:

    I am returning Assembly Bill 764 without my signature.

    Although I support the prohibition of individuals charging advance fees for mortgage loan modifications, I do not agree with the provision of this bill that will only allow fees to be collected if a modification is successful.

    This could adversely affect legitimate businesses that provide loan modification services. As such, I am signing SB 94 that accomplishes this prohibition against advance fees without unnecessarily harming legitimate companies.

    For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.

    Sincerely,

    Arnold Schwarzenegger"

    Well… Congratulations to Governor Schwarzenegger! Frankly, you had us worried there for a few hours, as your threat to not sign any of the bills might have left us with AB 764, as it was the last to be passed by the legislature and therefore would have become law had you signed neither bill.

    But that didn’t happen, so congratulations for seeing the issue clearly and establishing California as a state that recognizes that there ARE legitimate firms helping homeowners remain in their homes and that these firms play an important role in helping not only the homeowners in their struggle against the lenders and servicers, but the state and national economy as well.

    For law firms it’s great news because we’ve developed several SB 94 compliant practice methodologies that are certainly financially viable. And for firms licensed by the Department of Real Estate, there are also ways in which to practice under SB 94 without losing one’s shirt.

    SB 94, which was proposed by State Senator Ron S. Calderon who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, and drafted under the committee leadership of Eileen Newhall, I think will turn out to be a very good thing for all involved. For homeowners, it will ensure that they’ll get what they paid for, and for law firms and others, it will add some financial discipline and make for a better client relationship. Structure and transparency is always a good thing.

    I have to say that I was not originally in favor of SB 94’s provisions on advance fees, as I saw the language and what I thought to be the original intent as being harmful to homeowners as I saw it as an attempt to deprive homeowners of professional representation. But as the process went forward and reading the final bill, I have to say that I now believe that I was wrong… SB 94 should be a very positive thing.

    Does it need some clarification from the courts as it pertains to law firms? Yes, but that will come. And does the California State Bar need to come to terms with the fact that there are hundreds of attorneys practicing in California that offer homeowners legitimate and oftentimes critical support when attempting to save their homes? Again, the answer is yes.

    But I, along with the 70 attorneys that make up the Commission on Homeowner Representation, are hopeful that this is a step in the right direction, and I salute Governor Schwarzenegger for signing it and for making the statement he made.

    BREAKING NEWS! CA STATE BAR PUBLISHES GUIDANCE FOR LAW FIRMS ON SB 94

    Wading through ambiguities in language in order to interpret the legislative intent of a new law isn’t easy, but the moral of the story is that it can be done, and thanks to the combined efforts of the attorneys and other great minds that make up the Commission on Homeowner Representation, it can be done successfully. Reading the California State Bar’s written guidance related to law firms representing homeowners seeking loan modifications, which was published online by the Bar today, provides proof that this statement is true.

    The State Bar’s WRITTEN GUIDANCE DOES NOT PROHIBIT LAWYERS FROM BREAKING UP SERVICES RELATED TO A LOAN MODIFICATION INTO CONTRACTUAL SEGMENTS, PAID FOR AS THOSE SERVICES ARE COMPLETED.

    HOWEVER, the Bar’s interpretation of the new law DOES NOT allow attorneys to accept funds in advance into a trust account and be paid from that trust account. The Bar focused on the word “receive” in the language contained in the statute as the basis for their interpretation, stating:

    The legislation prohibits the collection of advance fees for loan modifications, as specified. Among other provisions, new Civil Code Section 2944.7(a)(1) provides as follows:

    “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall be unlawful for any person who negotiates, attempts to negotiate, arranges, attempts to arrange, or otherwise offers to perform a mortgage loan modification or other form of mortgage loan forbearance for a fee or other compensation paid by the borrower, to do any of the following: (1) Claim, demand, charge, collect, or RECEIVE any compensation until after the person has fully performed each and every service the person contracted to perform or represented that he or she would perform.”

    Here’s a link to the Bar’s written guidance on SB 94:

    http://calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/ethics/Ethics-SB94-FAQs.pdf

    Whether the Bar’s interpretation of the trust account issue would be upheld by the courts is unknown, however, I think the salient point is clearly that the manner in which most if not all of the law firms that make up the Commission on Homeowner Representation have chosen to operate under SB 94 can now be assumed to be State Bar compliant under the new law.

    And that’s a good thing. A very good thing. Because lawyers who help homeowners avoid foreclosure have a tough enough job these days fighting the banks and servicers who continue to refuse to follow rules and even laws… and they certainly don’t need to fight the State of California or State Bar as well.

    Congratulations to all involved and thank you to the California State Bar for providing the written guidance as soon as was possible.

  48. Guest6132

    I am also one of Haffar and Associateconmens victims. Took my money and then did nothing, I am not blaming the laywers for not being able to get some help with my house, I am however, blaming Haffar and Associates for ripping me off. Period. I believe the question was how do you rate Haffar and Associates?, not who do you think is to blame for the modification process not being successfull.

  49. Guest7585
    I am a client of haffar and associates and I just completed my modification and bankruptcy with them. I couldn't be happier. I was very upset at my bank for the delays and mistakes but then I found haffar and associates who guided me through the process. I know whenever I wanted to speak to the attorney about a legal question, he was available. The one thing he wasn't good at was trying to explain why the banks were taking so long and always losing my paperwork, but I guess that's to be expected. Haffar is not a rip off or scam and he helped me wipe out my debt and keep my home on a 2% loan for the next 2 years with a rate never above 4.125. This was last month.
  50. Guest4185

    Seems like they have 10 unhappy customers for every 1 that says they are happy. I won't be using them for a loan modification after reading all the bad things on the interent about them, I don't like the odds. Does anyone have a good referrel for help getting a loan mod?.

  51. Guest8819

    Common sense will tell you that nobody has a reason to look up Haffar and Associates once they have gotten a satsifactory Loan Modification. Only people that are seeking information about them for one of a few reasons, they are looking to modify, they have had a problem with haffar and a loan modification, or they have been ripped off like some of us have been, would feel the need to be googling Haffar, and leaving negative comments on the internet. So I have to be a little suspect of those sticking up for them. ???

  52. Guest4592

    Guest21701215 is Michael Nazarinia. His writing style is unmistakeable. He is one of the head honchos at Haffar & Assoc.


     

  53. Guest8423

    Guest21701215 is wrong, it is NOT legal to divide services into segments to evade SB 94.   See this government website,  http://www.dre.ca.gov/pdf_docs/FAQsSB94.pdf, which says:


    Question 3:


    Does Senate Bill 94 provide a "loophole" for a licensee to break down the services of a loan modification so that a licensee can charge after respective services are performed (but before the loan modification services are fully "performed")?

    Answer: No. The DRE is aware of licensees who are attempting to evade the plain intent of the new law by breaking the loan modification process and services into various steps. For instance, step 1 might be meeting with a borrower and completing the necessary paperwork (including a hardship letter). The fee for that step service is quoted as $2500. Step 2 might be to submit the package to the servicer/lender. The fee for that service is listed as $500. Step 3 might be the actual loan modification discussions and negotiations with the servicer/lender. The fee for this step is shown as $100.

    The problem with this attempt at creative contractual expression is that it violates the new section 10026 of the California Business and Professions Code embodied in Senate Bill 94 with respect to "advance fees". The new language provides that "Neither an advance fee nor the services to be performed shall be separated or divided into components for the purpose of avoiding the application of this section".

    It is the position of the DRE that the clever but unlawful scheme set forth above is an endeavor to avoid and skirt the clear intention and public policy expression of the California Legislature and the Governor in passing and signing Senate Bill 94, to violate the "advance fee" mandates of the California Business and Professions Code, and to obtain for a licensee immediate "upfront" and sizeable payments for services that are of littleor no value to the borrower.

    Based on the experiences of those in the department who have communicated regularly with the public regarding loan modifications, the only thing a desperate, vulnerable borrower wants is an affordable, sustainable loan modification or other type of forbearance. He or she does not care about pre-loan modification paperwork processing services.

    The artificial breaking down of residential loan modification services into components or steps (with only vague, ambiguous, or no real value) by a licensee clearly violates the mandate of Senate Bill 94 that no person can receive any pre-performance compensation from a borrower for residential loan modifications or other forms of mortgage loan forbearance.

  54. Guest5478
    Haffar & Associates is no longer doing any loan modifications outside of Bankruptcy or Litigation or Both. The decision was made in September by Haffar because the banks are not working in good faith as evidenced below. I was informed of this fact when I spoke to haffar this weekend and he asked that as a client who is not unhappy, to post here. Its true, complainers make more noise than happy clients and its usually because they ar ignorant of who they should be complaining against. I am not unhappy with haffar and understand they are not the reason why its hard to get a modification.
    As if the fact that the world economy has once again taken a turn for the worse (rising inflation in China, sinking everything in Europe, endless QE in the US) wasn't enough, that pesky problem of robosigning and fraudclosure just refuses to go away. And even though the major banks are doing their best to remove any reference of this problem, which will eventually be the final nail in the coffin sealing the first truly global great depression, from the mainstream media, here is a sampling of some of the choicest admissions by robosigners, which will continue to serve as the basis for thousands of lawsuits (both RICO and otherwise) to come. While we know that BofA's Reps & Warrantees reserve is woefully underfunded (with everyone and their grandmother now seeking to putback RMBS to BofA, anything less than 'infinity' is underfunded), we hope Bank of America has set up a sufficiently large legal expenses reserve. It will need it.

    1. 'Just Sign The Documents'

    "Do you know specifically what you're authorized to do for MERS?"
    "Just sign the documents."
    "Do you know specifically what you're authorized to do for City Residential Lending?"
    "Just sign the documents."

    [...]

    "Why did you sign this document indicating that your address was in California if that in fact was not your address?"
    "Because my name was on the document."
    "So it was presented to you to sign and you signed it."
    "Yes."

    2. A Vice President At More Than 20 Companies
    "In addition to notarizing assignments of mortgage, do you ever sign assignments as a vice president of a company?"
    "Yes."
    "For which companies have you signed as vice president?"
    "I couldn't list all."
    "Could you give me some examples?"
    "Chase Morgan. Wells Fargo. I'm on pretty much every corporate resolution."
    "Would it be accurate to say that there are maybe an excess of 20 companies or banks that you sign as vice president?"
    "That would be fair to say." 

    3. "Just Look For My Name, And Then Sign"
    "Do you have any understanding as to what that term means, 'for good and valuable consideration'?"
    "I don't usually read the docs when I sign."
    "So it's not part of your job to review the document. Your job is just to sign it."
    "Just look for my name, and then sign."

    4. No Experience Necessary
    "What did you study [in the one year of college]?"
    "Nothin'. It was just the basic."
    "General courses?"
    "Yeah."
    "Do you have any other additional training or education in banking or finance?"
    "No."
    "Real estate?"
    "No."
    "Law?"
    "No."

    5. Signing 5,000 Documents Per Day At Less Than A Minute Each
    "Can you tell me on any given day how many assignments or other documents you sign?"
    "Are you looking for a ballpark average?"
    "Ballpark. I certainly don't expect you to remember exactly."
    "I'd say 5,000."
    "Would that be an average day for you?"
    "That would be average."
    "Would it be fair to say that during your tenure at NTC you've probably signed an excess of 50 or 60 thousand documents?"
    "Yes."
    "Could be higher than that?"
    "Yes."
    "With signing so many on any given day, can you estimate for me the amount of time you spend on any given document?"
    "Less than a minute."
    "When you're presented with a document to sign or notarize, do you take any steps to verify any of the information contained in the document?"
    "Not in the body."
    "When you say 'not in the body' are there any other steps that you take?"
    "I'm just looking to make sure it's been fully signed."
    "Would it be accurate to say that you are presented with a stack of documents to sign, and your practice is to look at the document, see if it's been signed, affix your signature to it and then move on to the next document?"
    "Correct."

    6. A Disturbing Lack Of Experience
    "When you say 'financial' are you referring to matters relating to banking?"
    "No. We don't do mortgages in my country. ... I don't have any idea about mortgages when I started here."

    7. A Strange Definition Of A Mortgage
    "Did you take any steps to verify any of the information contained in this assignment before you signed it?"
    "No."
    "Do you ever take any steps to verify any of the information in the documents you sign at NTC?"
    "No."
    "What is your understanding of what exactly is a mortgage?"
    "When somebody goes to buy a house, they take a loan. And then the mortgage is their paying the banks bank."
    "Can you tell me what your understanding is of the term 'promissory note'?"
    "That's just the note. Like it says the interest rate and stuff like that on it."

    8. Management May Have Electronically Signed Documents For One Employee
    "Do you play any role in the creation of the documents to which your signature is electronically affixed?"
    "No role."
    "Do you have any idea what documents or how many documents your signature has been electronically affixed to?"
    "No."
    "Do you ever review those electronic documents after your signature has been affixed?"
    "No."
    "So would it be accurate to say that entire process takes place outside of your presence and knowledge?"
    "That would be fair."
    "You play no role in the determination as to whether or not you should be signing the document physically, or whether your electronic signature should be inserted?"
    "No."
    "Who makes that decision?"
    "That would be someone in management."
    "So someone else in management is making a decision as to whether or not to use your signature to affix it electronically to a document?"
    "Yes."
    "And you have no role in that process?"
    "Correct." 

    9. Signing More Than 50,000 Documents
    "Have you signed assignments or other documents as vice president of any other companies?"
    "Yes."
    "What companies have you signed as vice president?"
    "I don't know."
    "You can't recall any?"
    "Mm-mm [No]."
    "Can you estimate for me the number of different companies that you've signed assignments as vice president?"
    "I don't know."
    "Can you estimate for me how many assignments or other documents in total during your tenure at NTC you signed as an officer or a vice president of a company?"
    "I don't know."
    "Is it more than 10?"
    "Yes."
    "More than 500?"
    "Yes."
    "More than 5,000?"
    "Yes."
    "More than 20,000?"
    "Yes."
    "More than 50,000?"
    "And out of those 50,000, the only company that you can recall signing as a vice president or an officer is City Residential Lending?"
    "Yes.

    Courtesy of Huffington Post
    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/most-stunning-robosigning-admissions?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+zerohedge/feed+(zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline,+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero)
  55. Guest4996

    Here's another victim of haffar and assoc. :-(

  56. Guest6166

    If they would cheat people thru the loan mod process, probablt best npot to use them for anything? Just my .02

  57. Guest4560

    I paid this joker law firm $3500 in the 1st 30 days for a loan mod application, after a few months of not doing a goddamn thing, I decided to cancel everything with these jokers. I am still waiting for any refund of my money after 4 months, but it looks as the chances are slim to none cause Haffar is a LEECH.

  58. Guest6658

    Absolutely agreed, you can go to your bank, they received a bailout, they will help you at no cost, just ask HUD or HOPENOW. The banks have been proven to be nice people who don't cheat, lie or steal and get modifications done quickly and efficiently and haven’t “victimized” anyone like foreclosing on a home they don’t have the rights to foreclose upon. It’s the scammer Haffar, the problem he stole your money by giving you nothing and forcing you to pay him upfront. You spoke to Haffar he promised and guaranteed everything in writing, you believed him and he stole your money! Haffar did nothing and you paid Haffar money upfront because you were sure the bank was going to help you out as you were promised by your congressman, senator, your president and your bank. You can't trust Haffar at all because they are scammers and don't care. Everything you have ever paid for, including your loan you read all about before signing away and then claiming it was a "bad loan" or it was a the bank’s fault. There’s a victim in all of us just waiting to be exploited by someone or something. You were a victim when the lower payments at 1% interest when you got your loan, you didn't like and never paid on time. The bank gave you a bad loan and you signed on for it and were a victim too. You believed in Santa Claus and are a victim now as well. As a matter of fact why did you pay Haffar anything when it’s clear you don't need to hire help to get a modification for your stated income 1% exploding option arm loan? If you were sure, why did you pay anyone for help and not your mortgage? If you could afford an attorney why didn’t you make your mortgage payments? Help is free! Go to NACA https://www.naca.com/index_main.jsp they get it done same day.


     

  59. Guest9216

    Attacking everything but Haffar on this post isnt going to change the fact that theres something terribly wrong with this idiot. Its the same as the people going in and taking money from natural disaster's. Scumbag and deserves to be deported back to his terorist country he came from.

  60. Guest3787
    US Foreclosure Mess Impact Could Be Severe: Panel
    Reuters | November 16, 2010 | 05:59 AM EST

    Widespread problems in how U.S. lenders documented foreclosures could spark a wave of legal challenges resulting in massive losses to banks and serious new troubles for the housing market, a federal watchdog warned on Tuesday.

    The Congressional Oversight Panel, the overseer of the government's Wall Street bailout, in its latest report laid out a range of possible outcomes for the foreclosure paperwork mess that emerged in September.

    In the best-case scenario, the watchdog said, concerns about the paperwork mess are "overblown" and banks would be able to proceed with foreclosures as soon as invalid court documents were replaced with proper paperwork.

    But in the worst-case scenario, it warned that banks could face billions of dollars in losses.

    Banks are accused of having used "robo-signers" to sign hundreds of foreclosure documents a day without proper review, a fiasco that reignited public anger with banks that received billions of dollars in taxpayer aid during the financial crisis.

    Bank of America, GMAC and Chase were among banks that temporarily suspended foreclosures pending internal reviews of their practices, but have since begun to resume sales of foreclosed properties.

    In the worst-case scenario, the panel said banks may be unable to prove that they own the mortgage loans they claim to own, legal challenges could call into question the validity of 33 million mortgage loans — many of which were then securitized and sold to investors — and banks could face billions of dollars in unexpected losses.

    "If such problems were to arise on a large scale, the housing market could experience even greater disruptions than have already occurred, resulting in significant harm to major financial institutions," the 125-page report said. "At present, the reach of these irregularities is unknown."

    The panel, created to oversee the $700 billion bank rescue approved by Congress in 2008, also said banks could end up losing $52 billion from so-called mortgage put-backs, or loans that were sold to other investors but would have to be bought back due to problems that have turned up.

    Those losses would be borne predominantly by Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, the panel said.

    Lawmaker Showdown

    Banks have been eager to downplay the impact of the foreclosure paperwork mess, saying evictions through foreclosure have been "materially accurate." The banks face lawmaker scrutiny later on Tuesday in hearings by the Senate Banking Committee, and then another hearing on Thursday before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

    A top Bank of America executive acknowledged problems in the bank's foreclosure practices in testimony prepared for the Senate hearing and said Bank of America is working to replace previously filed affidavits in as many as 102,000 pending foreclosure cases.

    "Thus far, we have confirmed the basis for our foreclosure decisions has been accurate. At the same time, however, we have not found a perfect process," said BofA home loans chief Barbara Desoer in the prepared testimony.

    David Lowman, chief executive for home lending at JPMorgan Chase, also laid out missteps in foreclosure paperwork and said the bank is cleaning up errors.

    Both officials said their banks work closely with struggling borrowers to modify loans rather than foreclose, but lawmakers are expected to press banks on why more loan modifications have not gone forward.

    Bank regulators who are probing banks' foreclosure procedures have also pushed for more modifications.

    The Congressional Oversight Panel hit on loan modifications in its report, saying documentation problems could undermine Treasury's main foreclosure prevention effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program.

    "Some servicers dealing with Treasury may have no legal right to initiate foreclosures, which may call into question their ability to grant modifications or to demand payments from homeowners," the report said.

    The panel said Treasury should undertake an investigation into whether paperwork errors could undermine HAMP, and report back to Congress and the public.
    http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/40210972
  61. Guest8071

    I am sure happy I found this and other comments when I did a search of Haffar and Associates Law Firm. I was considering using them after I recieved a number of calls from a Tony who promised me the world in regards to my home mortgage that I am behind 7 months on. I did not call them, not sure how he got my number?, and yes, they are still trying to take money from new customers as I can validate that, and yes, he did mention a rest report that guarantees me a loan modification that my bank says I don't qualify for. and this was last week that I first heard from them. I knew it smelled fishy at best, but part of me wants to believe they are for real still, lol. I'm sure thats what makes it so easy to take advantage of the desperate home owner trying to hang onto their homes?. But Mr. Haffar and Associates, Good honest people don't take advantage of other good honest people when they are vulerable like some of us are, and like you are doing.

  62. Guest5143

    Haffar and Associates part of the reason America is in such a mess, I'm going to kick your a*s Mr. Haffar when I see you.

  63. Guest7698

    Haffar and Associates have not been taking on any clients since September and anyone soliciting on their behalf is a scammer. Again, be aware, Haffar and Associates have not been taking on any clients since the beginning of September.

  64. Guest5467

    Haffar and a*s are under investigation for whatever unlawful he has been doing, the court hearing is Dec 2010 and another in Jan 2011 in Santa Clara, Ca. He is a flight risk and a scum scammmer. He and his associates must go to jail and rot. 


     

  65. Guest1125

    Wow, I guess there would be no reason for attorneys to do loan modifications now would there. I'm glad Haffar is my attorney and he always makes me feel better when there are so many scammers out there and now he has been vindicated. Look at this article today. "Both sides have tentatively agreed that mandatory third-party mediation if a homeowner requests it is something that should be included. They also agree that there should be no more "dual track" loan modification negotiations that end suddenly with foreclosures. Many homeowners have complained that they were in the middle of loan modification discussions when they were foreclosed on or told to default on their loans to get a modification, and then ended up having their home foreclosed on."


    50 state attorneys general probing foreclosures mess close in on settlement with banks

    By Ariana Eunjung Cha

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/11/50-state_probe_into_foreclosur.html

    The 50 state attorneys general are in negotiations over an agreement over foreclosures that would include a victims' compensation fund that would provide money for borrowers whose homes have been taken away improperly, according to state and industry officials.


    The discussions are still preliminary and the final deal may change significantly as details are hammered out and the settlement is vetted by 50 separate state offices, the official said.


    While there's no universal agreement that would apply industry wide and the AGs are negotiating separately with each bank, many of the stipulations are the same for the agreements being discussed with the three largest mortgage servicers: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.


    Both sides have tentatively agreed that mandatory third-party mediation if a homeowner requests it is something that should be included. They also agree that there should be no more "dual track" loan modification negotiations that end suddenly with foreclosures. Many homeowners have complained that they were in the middle of loan modification discussions when they were foreclosed on or told to default on their loans to get a modification, and then ended up having their home foreclosed on.


    The most radical part of the settlement deal has to do with providing monetary compensation for homeowners who have lost their homes but can prove that they have been foreclosed on wrongly. This is the most contentious item because the amount of the funds that would go into this have not been worked out and it's also unclear how it would be administered.


    The big banks have said that they either don't know of any cases in which someone was improperly foreclosed on or that the number of cases is small, but homeowner advocates say wrongful foreclosures were widespread.


    By Ariana Eunjung Cha | November 16, 2010; 5:05 PM ET

  66. Guest7224

    Judgement day is coming for you Haffar, oh wait, your a muslim, so 70 virgins waiting for you , lol

  67. Guest3634
    Foreclosure Fix Is Seen as Distant
    The New York Times | November 18, 2010 | 10:59 AM EST

    Changing the face of foreclosure in America will take some time, several state attorneys general said Wednesday, cautioning that an agreement with major lenders over revamped foreclosure practices was not imminent.

    “We want to move as quickly as possibly but it has to be done right,” said Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina. “We have plowed this ground before.”

    Ever since the law enforcement officials from all 50 states signed on last month to a highly publicized investigation of big mortgage lenders, there has been a public tug of war.

    The banks, who have been subjected to bad publicity, have played down the investigation and want to see it end as quickly as possible. The state attorneys general, however, say that there is an opportunity to fundamentally change the way banks deal with defaulting borrowers so that more people can stay in their homes by modifying their mortgages, and that they will take the time needed.

    “The large banks say they are doing everything they can to avoid foreclosure, but that is not the reality on the ground,” said Patrick Madigan, an assistant attorney general in Iowa who is a lead figure in the investigation. “The question is, Why?”

    Mr. Madigan mentioned some theories, saying any or all could be true: “Is it the fact that the current servicing system was not designed to do large numbers of loan modifications, is it being understaffed, incompetence or the servicers having the wrong financial incentives?”

    The major lenders are scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill on Thursday for the second hearing this week on their foreclosure procedures. The pressure to reach a settlement with the attorneys general will likely intensify after the hearing, which will be led by Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California and outspoken critic of the mortgage lending industry.

    But quick fixes are not likely, the attorneys general said. Richard Cordray, the Ohio attorney general who lost his bid for re-election this month, was hesitant to predict a significant outcome.

    “Something will come of this, no question,” Mr. Cordray said of the inquiry. “The question is whether it will be a meaningful resolution that will make a real difference or a missed opportunity. It’s not entirely clear at this point.”

    Some experts were willing to go even further, saying the lenders were impervious to change. For 18 months, the Obama administration has promoted modifications that would keep families in their homes over foreclosures that would kick them out. The programs have had some success but ultimately have done little to stem the tide.

    “The banks’ act was to put their tail between their legs, act contrite before Congress and change nothing,” said Adam Levitin, an associate profesor of law at Georgetown University who testified before Congress on Tuesday and will testify again on Thursday.

    The banks hope to buy off the attorneys general with money, perhaps to establish a compensation fund for victims, Mr. Levitin said. That, he said, would prevent attorneys general from “digging deeper and uncovering more rot in the mortgage system. My fear is that the banks’ calculus is correct.”

    There were fresh reports on Wednesday that the foreclosure situation was deteriorating. Another 35,000 households entered foreclosure in October, the data company Lender Processing Service said, despite freezes instituted by lenders as they reviewed their practices. About 4.3 million households are either in serious default or in foreclosure.

    The housing market also showed fresh signs of trouble. CoreLogic, a data company, said Wednesday that home prices fell 2.8 percent in the last year. Earlier this week, another information company, DataQuick, said sales in the Southern California market had dropped 24 percent in October from last year.

    “We agree with the attorneys general that a housing market recovery is vital to restoring economic growth, and the sooner we resolve the outstanding issues, the better,” said Lawrence Di Rita, a Bank of America spokesman.

    For the banks, the immediate cost of halting foreclosure is not significant. Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America, said it totaled $10 million to $20 million a month. Bank of America has frozen foreclosures in 27 states.

    A far greater threat to the broader financial system is the possibility that investors will force financial institutions to buy back hundreds of billions of dollars in soured mortgages, according to a Congressional Research Service report prepared for Thursday’s hearing and obtained by The New York Times.

    Loan buybacks could shift $425 billion in losses on mortgage-backed securities from the investors that owned them to the banks that helped originate or assemble the securities, according to the report, far more than most estimates floated on Wall Street.

    “Loan buybacks have the potential to cause the banking system to become undercapitalized once again or to cause individual large banks to fail,” the report says, “even if that outcome is unlikely.”

    While bank officials agree that a settlement with the attorneys general is not in the making anytime soon, they remain eager to put the controversy behind them. Bank of America’s reputation, in particular, was hammered last month as the uproar grew over claims that the industry had pursued foreclosures in cases where documents were lost, missing or barely reviewed before they were signed by bank officials, a practice known as robo-signing.

    What is more, as the nation’s largest mortgage servicer — it handles roughly 14 million home loans, or one in five American mortgages — it has more to lose as the investigation drags on. The majority of its troubled portfolio was picked up in 2008 when it bought Countrywide, whose aggressive subprime lending practices made it a symbol of industry excess.

    “What makes it a little more pressing for Bank of America is their level of exposure,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. “Whatever the issue is, Bank of America seems to have a target on its back from people looking to be compensated for losses.”

    As the beneficiary of two government bailouts, both repaid, it has been eager to maintain good relations with regulators.

    Representatives from Bank of America and the other main players in the mortgage servicing industry — Ally Financial, JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo and Citigroup — will testify at Thursday’s hearing. A top mortgage executive at Citi plans to testify that the company identified 14,000 foreclosure cases where errors may have been made, including 4,000 where a notary may have been absent when they were signed. The bank, which until now has defended its processes, still insists that in each case the original decision to foreclose was correct and that the paperwork will be refiled.

    Mr. Levitin, the Georgetown professor, will argue in Thursday’s testimony that the business model at servicing giants like Bank of America and Wells Fargo “encourages them to cut cut costs wherever possible, even if this involves cutting corners on legal requirements, and to lard on junk fees and in-sourced expenses at inflated prices.” That results in foreclosure, rather than modification, being a better bet for servicers.

    In removing such incentives, the attorneys general have the task of encouraging a new system that changes behavior. “We are trying to create a paradigm shift in the way foreclosures are handled,” said Mr. Madigan, the assistant Iowa attorney general.
    http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/40253939
  68. Guest6269
    Haffar & Associates sent me this article and asked me to post to this website. I am a happy client and know Haffar is not a scam and doesn't take money upfront. They have asked me to help get the word out that the BS that's on this webpage is just that. BS

    Well at least we agree with the Attorney General of Iowa:
    "A lot more modifications should be made that aren't being made," said Miller.

    Servicers must improve loan modifications, say state AGs
    By Tami Luhby, senior writer
    November 16, 2010: 07:48 PM EST

    As part of a probe into loan servicers' foreclosure practices, state attorneys general want banks to revamp their procedures and stop foreclosure proceedings on homeowners seeking loan modifications.

    Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who has been leading a 50-state probe into loan servicers' foreclosure practices since October, revealed to lawmakers Tuesday some of the goals of the investigation.

    The 50 state AGs are broadening their scope beyond allegations of improper documentation and into the handling of delinquent borrowers looking for help.

    Servicers have to make better decisions when it comes to modifications and pour more resources into the process, Miller testified before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday.

    "A lot more modifications should be made that aren't being made," said Miller.

    One practice the attorney generals want stopped is servicers pursuing foreclosures on homeowners who are in the loan modification pipeline. Homeowners can get very confused and upset when they receive foreclosure notices at the time when servicers have agreed to reduce their payments to more affordable levels.

    The so-called dual-track system is allowed under President Obama's loan modification program. But banks are not allowed to actually sell the home until determining that the homeowner is not eligible for a modification.

    In addition, the state officials want servicers to assign one person to each homeowner's case to make the modification process smoother. And they want an oversight system that could assign a monitor or levy penalties for servicers who are not complying with the rules.

    Miller told lawmakers it could be months before the probe is finished. His office denied reports Tuesday that a settlement is near.

    The investigation began when court proceedings revealed that bank officials had signed thousands of foreclosure affidavits without reading them, a practice known as robo-signing.

    The attorney generals are talking to federal agencies, the administration, and mortgage investors, in addition the banks. They have had two sessions recently with Bank of America.

    BofA, the nation's largest servicer, is looking into halting the foreclosure process, said Barbara Desoer, head of the bank's home loan division, at Tuesday's hearing. However, contracts with investors stand in the way.

    The servicer has revamped its foreclosure practices in the wake of the paperwork scandal. Among the changes is assigning a representative to each borrower seeking a modification.

    "We know we need to provide greater clarity to our customers, who are going through the process," she said.



    .
  69. Guest6277

    " Haffar & Associates sent me this article and asked me to post to this website. I am a happy client..."


     


    You guys have lied so much that you don't think we realize that this is you, pathetic.

  70. Guest5293

    Like a cat trying to cover its c**p in a litter box. Whens the hearing in Santa Clara?, I wanna be there, I have some good old fashioned street law to do my collecting, save me the airfare to San Diego.

  71. Guest7356

    The 1st court hearing for this scum is Dec 10, 2010. Click on the site of Law Office of Tavy Dumont - the details will be all there. I paid this Haffar and his associates more than $3G, I junked his lousy, pathetic services in 4 months. This law firm only communicates agressively to clients before the payments, once the payment is received, you will realize what a big mistake you did. He haven't returned even a penney out of my over $3G, after a few months now. What a sucker.

  72. Guest692

     I am a satisfied client of Haffar & Associates.  I could not have done my modification without them! I tried for 2 months to get BofA to speak with me. I was a perfect client of 30 years of BofA and they didn't want to hear my sob story about loss of income. They refused to help me. I had to hire an attorney firm to get me a new new loan. And for all of you complainers out there, $3,500 is peanuts in legal fees. Have none of you done any research or quotations for hourly rates from lawyers?  The $3,500 is a bargain to get your home saved, and the late fees racking up on the back end of your loans,  you numb skulls!  Haffar is slow to respond to calls, they have many clients and they are not going to burn through your dollars with small talk. When they call, they have info, they have requests for documents, etc. Do what they say and you will be successful and quit complaining. The banks are the frauds you idiots!

  73. Guest380

    NO THANKS !< I DON"T LIKE TO GAMBLE

  74. Guest2967

    some of you so called satisfied clients, need to show some documented proof haffar did what you say he did,. for those of us he ripped off, our documented proof will be shown in court, get a clue, honest attorneys do NOT get a class action suit filed agaisnt them. They also do not get negatively slammed on the internet if not deserved, I say the post from the happy clients is haffar associates posting?, Please don't fall for this scumbag law firms bag o' tricks. If I were you, I'd wait till you see how many honest hard working down on their luck AMERICANS this jackass has taken advantage of. Its about to all come out next couple months. You've been warned, not its on you if you are stupid enough to have ANYTHING to do with this scumbag outfit.

  75. Guest2417

    HERE IS SOME PROOF THAT HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES DOES GET MODIFICATIONS DONE AND ARE NOT SCAMMERS:


    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1791696/countrywide_loan_modifications_becoming.html


    Countrywide Loan Modifications: Becoming Easier Than Ever

    By Adam Hefner

    Countrywide loan modifications are not impossible to get anymore. After the merger with Bank of America, Countrywide was forced to change their criteria and open up their doors to more modifications. And after the new government modification plan under Obama, Countrywide has become one of the easier lenders to acquire a modification from. But just because countrywide loan modifications have become easier to receive does not mean they are a walk in the park.

    Before you do anything else, ensure that you are clear on their modification requirements. A quick call to the loss mitigation department can clear up any misunderstandings you may have and for you to get a good idea of what they're looking for in a applicant.

    You can also call the loss mitigation department to find out what kind of programs countrywide loan modifications can come in. Finding out the requirements and programs they offer is an important part of being approved and can change the way you handle the modification altogether.

    Next, decide how you would like to approach Countrywide about a modification. You can either approach them directly or go through a loan modification attorney or specialist.

    Only take the task on yourself if you are skilled in negotiating, know how to fill out the forms the way they would like, and are sure you fit into the requirements. The majority of people who apply on their own do not succeed because they make some sort of mistake on the application forms or on the hardship letter they are to send in with the application.

    There are two choices for outside assistance: Attorneys or workers through the FHA. Both are trained to assist homeowners to get loan modifications, but the help from the FHA is free. While almost anyone would choose the free alternative to a paid service, it's worth noting that in most cases there are waiting periods to get assistance from these professionals. A specialized attorney or company would not have this wait.

    The hardship letter is a critical factor in getting countrywide loan modifications. Some homeowners do entirely forget the letter, which is means for instant disqualification. The letter cannot be too drawn out or whiny, but must be very convincing for your case of financial hardship. If you decide to work through a professional service, they will assist you in writing the letter.

    Getting countrywide loan modifications takes the same amount of time and effort as any other lender. And if you choose to go about it yourself but are denied, consider a consultation from a professional to see if you fit into the requirements, and if so have them work on it with you.

    Emma Lanier, "Loan Modifications Companies", Mortgage Lending Modifications

    "Countrywide Loan Modification: Whats The Real Deal?", Loan Modification Central

    2010 © Associated Content, All rights reserved.

     

  76. Guest2525

    lol, what proof is that?, lmao, your obviously taLKINVG OUT YOUR a*s.

  77. Guest8919

    MAYBE YOU SHOULD FIND SOMETHING TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME NOW THAT YOU RECEIVED YOUR MODIFICATION OR ARE CONVINCED YOUR BANK IS HELPING YOU GET ONE ON YOUR OWN. MAYBE YOU WILL WAKE UP AND REALIZE THAT THE PROBLEM ISN'T THE LAW FIRM WHO IS TRYING TO HELP YOU BUT RATHER THE PROBLEM WITH THE SERVICER WHO IS TRYING TO TAKE YOUR HOME WHILE GIVING YOU A DEFECTIVE MODIFICATION OR BETTER YET, LYING TO YOU THAT YOU ARE UNDER REVIEW!


    http://dtc-systems.net/2010/11/split-note-deed-trust-redux/#more-190


    Split: The Note and the Deed of Trust (Redux)


    by Daniel Edstrom


    The Note and Mortgage are split in judicial states the same as the Note and Deed of Trust in non-judicial states.


    The first issue is that the note was sold in 2005 but the Deed of Trust appears to have been left behind. For the uninitiated, if the Note and Deed of Trust are split, this causes a nullity. A nullity means the security interest is lost and the debt becomes unsecured. In securitization this is standard operating procedure and is one of the issues that we are left to face. Upwards of 60,000,000 homes may be unencumbered leaving those who own the notes on these houses with no power of sale. And more considering MERS wasn’t the only party involved in splitting the note from the security instrument.


    Who owns these loans if they are unsecured? That was the whole purpose of creating the securitization diagram in the first place.


    The result? More questions, few answers.

    Suffice it to say that it appears the investors who purchased unregistered securities from the trusts own the loans, but that is not entirely clear. Had the transaction parties actually followed the law or their own agreements the meltdown may have been averted and this (along with many other issues) would be moot. It is no wonder that servicers declare this information as proprietary – because they really have no idea. They probably know who the “investor” is, but this is just an incorrect name for the Trustee of the securitized trust.


    Anyway, the meltdown begins and in February 2007, the originator of my loan, Mortgage Lenders Network USA, Inc. (MLN) enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At this point, as far as I know, MLN is the owner of the note and Deed of Trust. However, MLN was really only the sub-servicer as they had sold the note into securitization without my knowledge. In the MLN bankruptcy, the note and the Deed of Trust were not listed as assets of the bankruptcy estate. It is my understanding that when you hide assets from a bankruptcy trustee that this is a significant Federal offense. For those interested 11 U.S.C. section 541 defines “property of the estate” and 18 U.S.C. section 152 defines bankruptcy crimes for failure to fully disclose property of the bankruptcy estate.


    Regardless of my opinions above, Dolan Media (which owns National Default Exchange, known as NDEx West, LLC), in conjunction with a law firm, Barrett Daffin Frappier Turner and Engel (BDFTE), decided that MLN still had legal ownership of the Deed of Trust and used MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.) as “nominee” of MLN to assign the Deed of Trust (along with the note). This is where the foreclosure mill, robo-signing craziness starts to get interesting. It turns out that the person who (allegedly) executed the note is really Chief Litigation Counsel for BDFTE. A foreclosure mill law firm. Stephen C. Porter signed as an assistant secretary for MERS. Whether or not that is true is a post for another day.


    The interesting part is what I and others have found after scouring county recorders offices for other assignments executed by Stephen C. Porter. They are easy to find as they are executed by the thousands. Remember, NDEx West announced at one point they had processed 50,000 foreclosure files in 3 months. An awesome achievement of destroying marriages and families which is OK because for this specific period, it resulted in 23.6 million in revenue. It turns out that Stephen C. Porter’s signature changes significantly depending on what year it is and what state it is. It may be that to keep track of when and where he is signing that he uses different signatures. It could also be that he is ambidextrous and has so many assignments that he does two at the same time. This would explain why he has two main signatures, with a few others for good measure. An esteemed AV rated attorney whose law firm handles foreclosures for Fannie Mae and probably Freddie Mac would never stoop to allowing others in the office to sign his name. The other great thing about being Chief Counsel for a law firm such as BDFTE is that you get to also have other jobs, such as assistant secretary of MERS. I didn’t know what an assistant secretary of MERS does, but after looking into it, it appears that it gives you the opportunity to sign your name. Thousands of times a month.


    Did I mention that Stephen C. Porter is also a Vice President of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.? It is amazing that Wells Fargo Bank let’s one of their Vice Presidents also work for a law firm that handles their foreclosures. For most companies and banks this would be a major conflict of interest but for Wells Fargo Bank it gives them somebody on the inside at the law firm so they probably get really good rates on foreclosures. Or maybe it is the law firm that has somebody on the inside of Wells Fargo Bank to ensure that BDFTE gets all the good foreclosures. It is a good thing that Stephen C. Porter is actually a Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank because if he wasn’t I would think that this would be considered counterfeiting, forgery, uttering a fraudulent document, mail fraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, etc. But that would be impossible because he has 36 years in practice as a lawyer and as an AV rated attorney he “Meets Very High Criteria of General Ethical Standards“.


    Just to be doubly sure that the above assignment executed by Stephen C. Porter is valid, David Seybold, General Counsel for BDFTE decided to execute another assignment from MERS as nominee of MLN. Yes again. Twice. They take nothing for granted. You can be sure if the job has to be done right, BDFTE is the company to get it done. You see they are owned and managed by Dolan Media, a publicly traded company whose symbol is DM. Jim Dolan just announced in the 3rd quarter conference call for 2010 talked about robo-signing and “other process related issues”. Jim Dolan said that these issues ”does not occur inside of NDEx”. He said they use their own processing systems that avoid, and in many cases don’t even allow, some of the problems that are in the news. Their lawyers are satisfied that proper legal procedures are in place and that their people are properly trained. Whew, that is a relief because as an investor I would be concerned if Dolan Media, their subsidiaries or the law firms they were involved with were doing what the other foreclosure mill law firms are doing (you know, like forgery, counterfeiting, slandering title to homeowners properties, mail fraud, wire fraud, notary fraud, fraud upon the court, etc). It is awesome that your ambidextrous lawyers make doubly sure that you do things correctly. You designed the automated foreclosure workflow to make sure that if there is any doubt at all, you execute a second assignment (just to cover all bases). And it is a good thing that you do not rescind the first assignment because that way if anything is wrong with either one, the other one will still be good. As a software, network and systems architect with over 18 years of experience, I can tell you that I hope to someday live up to the high standard of excellence that your firm requires in its software, internal controls and employee training.


    And it gets even better. Just to make sure that you assigned my Deed of Trust correctly, you assigned the first one to “US BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE BY RESIDENTIAL FUNDING COMPANY, LLC FKA RESIDENTIAL FUNDING CORPORATION ATTORNEY IN FACT” and you assigned the second one to “U S BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE“. The “attorney in fact” is kind of weird but I am assuming you mean Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. who is the sub-servicer.


    Apparently my house must be worth something good because everyone wants to buy it. My $500,000.00 loan on my property which is now worth $200,000.00 must have a goldmine on it. Since I live near where gold was discovered in 1849 I decided I would start digging holes in my yard attempting to locate the hidden gold. Both assignments say “FOR VALUE RECEIVED”. Even though I wasn’t allegedly making payments on my house and it was in foreclosure, it was sold twice. Both times MERS as nominee for MLN sold it, once to Wells Fargo Bank (?) and once to US Bank, as Trustee. Both allegedly paid money (FOR VALUE RECEIVED) for an allegedly non-performing loan. They must know something that I don’t. It turns out they are correct. But that is a post for another day.


    What is amazing to me is that Wall Street has figured out a way for the originator of my loan to sell my loan at least 3 times. First, according to the SEC Filings for the RASC Series 2005-EMX4 trust, they sold the loan to EMAX, who sold it to Residential Funding Company who sold it to Residential Asset Securities Corporation who sold it to US Bank as the Trustee of the RASC Series 2005-EMX4 trust (on or before 11/17/2005). Then amazingly in February 2009 MLN sold the Deed of Trust along with the note to Wells Fargo Bank (?), and lastly in July 2009 MLN sold the Deed of Trust along with the note to US Bank as Trustee. I sold a car one time. They took the car and I couldn’t sell it again. Maybe next time I will sell it but not let them have it. Then I can sell it to somebody else and get the money twice. But I guess I am not as smart as these lawyers because I cannot figure out what to do with the person I first sold it to. Wouldn’t they get upset if I didn’t actual give them the car? Or if I didn’t give the second person the car wouldn’t they be upset? How do I get the DMV different titles showing 3 different sales? I guess I need to go to law school to figure that one out as it is just beyond my understanding.


    Internal controls must be important. I heard about them after Enron. Apparently publicly traded companies need them, as well as national banks – otherwise things can go haywire. I will need to spend time figuring them out, but I won’t have time for that until I figure out who owns my loan (so I can get my loan mod). The government said they had a large number of them available and I heard only a couple were actually used. There are plenty left over that I can choose from, but for some reason the servicer won’t send me a list and they won’t accept mine.


     

  78. Guest3224

    Haffar and Assoc. prey on those experiencing an unfortunate situation.


    They know d**n well when they sign clients up that they will probably not recieve any modification.


    They charge fees upfront. 


    Mohammed Haffar never touches your file, he has many young adults working under him who have no experience with law who do that. Their job is to keep you occupied and make it appear they are doing actual work. They are not.


    The operation is divided into two different companies. The company that signs you up is just a bunch of sales people who will say anything to get you to pay. Once you pay you are relegated to a few case managers who just keep you occupied while the bank takes its time denying you for a modification.


    After a few months go by Haffar will say he did all this work and blah blah blah. Really they just faxed some papers and kept you on the phone for a few months. Bam $3500.


    Oh yeah and now we have this special rest report thing to scam you with too. We even created a fresh company so the Haffar name would not taint our image. restreportmatters.com


    The worst part is they convince you they are actually helping your cause. They just waste your time, take your money, when you could be doing something to really save your home.


    If they told you the truth when clients signed up NO ONE WOULD SIGN UP!


    They lie and make it seem like a modification is guranteed. All the while a few of the head people are getting rich. They even convince the lower level workers that they are anything but a scam.


    Some people who use Haffar get modified. They would have gotten modified by themselves if they would have tried. They would have saved $3500.


    Charlie Rose is the real dirty bird at Haffar and Assoc.

  79. Guest4462

    I rate Haffar and associates very highly as I just received my modification and was very grateful to the firm and attorney Haffar himself. My case manager was excellent and though I didn't understand a lot of what happened, I am sure I could not have achieved this without their help. 2.5% for the next 5 years after 17 months of trying on my own and then it took about 8 months with Haffar. This was my experience. All the negative feedback on this site is pretty clearly targeting a firm that is working and stepping up every time the same garbage has been put up here. Every single bank has it out for its own best interests and every negative comment on here is because of a personal vendetta against Haffar. Maybe it’s because he is Muslim? Maybe it’s stupid people who think the law firm can foreclose upon them? Maybe it’s ignorance? It’s a d**n shame that there aren't more people with common sense who post up here. You sure sound like you have a vendetta against a man for something more than just $3,500. Remember, if you really have an issue then be prepared to spend money proving it. That Dumont lady is really nice, but what she has going is really unclear and she seems more interested in making a name for her by charging clients for small claims cases. Last time I checked, a small claims case was under $7,000 and over $3,500 I'm sure you can sue to prove your point if you a real victim. Right now, your just anonymous and can’t prove that Haffar & Associates didn’t get me a modification. I know they helped me when my bank wouldn’t help me and I can prove that!

  80. Guest700

    I THINK ITS REALLY FUNNY THAT THE PERSON WHO KEEPS POSTING HERE DOESNT REALIZE THAT ALL COMPANIES HIRE "YOUNG" PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY CAN'T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST AGE!!!! AND ON TOP OF THAT, THIS PERSON HAS NO CLUE WHO THE BANKS ARE HIRING. BUT PROPUBLICA HAS DONE JUST THAT, WRITTEN AN ARTICLE ABOUT WHO THE BANKS HAVE WORKING FOR THEM:


    http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/want-to-earn-10-12-an-hour-be-a-foreclosure-department-supervisor


    Want to Earn $10-12 an Hour? Be a ‘Foreclosure Department Supervisor’

    by Marian Wang

    ProPublica, Nov. 5, 2010, 11 a.m.



    For years, banks and other companies handling foreclosures have turned to cheap labor to process the growing volume of foreclosures. At JPMorgan Chase, they were called “Burger King kids [1]”—walk-in workers hired to handle foreclosure proceedings. Many barely knew what a mortgage was [2] and had only high-school educations.



    Prompted by a Financial Times article about banks hiring foreclosure experts [3], we went on a few job sites to browse the listings ourselves, just to see if the qualifications for new hires have changed since the foreclosure-document scandal first surfaced.



    What we found is that it varies, depending on the company hiring. Requirements for many foreclosure jobs—often advertised by staffing or temp agencies—still offer low pay and require little education. Some of the brand-name banks include in their job listings language about “compliance with [proper] procedures” and regulations. Most didn’t post pay.



    One legal staffing agency advertised a number of foreclosure openings, including a “Supervisor of Foreclosure Department [4].” The listed base pay? “$10.00-$12.00/Hour.” High-school education required. When I called this agency, the Legal Group, I was told that the agency deals primarily with law firms or the legal departments of corporations.



    “Our client information is confidential, so I cannot share the names of our clients with you,” an agency representative explained. (Banks often outsource parts of the foreclosure process to foreclosure law firms, which take cases before courts in states where a court order is necessary to foreclose. Read our primer on the players [5] in the foreclosure scandal.)



    One law firm in Tampa is seeking an “Evening Foreclosure Supervisor.” It promises $17 to $22 an hour for candidates with at least two years of supervisory or management experience and “knowledge of the entire foreclosure process.” The firm appears to be working around the clock [6]—the listing specifies that the evening shift runs from “1:30pm to 10pm.”



    Another staffing agency seeks college grads for “IMMEDIATE ENTRY LEVEL Foreclosure Processing opportunities [7] with an outstanding company in the Baltimore region,” promising $12 to $13 an hour. The position requires no experience, but:

    Extraordinarily FAST and ACCURATE typing is a MUST!

    Ability to be WILDLY PRODUCTIVE in a fast paced DYNAMIC envionment [sic] is a MUST!

    Outstanding MULTI-TASKING ability is a must!



    Banks hoping to allay concerns about robo-signing and other foreclosure-processing errors are also hiring. Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC, is hiring a “foreclosure specialist,” a position that “requires a college degree [8] and 3-4 years experience in Mortgage Banking.”

    But Ally, the company whose GMAC Mortgage Unit played a part in setting off the scandal, seemed to have loftier requirements than others. Take this job listing [9] from Chase posted two days ago seeking a “Quality Specialist” to review foreclosure documentation. The job description says the worker will be responsible for ensuring “compliance with affidavit certification and notification procedures.” But under qualifications, two years of lending experience, some college experience, and prior experience in foreclosure processing are listed as “preferred” or “strongly desired.” Only a high-school diploma is required.



    Bank of America, the nation’s largest servicer, appears to be hiring temporary foreclosure specialists through a staffing agency. Required skills include a high-school diploma and either some college experience or “two years of foreclosure or bankruptcy experience outside of Bank of America.” Included in the job description: “Reconcile financial transactions to ensure maximum recovery for BAC [10] [Bank of America Corporation].”



    American Home Mortgage Servicing, too, requires only a high-school diploma or GED, with a year of experience in banking or mortgage servicing “preferred [11].”



    And Nationstar Mortgage—a big subprime lender that’s servicing for Fannie Mae—is seeking foreclosure specialists with similar requirements [12]—“college degree preferred,” plus “1 year of experience in foreclosures.” (Reuters reported last month that Fannie and Freddie, frustrated with mistakes by the banks, have reassigned some of their portfolios [13] to specialist servicers like Nationstar.)



    On Thursday, a Florida foreclosure mill announced it had laid off more than 500 workers—70 percent of its staff—due to “recent turbulence in the mortgage industry [14].” Employees at the Law Offices of David J. Stern—which is currently under investigation by the Florida attorney general for fraudulent foreclosure practices—may be out of work, but for those hundreds laid off, at least within the industry at large, there’s no shortage of employers who are hiring.

  81. Guest5987

    Now this is not funny - this is really what's going on here. Hateful, ignorant and corrupt people will get what's coming to them on judgement day.


    http://rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/mortgage-document-errors-bank-america/


    If proven, Countrywide’s mortgage fraud could threaten Bank of America

    By Eric W. Dolan

    Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 -- 4:01 pm


    Problems with mortgage documents Bank of American acquired when it purchased the mortgage provider Countrywide Financial in 2008 could cost the bank billions, if a testimony in a New Jersey foreclosure case proves accurate.


    During the foreclosure trial, an operational team leader for Bank of America, Linda DiMartini, said it was "customary for Countrywide to maintain possession of the original note and related documents."


    If her testimony is proven, Countrywide may have not properly transferred the necessary mortgage documents when it sold loans to other banks who then used the loans to create residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS).


    "There's been talk on the street for years that banks didn't send the notes up the line when they did securitizations," Max Gardner, a consumer bankruptcy attorney, told Daily Finance. "But this is the first time I've seen someone under oath admit there was a policy not to deliver the notes. I had to read it twice to make sure that's really what she said, but she did: It was customary."


    If the mortgage notes were not properly distributed to the different parties involved, the foreclosure process could be stopped by anyone who asked where the mortgage note is or who holds it.


    That would mean anyone whose home is being foreclosed upon can legitimately refuse to leave by demanding their creditors produce the note.


    "If you are about to lose your home at least make them produce the note," Chris Hoyer of Consumer Warning Network told CNN. "Make them prove first that they have the note and the IOU and the person standing in the court is the person authorized by the owner to take your home."


    A woman in Florida used the "produce the note" tactic quite successfully in 2008, after a judge ruled the bank did not have the right to proceed with its foreclosure against her. The bank decided to renegotiate the terms of the loan, rather than continue the court battle.


    If mortgage-backed securities aren't in fact "mortgage-backed," investors who bought these securities from Countrywide could hold Bank of America accountable.


    "If Countrywide's practice was to hold onto the note, then investors in this pool and others may question whether the security was constructed properly and legally and may be able to require Bank of America to buy back their securities," Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times explained.


    Since an estimated 96% of Countrywide's were securitized, and apparently all securitized improperly, Bank of America could be forced to buy back millions of loans.

  82. Guest2754

    This answer sure seems to have gone off the deep end eh... Now it looks to me without verifying the IP, I don’t know for sure but I am in the process of doing so for a friend. 40-50 responses that are bad all seem to be from the same person. The writing style is identical, or they try so hard to change it …. That it’s again a clear sign of the same person. Currently I am contacting the website…I would like the IP address… of all these people, this slanderous discussion on a company that is a LAW FIRM….It seems like there has to be something better to do. I know I have ton better things to do, thus the short response. Take care everyone. HAPPY HOLIDAYS

  83. Guest7666

    I am one the posters with a couple of the posts here, but can assure you I am not the only one posting that has an issue with the time of mine Haffar wasted with their bogus promises, I am the one with the Emails from Tony Aune @ Haffar.com which is the same Tony with a rest report email address too, requesting false tax documents etc. so that I get it easier. Those will be in court with Mr. Haffar next month.  I dare you to come find me. You want to know who I am?, Ask Tony Aune your employee, he has all my paper work with my personal info. He knows who is posting this. I'm none too happy about it either. I post because I KNOW Haffar scams people, I am warning others, others like me, desperate enough to take a chance and possibly send him a lot of money, wether he got somebody a loan mod or not does not change the fact he tried to s***w me, and others here say they also have been conned , so get bent. If its his employees, its still him. Your lucky I dont come track your IP down, you would p**s your pants when you find out who I am. Try me.

  84. Guest6458

    By the way, its not slanderous if its true, its then called "news".

  85. Guest4268

    And what exactly are you going to do when you get the IPs?. This is America, not your scumbag country you and your 'freind' that you are doing a favor for came from. Your threats mean nothing.

  86. Guest5854

    The IP with the most replies here has been traced to a user named Charlie Rose. The posts mainly have been the long drawn out ones, blaming the banks. There is no poster with 40 or 50 posts. There are more than 50 different IPs on this one thread.

  87. Guest6280

    Correction: The user name for the poster with the most posts is not Charlie Rose, its 'Charlierose'

  88. Guest8922

    I do not recommend anyone using Haffar & Associates for a loan modification. They stole my money and did help me with the modification. Their contract has a arbitration clause, that makes it difficult to sue them. Even after speaking to them, they confirmed that they did noting to help me; they still did not want to give me a refund. They do not even want to do the arbitration that is stated in their contract. This company is a scam and these people should not be licensed to do business. Shame on Haffar & Associates, STOP ripping off americans!!!!

  89. Guest5073

    HELLO EVERYONE THIS IS ATTORNEY HAFFAR. YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON MY WEBSITE. I AM WILLING TO ARBITRATE ANY CASE. ARBITRATION IS A LOW COST ALTERNATIVE TO A LAWSUIT AND IS AVAILABLE VIA TELEPHONE. THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE WASN'T PUT IN THE CONTRACT TO MAKE IT HARD TO SUE HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES. THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE WAS PUT THERE OUT OF CUSTOM. HERE IS THE LINK TO FILE AN ARBITRATION FEE DISPUTE.  IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN A "VICTIM" GO AHEAD AND PAY THE $175.00 WHICH IS 5% OF $3,500 AND LETS GO TO ARBITRATION VIA THE PHONE. STOP WITH THE STUPID THREATS AND STOP HIDING BEHIND THIS VEIL.


    https://www.sdcba.org/index.cfm?pg=AttorneyClientFeeDispute


    SDCBA Attorney Client Fee Dispute Program


    What is Attorney Client Fee Dispute?


    Are you and your lawyer having a disagreement about his fees? Have you tried to resolve it, but can't? The San Diego County Bar Association may be able to help. This program provides a means for attorneys and clients to resolve a fee dispute and avoid time and expense of taking a dispute to court.


    The Bar sponsors a fee dispute arbitration program, which can be an efficient and effective alternative to litigation in the resolution of fee disputes between attorneys and clients. The arbitration process normally takes four to six months.


    Arbitration provides a fair, speedy and impartial determination of the facts, as presented by both parties. Each party submits a statement of fact prior to a hearing before the arbitrator. During the hearing, the arbitrator, acting as referee, will ask questions and allow for each party to do the same. After the hearing, the arbitrator will render a decision based on the statements of fact and the hearing.


    The San Diego County Bar Association's fee dispute arbitration program will consider cases only if the attorney involved in the dispute has an office in San Diego County or if the majority of services were performed in San Diego County.


    Costs


    The filing fee for the fee dispute arbitration program is 5% of the amount in dispute and not less than Seventy –five dollars ($75.00) and not more that Five Thousand dollars ($5,000.00). The filing fee includes up to three hours of arbitration time from our panel of experts. If more time is needed, there will be an additional fee.


    We can only accept payment of the filing fee in the form of cash, a money order, cashier’s check or credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover), made payable to San Diego County Bar Association. Please, do not send Personal Checks, your application will be returned and delayed.


    Steps



    I. Please review our local rules (PDF).



    The San Diego County Bar Association Fee Arbitration Committee Arbitration Rules (PDF)



    When you decide that you want engage in our services, please download the PDF’s and fill out the forms that apply to your case.


    Application for Arbitration of a Fee Dispute. (PDF)

    Arbitration Agreement. (PDF)

    Notice of Automatic Stay of Proceedings Instructions and Form for Filing. (Complete only of a lawsuit has been filed) (PDF)

    Application for Filing Fee/Waiver Reduction. (PDF)



    Additional materials:


    Preparing for the Fee Arbitration Hearing (PDF)

    Notice of Your Rights After Fee Arbitration (PDF)



    II. Please complete all forms and return

     


    1. Sign and date the Arbitration Agreement (original Signatures only, no photocopies).

    2. Complete and sign the Application for Arbitration. You may attach copies of documents if you wish, but no originals.

    3. Complete the Applicant's Statement of Facts. Submit your statement of facts and any attachments in triplicate (3 copies): original copy and two copies if the dispute is under $25,000.00. You may support your statement with exhibits, such as letters and bills. If the dispute is over $25,000.00 please submit in quintuplet (5 copies): original and four copies.


    Return all forms and payments to:


    San Diego County Bar Association


    Attn: Fee Arbitration Department


    1333 Seventh Avenue


    San Diego, CA 92101




    III. Once all documents and filing fees are received, SDCBA will send a copy of your complaint to the other party and request a “Reply”.




    IV. Once the other party has responded, we will assign and notify you of the arbitrator(s) selected after determining that there is not a conflict of interest.


    V. Once a date is set, you must show up at the location detailed in the “Notice of hearing” that is mailed to you.


    VI. Get prepared for your fee dispute arbitration hearing. Learn what to do to prepare for your hearing. SEE-Preparing for the Fee Arbitration Hearing.


    VII. Once the arbitrator(s) hears both sides he/she will take the “matter” under submission. There is no award decision made on the day of the hearing. The Awards and Findings will be mailed to you within 30 days of your hearing.




    Please note that the completion of arbitration normally takes four to six months depending on the co-operation of both parties.




    If you'd like additional information on the fee dispute arbitration program, contact the Bar at (619) 231-0781 or via e-mail at arbitration@sdcba.org.




    FAQ’s


    Q. What is the difference between Binding & Non-Binding Arbitration?

     


    A. If you and the other party both sign the section of the Arbitration Agreement agreeing to a binding arbitration, the arbitrator's award will be binding (local rule 6.1). This means the decision is final. However, if only one party signs for binding arbitration, the decision is non-binding - for 30 days from the day the award was mailed (local rule 6.2). Within the thirty-day (30) timeframe either party may petition for a trial in court, requesting that a judge reconsider the case. Please refer to Local Rule 6 and the Notice of Your Rights After Fee Arbitration.


    Q. How long does arbitration take?


    A. Anywhere from 4 to 6 months if all parties co-operate. But sometimes on a case that requires a panel it might take longer because it is hard to agree on a date with so many attorneys on a panel.


    Q. What is better? To go to small claims court or to Arbitration?


    A. It is really up to you the client if you want to go to small claims court but you will waive your right to fee arbitration if you choose that route. If you do not like the decision from the court you cannot arbitrate after. But if you arbitrate and you do not like the non-binding decision you can always appeal in court.


    Q. Will I be charged or billed by the arbitrators for the services?


    A. No there is only the filing fee, the arbitrators volunteer their services to help the community and the general public


    Q. What if I can’t make the scheduled Arbitration meeting? Can it be re-scheduled?


    A. Once a hearing has been scheduled, the hearing will go forth. If any party to arbitration, who has been duly notified, fails to appear at the hearing, the matter may be heard and determined on the basis of the evidence produced. In the discretion of the arbitrator(s), the award may also include findings as to the willfulness of any party's non-attendance at the hearing.


    Q. What happens if my case is settled or dismissed after filing for arbitration? Can I get my money back?


    A. $75.00 of the initial filing fee shall be non-refundable. Written notice of settlement and/or dismissal must be provided to the SDCBA Fee Arbitration Committee to qualify for any refund as follows: If notice that the matter is settled or dismissed is received after filing, but before assignment to an arbitrator or a panel or a mediator, the Association shall retain 25% of the filing fee above the nonrefundable $75.00. If notice that the matter is settled and/or dismissed is received after assignment to an arbitrator (or panel) or mediator, but no hearing has been scheduled, the Association shall retain 50% of the filing fee above the non-refundable $75.00. If a hearing has been scheduled and written notice of the settlement and/or dismissal is received by the Association at least five (5) days prior to the scheduled hearing, the Association shall retain 75% of the filing fee above the non-refundable $75.00. No other refunds shall be made. The refund shall be made to the party who paid it.


    Q. How long will it take if I file for a filing fee waiver?


    A. A client may file an application for a filing fee waiver on a form, which may be obtained from the Coordinator of the Programs. The Chair or a Vice-Chair of the Fee Arbitration Committee may grant or deny the filing fee waiver or grant a reduced fee. The order of the Chair or Vice-Chair shall be final. A filing fee waiver can take from one day to ten days.

     

  90. Guest1445

    To the Victims of Mr. Haffar, I feel for you, that last post from the man himself shows he has no remorse what-so-ever. You all are already out over $3k sounds like, save the $175 for arbitration and get a rope and find the nearest tree. I live near Oakland were they kill you for $20 bucks or less.


    I did find some great info on this website though, I am one of the Countrywide/BofA home owners, the most recent info about the original note is what I am speaking of, and to that person, I thank You Very Much!!. I will Not be using any attorney after reading not just here, but all the horror stories I have found searching the web. This is seems to be the most interesting story imo. I hope you all get this f****r good.

  91. Guest5750

    YES I DO SHARE NEWS WITH MY CLIENTS AND I DO ASK THEM TO POST POSITIVE FEEDBACK! YES WE HAVE REAL CLIENTS WHO HAVE SAVED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, AND OVER 80% OF THE CLIENTS DO GET FAVORABLE OUTCOMES WHEN THEY KEEP THEIR JOBS! WHEN THEY LOSE THEIR JOBS AND DON'T LISTEN WHEN STRESSED OUT! THEY COMPLAIN AND I'M SURE THEY NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT THE BANKS RIGHT!?!!?! I HAVE NUMEROUS CLIENTS WHO ARE WILLING TO GO ON RECORD AGAINST ANYONE TO LET THEM KNOW WE ARE NOT A SCAM AND HAVE HELPED THEM. MORE AND MORE OF THEM WILL POST UP HERE TIME AND TIME AGAIN. AGAIN, IF YOU REALLY ARE A "VICTIM" PLEASE CONTACT ATTORNEY HAFFAR, I WILL PAY FOR THE d**n $175 ARBITRATION MYSELF!!!! WE HAVE NEVER TAKEN ANY ADVANCE FEES AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE POST UP HERE AND THINK HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES IS A SCAM!!! IF THAT WERE THE CASE, WOULD I OFFER TO COVER ARBITRATION COST? WOULD I CARE TO DEFEND MYSELF ONLINE? NO!!! I WOULD IGNORE THIS c**p - BUT TOO MANY PEOPLE WANT TO POST HERE SO EASILY BECAUSE WE DO GET RESULTS AND HAVE PROVEN IT TIME AND TIME AGAIN AGAINST ALL DOUBTERS AND THE HATERS ON THIS POST ARE JUST THAT HATERS WHO ONLY CARE TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY! GO TO THE ARBITRATION LINK I WILL COVER THE $175 COST OF IT JUST TO PROVE YOU WRONG. NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN SCAMMED BY HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES OR ELSE I WOULDN'T CARE AND I WOULD NOT BE HERE POSTING TO DEFEND MYSELF! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL - BRING IT ON IN ARBITRATION I WILL COVER THE COST JUST TO PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE ONCE AND FOR ALL!

  92. Guest9214

    I hope you also track the IP of the poster who likes to try and bury the negative responses by posting long drawn out posts blaming the banks for the reason Haffar and Associates feel the need to charge up front fees?


    I am going too post who it is here, and also who you are sir, plus your home address and telephone info etc.  Have a nice holiday season.

  93. Guest6719

    I hope you also track the IP of the poster who likes to try and bury the negative responses by posting long drawn out posts blaming the banks for the reason Haffar and Associates feel the need to charge up front fees?


    I am going too post who it is here, and also who you are sir, plus your home address and telephone info etc.  Have a nice holiday season.

  94. Guest8941

    I hope you also track the IP of the poster who likes to try and bury the negative responses by posting long drawn out posts blaming the banks for the reason Haffar and Associates feel the need to charge up front fees?


    I am going too post who it is here, and also who you are sir, plus your home address and telephone info etc.  Have a nice holiday season.

  95. Guest8752

    Mr. Haffar, if you didnt get them a laon mod, then you should have no problem giving the money back you got from them without the class action suit you have agaisnt you?, Correct?

  96. Guest7043

    I hope they put Haffar in prison. But he being an attorney and all, he will circumvent the law and get out of it, just like he is doing now. Street justice is probably in his future. You just can't go around stealing from people and expect to keep getting away with it.

  97. Guest1262

    THE BANKS SHOULD JUST GIVE THE MODIFICATIONS OUT LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO WHEN ITS CLEAR A MODIFICATION IS DESERVING. I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS SO. IF YOU THINK HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES STOLE ANYONE'S MONEY THEN GO AHEAD AND ARBITRATE IT OR FILE A LAWSUIT AND QUIT HIDING BEHIND THE HIDDEN POSTS UP HERE. READ ON AND TRY REALLY HARD NOT TO BE SO IGNORANT AND ACTUALLY LEARN SOMETHING NEW FOR A CHANGE.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/40415970

    John Taylor: Foreclosures Are the Mortal Enemy to Economic Recovery

    By: Lori Ann LaRocco

    CNBC Sr. Talent Producer

    Monday, 29 Nov 2010 | 10:17 AM ET

    The foreclosure crisis still divides us into two camps. There are those who believe that foreclosing rapidly on homes subject to defaulted mortgages is vital to clearing the market. Others believe we should do everything we can to keep people in their homes, urging loan modifications to forestall foreclosures.

    John Taylor, President and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, falls solidly in the latter camp. Taylor would like to see widespread mortgage modifications that would allow homeowners in danger of defaulting to keep their homes. Taylor is on the board of directors of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights. He has also served on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank Board, The Fannie Mae Housing Impact Division as well as The Freddie Mac Housing Advisory Board. He is extremely passionate on why his idea is the right choice to help turn around the real estate market.

    LL: There has been so much overleveraging in the real estate industry and lower interest rates can only help so much, what needs to get done with this new Congress looking at Financial Reform with Fannie and Freddie because they have not been address yet.

    JT: You are absolutely right. It's kind of like pumping plasma into a patient while the patient is still bleeding. We need to stanch the foreclosure crisis first. So the government has to get serious about this problem. The Administration’s voluntary approach to foreclosure prevention has probably done as much as it can possibly do, and even by their standards has not done enough.

    They have to step up the pressure now to achieve better results. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie and Freddie are the only securitizers in town now until the private market comes back; , they ought to be able to get banks and servicers willing to cooperate and modify these loans heading to foreclosure.

    It must be done. Because it is absolutely going to slow down any type of economic recovery if we have the eleven million more foreclosures projected by Wall Street analysts; if they go through, it’s going to triple the number of foreclosures we’ve experienced. How is that going to help the economy? So you have to put on the table the idea of taking as many of these troubled loans as possible and putting the homeowners in sustainable, modified loans, that are based on their ability to pay. Banks should have made these kinds of loans, which the homeowner could actually pay back, in the first place.

    LL: But what about the millions of people who purchased homes they could afford? Why should people be allowed to stay in homes they had no business buying in the first place, because they were way out of their price tag?

    JT: Was it a massive, malfeasant, greedy, lending industry that caused the problem or was it stupid consumers who should have known better? I think the evidence overwhelmingly supports the former conclusion. But that doesn't matter anymore; we don’t have time for that debate. The question now is what do we do to stop the foreclosures that are killing our economy by a thousand cuts, a hundred fold, every month.

    Foreclosures are the mortal enemy to economic recovery. We can keep on pumping money into the system to create liquidity for banks and in the market, but it’s simply not going to succeed until they plug the hole at the bottom of the well!

    So what has the Administration done to stem foreclosures? They have put in place a voluntary program, which has done roughly half a million permanent modifications since the program began, but there's been three and a half million foreclosures during the same time period and seven million foreclosure filings.

    That kind of performance earns merits a failing grade by any one's standards.

    So what do federal officials need to do? They need to stop carrying their hat in hand when dealing with Wall Street; The government can pound these guys, and they have all the leverage they need by merit of the fact that the banks can't do business without them. I hear people critical about the government’s role in the private lending sector; but without the government we don't have a housing market right now. Without the government there is no Fed window and bond issuance and the liquidity they create. Without the government there is no securitization. Wall Street isn't doing these things; there is almost no private label securitization happening.

    You know, all these banks are sitting on loans heading into foreclosure because the banks that hold the second liens are refusing to modify; the banks that hold the second liens are expecting the first lien holders will take the entire hit, and they’ll get paid out at 100%. Well these banks holding the second liens need to be taken to task, because they are holding up a lot of modifications.

    Also, what are Fannie and Freddie waiting for? The government holds tremendous regulatory authority over them; but government officials says they can’t tell them what to do, even though the government says no not really, Fannie and Freddie that they are just in conservatorship. and we can’t tell them what to do. That's just not true. The government is in the position to tell Fannie and Freddie to refinance hundreds of thousands of loans tomorrow, but Fannie and Freddie and the administration are looking at their bottom line so they are charging extra fees above the private market on anything that has any type of risk in it. Fannie and Freddie have not reduced the principal on one single mortgage.

    They have done half of what the banks are doing.We said from the beginning, to Secretary Paulson and then Geithner, that the foreclosure crisis can’t be resolved by the voluntary participation of the banks.

    You can't keep on sweetening the pie and expect them to do the right thing. The truth of the matter is that when push comes to shove the banks have no choice because the government has the ability to say to banks that if they want to do business with the government, including the Federal Reserve, FHA and the GSEs, they must cooperate and restructure these loans. If that had been done, some investors would have had to take some losses; but they are losing now at a very slow rate, prolonging the problem.

    The government should use the money they earned from TARP and purchase hundreds of thousands of loans at a discount—at a discount because they are not worth what they once were—and then recycle them into good, permanent, sustainable loans. Where people lost their jobs and can't afford their homes, other solutions are necessary. And abandoned properties should be foreclosed on and the properties should be put back on the market.

    But we’re not seeing practical solutions to the foreclosure crisis pursued. It seems to me people are just throwing up their arms, letting everything go down and saying if we don't get through all these foreclosures we will never see a bottom. I think its a terrible way to get through all this, and it will undermine our economy for years to come. continued at  http://www.cnbc.com/id/40415970

  98. Guest8795

    THE BANKS SHOULD JUST GIVE THE MODIFICATIONS OUT LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO WHEN ITS CLEAR A MODIFICATION IS DESERVING. I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS SO. IF YOU THINK HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES STOLE ANYONE'S MONEY THEN GO AHEAD AND ARBITRATE IT OR FILE A LAWSUIT AND QUIT HIDING BEHIND THE HIDDEN POSTS UP HERE. READ ON AND TRY REALLY HARD NOT TO BE SO IGNORANT AND ACTUALLY LEARN SOMETHING NEW FOR A CHANGE.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/40415970

    John Taylor: Foreclosures Are the Mortal Enemy to Economic Recovery

    By: Lori Ann LaRocco

    CNBC Sr. Talent Producer

    Monday, 29 Nov 2010 | 10:17 AM ET

    The foreclosure crisis still divides us into two camps. There are those who believe that foreclosing rapidly on homes subject to defaulted mortgages is vital to clearing the market. Others believe we should do everything we can to keep people in their homes, urging loan modifications to forestall foreclosures.

    John Taylor, President and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, falls solidly in the latter camp. Taylor would like to see widespread mortgage modifications that would allow homeowners in danger of defaulting to keep their homes. Taylor is on the board of directors of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights. He has also served on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank Board, The Fannie Mae Housing Impact Division as well as The Freddie Mac Housing Advisory Board. He is extremely passionate on why his idea is the right choice to help turn around the real estate market.

    LL: There has been so much overleveraging in the real estate industry and lower interest rates can only help so much, what needs to get done with this new Congress looking at Financial Reform with Fannie and Freddie because they have not been address yet.

    JT: You are absolutely right. It's kind of like pumping plasma into a patient while the patient is still bleeding. We need to stanch the foreclosure crisis first. So the government has to get serious about this problem. The Administration’s voluntary approach to foreclosure prevention has probably done as much as it can possibly do, and even by their standards has not done enough.

    They have to step up the pressure now to achieve better results. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie and Freddie are the only securitizers in town now until the private market comes back; , they ought to be able to get banks and servicers willing to cooperate and modify these loans heading to foreclosure.

    It must be done. Because it is absolutely going to slow down any type of economic recovery if we have the eleven million more foreclosures projected by Wall Street analysts; if they go through, it’s going to triple the number of foreclosures we’ve experienced. How is that going to help the economy? So you have to put on the table the idea of taking as many of these troubled loans as possible and putting the homeowners in sustainable, modified loans, that are based on their ability to pay. Banks should have made these kinds of loans, which the homeowner could actually pay back, in the first place.

    LL: But what about the millions of people who purchased homes they could afford? Why should people be allowed to stay in homes they had no business buying in the first place, because they were way out of their price tag?

    JT: Was it a massive, malfeasant, greedy, lending industry that caused the problem or was it stupid consumers who should have known better? I think the evidence overwhelmingly supports the former conclusion. But that doesn't matter anymore; we don’t have time for that debate. The question now is what do we do to stop the foreclosures that are killing our economy by a thousand cuts, a hundred fold, every month.

    Foreclosures are the mortal enemy to economic recovery. We can keep on pumping money into the system to create liquidity for banks and in the market, but it’s simply not going to succeed until they plug the hole at the bottom of the well!

    So what has the Administration done to stem foreclosures? They have put in place a voluntary program, which has done roughly half a million permanent modifications since the program began, but there's been three and a half million foreclosures during the same time period and seven million foreclosure filings.

    That kind of performance earns merits a failing grade by any one's standards.

    So what do federal officials need to do? They need to stop carrying their hat in hand when dealing with Wall Street; The government can pound these guys, and they have all the leverage they need by merit of the fact that the banks can't do business without them. I hear people critical about the government’s role in the private lending sector; but without the government we don't have a housing market right now. Without the government there is no Fed window and bond issuance and the liquidity they create. Without the government there is no securitization. Wall Street isn't doing these things; there is almost no private label securitization happening.

    You know, all these banks are sitting on loans heading into foreclosure because the banks that hold the second liens are refusing to modify; the banks that hold the second liens are expecting the first lien holders will take the entire hit, and they’ll get paid out at 100%. Well these banks holding the second liens need to be taken to task, because they are holding up a lot of modifications.

    Also, what are Fannie and Freddie waiting for? The government holds tremendous regulatory authority over them; but government officials says they can’t tell them what to do, even though the government says no not really, Fannie and Freddie that they are just in conservatorship. and we can’t tell them what to do. That's just not true. The government is in the position to tell Fannie and Freddie to refinance hundreds of thousands of loans tomorrow, but Fannie and Freddie and the administration are looking at their bottom line so they are charging extra fees above the private market on anything that has any type of risk in it. Fannie and Freddie have not reduced the principal on one single mortgage.

    They have done half of what the banks are doing.We said from the beginning, to Secretary Paulson and then Geithner, that the foreclosure crisis can’t be resolved by the voluntary participation of the banks.

    You can't keep on sweetening the pie and expect them to do the right thing. The truth of the matter is that when push comes to shove the banks have no choice because the government has the ability to say to banks that if they want to do business with the government, including the Federal Reserve, FHA and the GSEs, they must cooperate and restructure these loans. If that had been done, some investors would have had to take some losses; but they are losing now at a very slow rate, prolonging the problem.

    The government should use the money they earned from TARP and purchase hundreds of thousands of loans at a discount—at a discount because they are not worth what they once were—and then recycle them into good, permanent, sustainable loans. Where people lost their jobs and can't afford their homes, other solutions are necessary. And abandoned properties should be foreclosed on and the properties should be put back on the market.

    But we’re not seeing practical solutions to the foreclosure crisis pursued. It seems to me people are just throwing up their arms, letting everything go down and saying if we don't get through all these foreclosures we will never see a bottom. I think its a terrible way to get through all this, and it will undermine our economy for years to come.

    LL: What you are proposing is extremely unpopular. How do you convince Americans this is the way to go to help the industry heal?

    JT: People have a right to be mad, but they shouldn’t be mad at 17 million plus homeowners that have either gone into foreclosure or are heading there. Seventeen million homeowners can’t all be stupid and greedy and wrong. The behavior of the industry is what changed; the financial services sector tricked and trapped these people, without the proper oversight to rein in their irresponsible lending practices.

    Should people have known better? Yes. But the industry was rigged to push through these loans and convince people they could afford to do it. But again, it’s too late to rehash these tired debates. If we do not respond to the foreclosure crisis now, we can guarantee the pain that will be felt by most of the people in this country. Families facing foreclosure don’t want a handout, they just want reasonable help. In fact, most of the people that got bad loans, perhaps 90 percent of them, are still paying on that sub-prime loan. Some of them have just simply fallen behind.

    If we don't do restructure their loans and keep people in their homes, property values will drop and everyone will be impacted who owns a home. We need to share the pain now, because otherwise it will affect us more broadly. Many people might think well, gee, if these homeowners had been smart they should have gotten the loan I got. Well that loan was not available to them because the system was rigged to push people into higher cost loans. Why? Because brokers and lenders got their fees and earnings that were connected to convincing people to take out more expensive mortgages with predatory terms and conditions. That's what was wrong.

    You can sit there and say the people should have known better, and call that the moral hazard. Or, you can recognize the real moral hazard here was allowing an industry to prepay upon a substantial portion of the home-owning public, to give them loans with terms and conditions the lenders knew were not sustainable.

    The moral dilemma then is do you put the burden on the people affected, while the banks are allowed to continue with their business? With the exception of investment products, when other other consumer product goes bad, the burden is put on the manufacturer, not the consumer.

    LL: Do you think the new congress will create good regulation laws?

    JT: The conservatives basically want to get rid of Fannie and Freddie, they don't want the competition for the private market. The Democrats are acting too timid.

    Congress has not shown that they are willing to push for all lenders to make responsible, sustainable loans to working-class people, and I’m not hopeful that this will change in the next Congress. People need loans for businesses, housing, other purposes, but they must be fair and sustainable loans, otherwise we get into trouble again. Expanding the Community Reinvestment Act would accomplish this goal, but too many members of Congress are too may be beholden to Wall Street to make that happen.

    LL: Do you think these two far extremely will be able to meet in the middle?

    JT: I think in the end, Fannie and Freddie will be different then they are today.

    They'll have considerably less market share. We ought to preserve their role in as a securitizer of affordable housing loans, but that remains to be seen. Hopefully that core aspect of Fannie and Freddie’s purpose will remain intact.

    LL: Where are we in the Fannie and Freddie put-back Tsunami?

    JT: This is a very astute question, and I'm really surprised more reporters are not focusing on this. This is the real issue that will force everyone to come to the table and I think that's a good thing. Fannie and Freddie are sending back bad loans; where they believe there was widespread fraud and abuse in the origination process. The GSEs have reps and warrants to be able to force the lenders to verify if they followed underwriting guidelines. If you acted fraudulently, then you ought to be responsible for any mortgage that is going bad.

    That's the way it’s supposed to work. That's also a protection for the taxpayers and investors.

    This is the same process that private label securitizers use. The private labels can also turn around and do the same thing, and there the problems are even more severe, because the private labels encouraged and purchased massive amounts of the no-document, low-document, verbally guarantee loans. These were the standards they created and accepted. So it’s difficult for them to go back to the lenders and say “you’re responsible for this now.”

    And there are other complicit parties. When things started to go sour, I went to one of the credit agencies, S&P, and they showed me one of the forms they used in their rating process. The lenders had to describe the nature of these loans, and on this particular document showed the y loans with low-documentation, no-documentation, piggyback second loans, Yield Spread Premiums, long prepayment penalties, balloon payments; in short, they had all those things that got everybody into trouble. It was all codified by the investment banks and the rating agencies. The problem was that the investors didn't know about this.

    LL: What inning are we in in this put-back tsunami?

    JT: To use your baseball metaphor, we are in the second inning of a nine-inning game, where all the pitchers are striking people out and no one is getting any hits. We can play this game out for another six to seven years with millions of foreclosures piling up and watch property values continue to deteriorate and unemployment go up, or we can grab the bull by the horn and get serious about this.

    The federal government must mandate that the private sector modify certain loans such that they match the borrowers ability-to-pay. Voluntary compliance simply has not and will not work. These new loans should match the incomes of the borrowers so that a responsible borrower has a sustainable loan. Those who have lost their jobs should be given a reasonable period to find suitable employment, and if unsuccessful, have the time to pursue other housing options.

  99. Guest7154

    This is not about what the naks should do haffar, its about if people should use you or not. Stop spamming long messages trying to cover up all the people you have wronged!!!

  100. Guest5767

    This is not about what the Banks should do haffar, its about if people should use you or not. Stop spamming long messages trying to cover up all the people you have wronged!!!


     

  101. Guest2216

    Why do we need to pay another fee ($175.00) to arbitrate something that Haffar & Associates already agreed to pay? Stick with your word and pay what you owe!! STOP stealing people’s money!!!! Turn yourself in, STOP breaking the law!!!!!!!

  102. Guest3716

    IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WITH HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES, MR. HAFFAR HAS OFFERED TO COVER THE $175.00 ARBITRATION FEE MENTIONED BELOW. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY IT YOURSELF SINCE YOU ARE CLAIMING THAT YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY ANOTHER PENNY BECAUSE YOU WERE RIPPED OFF. TO GET THIS STARTED, SEND A FAX TO 619-649-2524 WITH A COVER LETTER REQUESTING ARBITRATION AND  COPY OF THE RECEIPT FOR THE FUNDS PAID TO HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES AND A BRIEF LETTER STATING YOU WANT TO ARBITRATE YOUR CASE. WITHIN 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS AFTER RECEIVING THIS LETTER, MR. HAFFAR'S LEGAL COUNSEL WILL CONTACT YOU TO COMPLETE THE ARBITRATION FILING. IF YOU HAVE YOUR CONTRACT, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT AS WELL AS THE BEST METHOD TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU. THIS IS A SINCERE OFFER AND IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE A "VICTIM" OF HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES, WE WILL ARBITRATE YOUR CASE AND COVER THE COST SO THAT YOU CAN COME ON THIS POSTING SITE AND THEN ACTUALLY REVEAL YOURSELF AND LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT HAFFAR AND ASSOCIATES IS ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE YOUR FEE DISPUTE. THANK YOU.

  103. Guest9871

    Thats a very generous offer seeing how you have a class action lawsuit and criminal charges pending, lmao.


    If you are a victim of Haffar and Associates, read the whole thread below and there is info on how you can REALLY get your money back. DO NOT TRUST THIS CON ARTIST !! His word has proven to be for his own benefit. Don't be another one of his suckers.

  104. Guest7594

    To celebrate, the company first anniversary, Some commodities have been, discount .Anti-purchase at this site Any goods, we will giving a Christmas gift .In addition Buy $ 300 and receive a free glasses or a wallet, as a Christmas gift . welcome all friends to order. Reputation, quality, absolute guarantee. please log in: " fashionsb ".com  . so what, move your mouse .

  105. Guest3392

    They are still scamming, I received a call yesterday from a kid from Rest Report Matters, wanting to know if I needed help with my Modification.

  106. Guest1068

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/haffar-and-associates-a-p-c-san-diego


    enough said

  107. Guest4278

    http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/haffar-and-associates-loan-mod-c378050.html


    Victims galore, don't be a sucker, run from Haffar and Associates. they will steal your money

  108. Guest3500

    Do not hire Haffar and associates there a scam and appear to be commiting fraud. Check them out on the internet because there no longer at there office.

  109. Guest4678

    Try finding them in San Diego at the address for Rest Report Matters (Their other scam they are running) 10052 Mesa Ridge Court, San Diego ca. 92126 Phone is 877-737-8440.....they are hiding there now. Good Luck hunting these criminals down.

  110. Guest1001

    Pete Meyers also is in the company directory if you call Rest Report Matters. The other Haffar Scam they are running. 877-737-8440 again, just like Haffar and associates, they NEVER answer the phone, have found 5 known Haffar employees (associates) in their company directory when I call. Don't take my word for it, check it out urself.

  111. Guest766

    ok so i read this board when i was trying to find haffar and associates and i can't believe all the bullsh*t up here. if you have a case then go to arbitration! or file a lawsuit! anyways, I went to both 625 broadway and 10052 mesa ridge court per the BBB and haffar is now at 555 west beach in 92101. No relation to rest report matters at 10052 mesa. the 625 address is now a parking attendant for sunset parking and the 10052 mesa ridge court is a company called rest report matters and no i didn't see haffar and associates there or the parking place. i actually received a modification because of haffar and associates and couldn't reach them because i hadn't been in the country for over 3 weeks but when i returned they were not at the old address and my local number for my case manager wasn't working. Apparently haffar himself was not available but they did confirm he just moved in to 555 west beach in downtown and left forwarding address instructions and can be called up at 619.318.9324 or 877.696.6576 toll free for existing clients. His email and phone number haven't changed but their physical location has been reduced to one big location at 555 west beach in downtown and he is doing TV commercials as well as radio ads now for mods! apparently a congressman was convinced he was helpful to a constituent and haffar is aggressively defending himself against the haters because he is getting his job done despite the banks. i am another client who is thankful i was able to have help from him and his staff.

  112. Guest8860

    Well lucky you, I have PROOF rest report and haffar are linked, including Associates that work at both places(one in tyhe same) also that they tried to make me LIE to help get me a loan mod, that I was able to get from the BANK myself without any of his UP-FRONT FEES. And lets hope he is at an address that he can actually be found at, cause there are some very PISSED off people that want to get their hands on him for STEALING their money. It is you who is full of **** and probably one of his ASSOCIATES. Nobody said he wasnt able to help some get a loan mod, only that there are many that he RIPPED-OFF you jackass. What do you think, all these people complaining just all of a sudden picked Haffar out of a hat and decided to go on the internet and WARN others of his fraudulant practices??, lololol nice try though.

  113. Guest5689

    There are just too many complaints for all of them to be invalid. The best part about all this, Haffar and Associates will forever be tainted when anyone googles them. All the bad links concerning them are now permanent record and history for all to see for all of eternity. You cannot in this day and age, do people wrong and expect to not have to pay a price.

  114. Guest8204

     Haffar & Associates sent me this article and asked me to post to this website. I am a happy client..."


     


    You guys have lied so much that you don't think we realize that this is you, pathetic


    they really help allot of ppl please donot lie about truth it will be soon to all

  115. Guest1592

     Thank you for the response. While I want to eliminate the LOC or at

    least get it reduced, with the knowledge that the credit score will be

    adversely affected, I need a little more time for research before we

    take another action.

  116. Guest9602

     

    Dear Joshua,

    Thank you for the response. While I want to eliminate the LOC or at

    least get it reduced, with the knowledge that the credit score will be

    adversely affected, I need a little more time for research before we

    take another action.


    My goal is to move the property from my portfolio within a year.  I

    may need to decide to tough it out and keep paying the LOC amount to

    preserve what credit score I have now, which I mentioned is 630 where

    I have some flexibility to purchase again.


    Let me read up on these things and I will get back to you.




    I do appreciate all that Haffar and Assoc has done on my behalf.  If

    we go forward, I have lost all my patience with the banks and dealing

    with them, which is why Haffar's team was so valuable to me.  I have

    such a bad taste in my mouth with the controls, dishonesty and

    avoidance tactics of the banks in our country that if I never have a

    conversation with Bank of America as long as I live, I would be very

    happy.  I know you guys know how to deal with them.


    If you ever need any letters from me regarding your services, let me

    know. I would be happy to provide them to you.  I am sorry for your

    troubles of late. Our world has gone a little crazy and people love a

    target.


    Sincerely,

     

  117. Guest9123

     THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS SHOULD NOT NE SUCH A PROBLEM IT REALLY IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOU GETTING ME THRU THIS, I TRULY AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR WORK ON MY BEHALF.

    I DO FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOSING THIS BATTLE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR THIS FIGHT AND HAVE NO ADVOCATE.

    GRATEFULLY YOURS,

  118. Guest9832

     I just got off the phone with Aurora today and they have approved our loan Mod. I just started crying over the phone!



    They will send us out the packet soon.



    I would just like to THANK ALL OF YOU!!!! for working so very hard on this on our behalf. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!



    I will keep you posted as to when we get the packet from them.  Merry Christmas to all of you. And again, thank you so very much.

  119. Guest2163

     Thanks Thanks you did really gooooood job 


     


    thanks 

  120. Guest2807

     



    I would just like to THANK ALL OF YOU!!!! for working so very hard on this on our behalf. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

  121. Guest7677

     u saved my home from foreclosure and saved me $1,000.00 on my mortgage payments, including prinicipal interest taxes and insurance.  I was paying 2,500.00 per month and now I am only paying 1,500.00.  Thank you Haffar & Associates and Mr. Haffar.  I read all those bad reviews online and those negative reviews couldn't be further from the truth!

  122. Guest2155

     Biased Coverage on Modification Crisi


    I work at a law office that advocates and represents homeowners in loan modification cases.  However, the State Bar coverage regarding the modification crisis is very biased against attorneys attorneys.  Why the last article written by James Towery is nothing short of a blanket indictment that all lawyers who try to help homeowners with loan modifications a crooks and scam artists.


    What about the attorneys who represent clients who are facing serious road blocks with banks (ie bank of america, jp morgan chase, wells fargo...)?  Don't the attorneys working for the banks in their respective modification departments deserve the respective scrutiny from the California State Bar for misconduct, especially seeing how the modification departments of many banks do the following:


    1.  Routinely lose paperwork submitted via fax, email and mail and ask for resubmission

    2.  Send messages to homeowners that conflict with collections departments and other bank departments protocols

    3.  Fail to comply with California civil code section 2924 et seq.


    Just as an example.  I know at my firm many man hours have been spent working on clients modification cases but it does not stop them from contacting the state bar and making complaints.  Many of those complaints are not created by the attorney but are created by the banks failing to comply with HAMP, FDIC and the banks internal disorganization.  Where is their culpubality and why is the state bar not address that perspective in discussing attorney discipline matters?


    It is discouraging to see that the State Bar is only trying to protect the consumer and not the attorney as well.  Their are two perspectives to every matter and I think James Towery needs to discuss the obvious bank failure and the pressure lawyers engaging in modifications go through


    Moreover, I think Mr. Towery needs to address the issue that successful modifications have been achieved as well.


    You have my two cents!

  123. Guest374

     The borrower just got his loan modified.  I sent an email to Charlie about this previously.  The borrower’s new MHA trial mod payments are slightly less than what the REST Report recommended but that was due to the lender not giving the borrower’s son’s contribution full credit so we had to rework the numbers.  Bank of America had stated that this was a Fannie Mae REMIC Trust mortgage backed security and that they did not have the authorization from the Fannie Mae REMIC Trust to modify this loan via HAMP but once again BofA lied and they did this modification.  The borrower had his payments cut in half and was 2 years past due.  The borrower is very happy and I am sure will give us a good testimonial.

  124. Guest9269

    The Haffar Law Firm is investigating Tavy Dumont for professional misconduct in bringing forth untrue and overreaching legal claims on behalf of homeowners disgruntled with their specific lender or servicers.  Many of the homeowners Ms. Dumont represents in her unjustified case against Haffar & Associates have misrepresented income, employment, and occupancy status with respect to home loan modification cases homeowners asked Haffar & Assocites to pursue.


    As a counter measure to the malicious and wildly exaggerated accusations proffered by Ms. Dumont, Haffar & Associates is now investigating all misrepresentations proffered by homeowners to Haffar & Associates so that Haffar & Associates could procure a modification case.  “Many homeowners  and lenders will be sued by Haffar & Associates  due to their misrepresentations,” stated Mr. Haffar at a speaking engagement at the San Diego.


    “It is truly disheartening that our documented hard work, dedication, perseverance goes unappreciated but this is America and anybody, whether justified or not,” stated Mr. Haffar,  Haffar & Assocites noted in lawsuit proferred by Ms. Dumont that they will be interpleading every single lender and servicer participating in the malicious case brought by Ms. Dumont.  In addition, Haffar & Associates will be counter suing the majority if not all Plaintiff’s brought in her false case.  Mr. Haffar stated, ” Its going to be a long and ugly battle, but the misconduct of the homeowner clients and lender/servicers will be brought to light!”

  125. Guest6407

     A San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners


     


    I think it’s fair to say that I’ve written more on the subject of lawyers and loan modifications than anyone else… I’m not bragging, in fact I wish it had never been necessary for me or anyone else to write about the topic in the first place.  The question of whether a homeowner at risk of foreclosure and who is seeking a loan modification should be able to hire a lawyer to represent them, if that’s what they want to do, should never have been a question.  It just shouldn’t have ever been all that complicated an issue, in my mind anyway.

    A few years back, I was teaching 5-6th grade US History/Social Studies at a nearby elementary school and I’m quite sure that if I would have asked my students who they should call if they needed help when at risk of losing a home, they would have all picked “lawyer” off of the list of options.  And, as to whether lawyers do a better job getting loans modified than homeowners on their own, the answer is also yes, no question about it.  That doesn’t mean that a given homeowner can’t get their mortgage modified without being represented by an attorney, some can and some do.  But overall, the vast majority of the hundreds of homeowners that contact me for one reason or another each month, all have similar stories… they’ve been tryingon their own to get their bank to modify their loan for a year or more and to no avail.  They hire an attorney to represent them and lo and behold, in almost every instance, their loans get modified.

    Moat recently, there was a woman who called me days before Christmas with Bank of America having already turned her down for a loan modification and set a sale date of January 7th.  I referred her to a lawyer I know well, and two days before New Years her loan was permanently modified.  Would that have happened without an attorney… no, it would not.

    Another couple from Northern California also comes to mind.  They had been trying to get Chase to modify their loan for over a year.  Chase was talking to them but it was going nowhere and they were scared that they could lose their home of 20 years.  Again, I referred them to a law firm I’ve gotten to know well, and a few months later, they not only got a modification, but a great modification, in my view, including a principal forbearance of $200,000.  Do I think that would have happened without a lawyer involved… not a chance in the world.

    I’ve simply seen too many similar stories over the last couple of years for just anyone to tell me I’m wrong about this, but if anyone has any data that says otherwise, I’m certainly open to taking a look or hearing about someone else’s experience if different than my own.

    The issue has been muddied ever since President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Attorney General Holder, all told the nation in so many words that, “loan modifications are free… you don’t need a lawyer, you just call a HUD counselor or your bank directly.”  I was shocked when I heard that message coming from Washington D.C. because it never made any sense at all to me… because nothing that comes from a bank is ever free.

    And the idea that a homeowner calling a HUD counselor or their bank directly would be as effective as paying a private sector attorney to handle things just never seemed likely to me.  And I don’t think it was much of a mystery to many homeowners either.

    To the California State Bar, however, I think it would be fair to say that the whole subject of attorneys being involved in loan modifications has been hard to understand.  And much of the reason for this apparent difficulty, is that there have been far too many scams out there from which homeowners can far too easily choose.

    It’s astounding, actually.  I mean, I realize that our state and federal governments have limited resources when it comes to enforcing the law in certain areas, but my God… I have to believe that if drug dealers had Websites, wouldn’t law enforcement have moved in to shut them down faster than it has taken to go after the innumerable scams that have proliferated around the Internet claiming to be able to save someone’s home from foreclosure?  Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the response would be about the same if it were drug dealers… but would it really?

    To make matters worse, there have unquestionably been many firms that opened with the best of intentions only to discover that the banks were on a mission to make their lives miserable and their jobs next to impossible.  I can’t mention any names, but I happen to know of one loan modification company that was opened by a retired banker… and not just any banker, but a senior level banking executive that ran an entire region of the country for one of the largest banks in the U.S.  He came out of retirement to open a company that helped homeowners get loans modified.  Why? Because he knew what he was doing, obviously, that’s why.  But, today… his company could easily find itself branded a scammer for accepting a fee in advance of getting a loan modified.

    I think there were a lot of companies, in other words, that tried and failed when it came to loan modifications, and with our government’s only advice being call HUD or your bank directly, it was left to homeowners to figure out where real help could be found and who might be in business tomorrow.

    Then you had the “salesperson effect”.  Salespeople working on commission who told a homeowner with monthly income of $2,000 that they could expect to keep their home even though their first mortgage was $475,000, and their current payment with which they were struggling was interest only.  Again, I don’t think there should be any question that government could have done a lot to prevent that sort of thing from happening as well.  They just didn’t.  They rolled out a loan modification program, called Making Home Affordable, that sounded wonderful, but they failed to enforce its rules, and allowed servicers to do as they pleased… and the litigation won’t end for years to come as a result… not that it should.

    What the banks have done while Treasury looked the other way, represents the worst abuses to American citizens I’ve ever seen, read about, or imagined could occur… at least since the pre-union abuses of laborers by Robber Barons at the beginnings of the 20th Century.

    No one is pro-scammer, mind you… everyone hates the idea of a homeowner being scammed out of money when at risk of losing a home, or at any time, for that matter.  But I think it should be clear that the only way to stop the spread of scammers is to make legitimate assistance abundant.  Just imagine if the State of California had announced that you could find legitimate assistance with a loan modification at every Starbucks… no more scammers, right?  Why would you need to search for such assistance using Google when you could get meaningful help while your decaf low-fat latte was being prepared?

    Our regulators need to understand, and it’s about time they did, that homeowners at risk of foreclosure are going to try to get their loan modified on their own if that’s what the government says they should do, but when they find out that they can’t get it done… well, they’re going to write someone a check before they give up and look for a place to rent.  If they find legitimate help, great.  But they’ll write a check to organized crime before they walk away from their homes without trying something else.  And no one is going to change that fact… water is wet, the sky is blue, and… you get the idea, right?

    Think about prohibition.  Want to get rid of bootleggers?  Only way to do that is to put legal liquor stores on the corners.  You can break up stills, and chase down illegal rum runners all you want, but put a legal liquor store on the corner and presto… no more bootlegger.

    We need our lawyers to get us through this… simple as that.

    The one thing you don’t want to do is pass a law that removes only legitimate attorneys from the marketplace, and yet that’s precisely what California did in 2009 with the passage of SB 94.  I know… the state didn’t know what else to do… they thought the new law would help, but they were wrong on all counts.  SB 94 hasn’t eliminated or even reduced the number of scammers preying on homeowners at risk of foreclosure.  In the last few days alone, I’ve received links to Websites offering the most insane schemes to prevent foreclosure I’ve ever seen and some that I couldn’t have come up with in a hundred years.

    Have you heard of “assets for value”?  Who came up with that convoluted concept that requires you to buy into the supposed fact that there is no federal government having something to do with our nation coming off of the gold standard?  Or how about some sort of club that you join to get your house free and clear?  There’s a whole slew of “put-off-your-trustee-sale-date-for-a-grand companies.  And others that claim to represent a hedge fund that’s going to buy your note from your bank and then sell it to you for less, but they can bever seem to be able to tell you the name of a homeowner fro whom their plan worked, or even the name of the hedge fund, as if such a thing would be kept secret were it in any way true.

    And, of course, we’ve all heard about the forensic loan audit that is going to bring your bank to its knees for failing to do something for which the statute of limitations has expired years ago, or that requires you to get relief by refinancing and repaying your loan.

    Some of the scams out there are so far out there that’s it’s hard to believe that anyone would be sucked in… until you talk to a salesperson at one of these operations and that’s when you realize how good someone of these people are at getting you to believe their stories.  If you weren’t a homeowner in a panic, you’d never buy any of this, but when it comes to losing a home, people will try anything.  And that’s why the unintended consequence of SB 94, although I certainly wrote about what its passage would bring on numerous occasions, has not been to stop scammers, but more so it’s made them harder to find as they carefully crafted ways to charge homeowners outside the law.

    It;’s common sense really… laws only matter to law abiding people.  Scammers don’t care about the laws… which is why they’re called scammers.  I mean, when SB 94 was passed in California, thus making it illegal for a real estate licensed person to accept a fee for helping a homeowner get a loan modified, it was already illegal to rip someone off for three grand, wasn’t it?  I’m not an attorney, but I’m pretty sure taking someone’s three grand and delivering nothing in return was always against the law.

    But what it did accomplish was to take all of the legitimate companies that were offering to help homeowners out of business because no one can work to get someone’s loan modified for God only knows how long the servicer takes to stop losing paperwork and actually look at someone’s file, and then send a bill for services… a year down the road… and even then hope that the homeowner isn’t so all-fire mad by then that they will actually pay the bill.  And if someone doesn’t pay, what then?  Ruin their credit?  Come on now… let’s be adults about this… I pay my bills but I’m not even sure I’d pay that one a year down the road after being jerked around like chum on a line for months at a time.

    So, SB 94 took the legitimate providers out of the business and that includes hundreds or maybe even thousands of lawyers as well.  The scammers… oh, they’re doing just fine, thank you very much.

    I recently taught a continuing education class, along with two attorneys, for the Orange County Bar Association.  There must have been something close to 100 lawyers in attendance, but I was shocked when the room was asked how many were offering loan modification services and less than 20% put up their hands.  Why were they there, I thought to myself, and then it became clear… none of them knew for sure how they were permitted to get paid by clients needing help with a loan modification.

    I’m sorry State of California, but if lawyers can’t figure out what a law allows and doesn’t… there’s a problem with the law.  If travel agents weren’t sure how a new law affected them, well… that’s one thing, but an entire room full of licensed practicing attorneys?  If they don’t know, who should know?

    The FTC’s recently enacted final MARS (“Mortgage Assistance Relief Services”) rule, for example, regulates all providers of loan modification services nationwide, and prevents such providers from charging homeowners before a loan modification has been offered by the servicer.  But the FTC’s rule also allows for licensed attorneys to be exempt from that requirement, recognizing that without a retainer up front, an attorney could not offer to represent a homeowner seeking a loan modification.  Under the new MARS rule, therefore, lawyers are allowed to charge a retainer up front, as long as that money is deposited in the attorney’s trust account and earned as services are rendered.

    You know… the way lawyers have always charged their clients for just about everything.

    SB 94 has made it much more likely for a homeowner to find a scammer because it has taken at least hundreds and perhaps even more legitimate lawyers out of offering the services related to a loan modification, while the scammers have just found ways to appear outside the law and therefore are that much harder to catch and shut down.

    Something has to be done and I’m going to take a shot at doing it.  Stay tuned to Mandelman Matters for updates, and for more exposing of the scams that are turning up around every Internet search.  We’re three plus years into this crisis and the government continues to fail at every turn and in every way when it comes to stopping or even slowing foreclosures.  There’s just no excuse for this sort of thing to go on any longer, and I’m going to take a shot at both exposing and getting the State Bar to do something helpful.  Because we need our lawyers to get us through this, and those lawyers need to know how they are permitted to practice in this area, just like the lawyers now do in the other 49 states.

  126. Guest3183

    A San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners


    think it’s fair to say that I’ve written more on the subject of lawyers and loan modifications than anyone else… I’m not bragging, in fact I wish it had never been necessary for me or anyone else to write about the topic in the first place.  The question of whether a homeowner at risk of foreclosure and who is seeking a loan modification should be able to hire a lawyer to represent them, if that’s what they want to do, should never have been a question.  It just shouldn’t have ever been all that complicated an issue, in my mind anyway.

    A few years back, I was teaching 5-6th grade US History/Social Studies at a nearby elementary school and I’m quite sure that if I would have asked my students who they should call if they needed help when at risk of losing a home, they would have all picked “lawyer” off of the list of options.  And, as to whether lawyers do a better job getting loans modified than homeowners on their own, the answer is also yes, no question about it.  That doesn’t mean that a given homeowner can’t get their mortgage modified without being represented by an attorney, some can and some do.  But overall, the vast majority of the hundreds of homeowners that contact me for one reason or another each month, all have similar stories… they’ve been tryingon their own to get their bank to modify their loan for a year or more and to no avail.  They hire an attorney to represent them and lo and behold, in almost every instance, their loans get modified.

    Moat recently, there was a woman who called me days before Christmas with Bank of America having already turned her down for a loan modification and set a sale date of January 7th.  I referred her to a lawyer I know well, and two days before New Years her loan was permanently modified.  Would that have happened without an attorney… no, it would not.

    Another couple from Northern California also comes to mind.  They had been trying to get Chase to modify their loan for over a year.  Chase was talking to them but it was going nowhere and they were scared that they could lose their home of 20 years.  Again, I referred them to a law firm I’ve gotten to know well, and a few months later, they not only got a modification, but a great modification, in my view, including a principal forbearance of $200,000.  Do I think that would have happened without a lawyer involved… not a chance in the world.

    I’ve simply seen too many similar stories over the last couple of years for just anyone to tell me I’m wrong about this, but if anyone has any data that says otherwise, I’m certainly open to taking a look or hearing about someone else’s experience if different than my own.

    The issue has been muddied ever since President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Attorney General Holder, all told the nation in so many words that, “loan modifications are free… you don’t need a lawyer, you just call a HUD counselor or your bank directly.”  I was shocked when I heard that message coming from Washington D.C. because it never made any sense at all to me… because nothing that comes from a bank is ever free.

     

  127. Guest1620

    A San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners


    think it’s fair to say that I’ve written more on the subject of lawyers and loan modifications than anyone else… I’m not bragging, in fact I wish it had never been necessary for me or anyone else to write about the topic in the first place.  The question of whether a homeowner at risk of foreclosure and who is seeking a loan modification should be able to hire a lawyer to represent them, if that’s what they want to do, should never have been a question.  It just shouldn’t have ever been all that complicated an issue, in my mind anyway.

    A few years back, I was teaching 5-6th grade US History/Social Studies at a nearby elementary school and I’m quite sure that if I would have asked my students who they should call if they needed help when at risk of losing a home, they would have all picked “lawyer” off of the list of options.  And, as to whether lawyers do a better job getting loans modified than homeowners on their own, the answer is also yes, no question about it.  That doesn’t mean that a given homeowner can’t get their mortgage modified without being represented by an attorney, some can and some do.  But overall, the vast majority of the hundreds of homeowners that contact me for one reason or another each month, all have similar stories… they’ve been tryingon their own to get their bank to modify their loan for a year or more and to no avail.  They hire an attorney to represent them and lo and behold, in almost every instance, their loans get modified.

    Moat recently, there was a woman who called me days before Christmas with Bank of America having already turned her down for a loan modification and set a sale date of January 7th.  I referred her to a lawyer I know well, and two days before New Years her loan was permanently modified.  Would that have happened without an attorney… no, it would not.

    Another couple from Northern California also comes to mind.  They had been trying to get Chase to modify their loan for over a year.  Chase was talking to them but it was going nowhere and they were scared that they could lose their home of 20 years.  Again, I referred them to a law firm I’ve gotten to know well, and a few months later, they not only got a modification, but a great modification, in my view, including a principal forbearance of $200,000.  Do I think that would have happened without a lawyer involved… not a chance in the world.

    I’ve simply seen too many similar stories over the last couple of years for just anyone to tell me I’m wrong about this, but if anyone has any data that says otherwise, I’m certainly open to taking a look or hearing about someone else’s experience if different than my own.

    The issue has been muddied ever since President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Attorney General Holder, all told the nation in so many words that, “loan modifications are free… you don’t need a lawyer, you just call a HUD counselor or your bank directly.”  I was shocked when I heard that message coming from Washington D.C. because it never made any sense at all to me… because nothing that comes from a bank is ever free.

    And the idea that a homeowner calling a HUD counselor or their bank directly would be as effective as paying a private sector attorney to handle things just never seemed likely to me.  And I don’t think it was much of a mystery to many homeowners either.

    To the California State Bar, however, I think it would be fair to say that the whole subject of attorneys being involved in loan modifications has been hard to understand.  And much of the reason for this apparent difficulty, is that there have been far too many scams out there from which homeowners can far too easily choose.

    It’s astounding, actually.  I mean, I realize that our state and federal governments have limited resources when it comes to enforcing the law in certain areas, but my God… I have to believe that if drug dealers had Websites, wouldn’t law enforcement have moved in to shut them down faster than it has taken to go after the innumerable scams that have proliferated around the Internet claiming to be able to save someone’s home from foreclosure?  Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the response would be about the same if it were drug dealers… but would it really?

    To make matters worse, there have unquestionably been many firms that opened with the best of intentions only to discover that the banks were on a mission to make their lives miserable and their jobs next to impossible.  I can’t mention any names, but I happen to know of one loan modification company that was opened by a retired banker… and not just any banker, but a senior level banking executive that ran an entire region of the country for one of the largest banks in the U.S.  He came out of retirement to open a company that helped homeowners get loans modified.  Why? Because he knew what he was doing, obviously, that’s why.  But, today… his company could easily find itself branded a scammer for accepting a fee in advance of getting a loan modified.

    I think there were a lot of companies, in other words, that tried and failed when it came to loan modifications, and with our government’s only advice being call HUD or your bank directly, it was left to homeowners to figure out where real help could be found and who might be in business tomorrow.

    Then you had the “salesperson effect”.  Salespeople working on commission who told a homeowner with monthly income of $2,000 that they could expect to keep their home even though their first mortgage was $475,000, and their current payment with which they were struggling was interest only.  Again, I don’t think there should be any question that government could have done a lot to prevent that sort of thing from happening as well.  They just didn’t.  They rolled out a loan modification program, called Making Home Affordable, that sounded wonderful, but they failed to enforce its rules, and allowed servicers to do as they pleased… and the litigation won’t end for years to come as a result… not that it should.

    What the banks have done while Treasury looked the other way, represents the worst abuses to American citizens I’ve ever seen, read about, or imagined could occur… at least since the pre-union abuses of laborers by Robber Barons at the beginnings of the 20th Century.

    No one is pro-scammer, mind you… everyone hates the idea of a homeowner being scammed out of money when at risk of losing a home, or at any time, for that matter.  But I think it should be clear that the only way to stop the spread of scammers is to make legitimate assistance abundant.  Just imagine if the State of California had announced that you could find legitimate assistance with a loan modification at every Starbucks… no more scammers, right?  Why would you need to search for such assistance using Google when you could get meaningful help while your decaf low-fat latte was being prepared?

    Our regulators need to understand, and it’s about time they did, that homeowners at risk of foreclosure are going to try to get their loan modified on their own if that’s what the government says they should do, but when they find out that they can’t get it done… well, they’re going to write someone a check before they give up and look for a place to rent.  If they find legitimate help, great.  But they’ll write a check to organized crime before they walk away from their homes without trying something else.  And no one is going to change that fact… water is wet, the sky is blue, and… you get the idea, right?

    Think about prohibition.  Want to get rid of bootleggers?  Only way to do that is to put legal liquor stores on the corners.  You can break up stills, and chase down illegal rum runners all you want, but put a legal liquor store on the corner and presto… no more bootlegger.

    We need our lawyers to get us through this… simple as that.

    The one thing you don’t want to do is pass a law that removes only legitimate attorneys from the marketplace, and yet that’s precisely what California did in 2009 with the passage of SB 94.  I know… the state didn’t know what else to do… they thought the new law would help, but they were wrong on all counts.  SB 94 hasn’t eliminated or even reduced the number of scammers preying on homeowners at risk of foreclosure.  In the last few days alone, I’ve received links to Websites offering the most insane schemes to prevent foreclosure I’ve ever seen and some that I couldn’t have come up with in a hundred years.

    Have you heard of “assets for value”?  Who came up with that convoluted concept that requires you to buy into the supposed fact that there is no federal government having something to do with our nation coming off of the gold standard?  Or how about some sort of club that you join to get your house free and clear?  There’s a whole slew of “put-off-your-trustee-sale-date-for-a-grand companies.  And others that claim to represent a hedge fund that’s going to buy your note from your bank and then sell it to you for less, but they can bever seem to be able to tell you the name of a homeowner fro whom their plan worked, or even the name of the hedge fund, as if such a thing would be kept secret were it in any way true.

    And, of course, we’ve all heard about the forensic loan audit that is going to bring your bank to its knees for failing to do something for which the statute of limitations has expired years ago, or that requires you to get relief by refinancing and repaying your loan.

    Some of the scams out there are so far out there that’s it’s hard to believe that anyone would be sucked in… until you talk to a salesperson at one of these operations and that’s when you realize how good someone of these people are at getting you to believe their stories.  If you weren’t a homeowner in a panic, you’d never buy any of this, but when it comes to losing a home, people will try anything.  And that’s why the unintended consequence of SB 94, although I certainly wrote about what its passage would bring on numerous occasions, has not been to stop scammers, but more so it’s made them harder to find as they carefully crafted ways to charge homeowners outside the law.

    It;’s common sense really… laws only matter to law abiding people.  Scammers don’t care about the laws… which is why they’re called scammers.  I mean, when SB 94 was passed in California, thus making it illegal for a real estate licensed person to accept a fee for helping a homeowner get a loan modified, it was already illegal to rip someone off for three grand, wasn’t it?  I’m not an attorney, but I’m pretty sure taking someone’s three grand and delivering nothing in return was always against the law.

    But what it did accomplish was to take all of the legitimate companies that were offering to help homeowners out of business because no one can work to get someone’s loan modified for God only knows how long the servicer takes to stop losing paperwork and actually look at someone’s file, and then send a bill for services… a year down the road… and even then hope that the homeowner isn’t so all-fire mad by then that they will actually pay the bill.  And if someone doesn’t pay, what then?  Ruin their credit?  Come on now… let’s be adults about this… I pay my bills but I’m not even sure I’d pay that one a year down the road after being jerked around like chum on a line for months at a time.

  128. Guest497

    TANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS SHOULD NOT NE SUCH A PROBLEM IT REALLY IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOU GETTING ME THRU THIS, I TRULY AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR WORK ON MY BEHALF.

    I DO FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOSING THIS BATTLE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR THIS FIGHT AND HAVE NO ADVOCATE.

    GRATEFULLY YOURS,


     

  129. Guest3824

     Thanks You saved my home from foreclosure and saved me $1,000.00 on my mortgage payments, including prinicipal interest taxes and insurance. I was paying 2,500.00 per month and now I am only paying 1,500.00. Thank you Haffar & Associates and Mr. Haffar. I read all those bad reviews online and those negative reviews couldn't be further from the truth!

     

  130. Guest5846

    THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS SHOULD NOT NE SUCH A PROBLEM IT REALLY IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOU GETTING ME THRU THIS, I TRULY AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR WORK ON MY BEHALF.

    I DO FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOSING THIS BATTLE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR THIS FIGHT AND HAVE NO ADVOCATE.

    GRATEFULLY YOURS,

  131. Guest6958

    Haffar and associates trying all they can to counter all these bad reviews, they are liars and thieves, please read ALL of the answers on this page, just not the recent ones posted by their company employees. There is a very good chance they will rip you off and YES, they insist on up front fees. Eat **** Haffar, you crook.

  132. Guest6065

     THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS SHOULD NOT NE SUCH A PROBLEM IT REALLY IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOU GETTING ME THRU THIS, I TRULY AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR WORK ON MY BEHALF.

    I DO FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOSING THIS BATTLE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR THIS FIGHT AND HAVE NO ADVOCATE.

    GRATEFULLY YOURS,

  133. Guest83

     I have known Mr. Haffar for a few years now and his office handles a lot of legal work for me. So when he requested that I go and post my feelings about him on a review board website, I was sort of taken aback by all the negative comments. Many are wrongfully calling Mr. Haffar a liar and a cheat. I walk into his office and see the diligent work he and his staff are attending to and in fact on a few occasions overheard him getting the run around from BofA on the speaker phone. I see the stress on his face. Mr Haffar and his firm is honest, and caring and I know Mr. Haffar to be a God fearing man. I trust him and I would send him more of my busienss

  134. Guest6569

     omeowners Mr. Haffar and his firm got me and my wife modified. Take some responsibility for your own shortcomings and start pointing the finger at yourself for your problems instead of everyone else. Haffar is alright!

  135. Guest5650

    Thank you thank you thank you Haffar, I will gladly let everyone know how much you helped...THANK you

     

  136. Guest3075

    becouse of haffar company now am not broke thanks haffar comp


    you are amazing thanks

  137. Guest239

    I have known Mr. Haffar for a few years now and his office handles a lot of legal work for me. So when he requested that I go and post my feelings about him on a review board website, I was sort of taken aback by all the negative comments. Many are wrongfully calling Mr. Haffar a liar and a cheat. I walk into his office and see the diligent work he and his staff are attending to and in fact on a few occasions overheard him getting the run around from BofA on the speaker phone. I see the stress on his face. Mr Haffar and his firm is honest, and caring and I know Mr. Haffar to be a God fearing man. I trust him and I would send him more of my busienss

  138. Guest6770

      San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners


    think it’s fair to say that I’ve written more on the subject of lawyers and loan modifications than anyone else… I’m not bragging, in fact I wish it had never been necessary for me or anyone else to write about the topic in the first place. The question of whether a homeowner at risk of foreclosure and who is seeking a loan modification should be able to hire a lawyer to represent them, if that’s what they want to do, should never have been a question. It just shouldn’t have ever been all that complicated an issue, in my mind anyway.

    A few years back, I was teaching 5-6th grade US History/Social Studies at a nearby elementary school and I’m quite sure that if I would have asked my students who they should call if they needed help when at risk of losing a home, they would have all picked “lawyer” off of the list of options. And, as to whether lawyers do a better job getting loans modified than homeowners on their own, the answer is also yes, no question about it. That doesn’t mean that a given homeowner can’t get their mortgage modified without being represented by an attorney, some can and some do. But overall, the vast majority of the hundreds of homeowners that contact me for one reason or another each month, all have similar stories… they’ve been tryingon their own to get their bank to modify their loan for a year or more and to no avail. They hire an attorney to represent them and lo and behold, in almost every instance, their loans get modified.

    Moat recently, there was a woman who called me days before Christmas with Bank of America having already turned her down for a loan modification and set a sale date of January 7th. I referred her to a lawyer I know well, and two days before New Years her loan was permanently modified. Would that have happened without an attorney… no, it would not.

    Another couple from Northern California also comes to mind. They had been trying to get Chase to modify their loan for over a year. Chase was talking to them but it was going nowhere and they were scared that they could lose their home of 20 years. Again, I referred them to a law firm I’ve gotten to know well, and a few months later, they not only got a modification, but a great modification, in my view, including a principal forbearance of $200,000. Do I think that would have happened without a lawyer involved… not a chance in the world.

    I’ve simply seen too many similar stories over the last couple of years for just anyone to tell me I’m wrong about this, but if anyone has any data that says otherwise, I’m certainly open to taking a look or hearing about someone else’s experience if different than my own.

    The issue has been muddied ever since President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Attorney General Holder, all told the nation in so many words that, “loan modifications are free… you don’t need a lawyer, you just call a HUD counselor or your bank directly.” I was shocked when I heard that message coming from Washington D.C. because it never made any sense at all to me… because nothing that comes from a bank is ever free.

    And the idea that a homeowner calling a HUD counselor or their bank directly would be as effective as paying a private sector attorney to handle things just never seemed likely to me. And I don’t think it was much of a mystery to many homeowners either.

    To the California State Bar, however, I think it would be fair to say that the whole subject of attorneys being involved in loan modifications has been hard to understand. And much of the reason for this apparent difficulty, is that there have been far too many scams out there from which homeowners can far too easily choose.

    It’s astounding, actually. I mean, I realize that our state and federal governments have limited resources when it comes to enforcing the law in certain areas, but my God… I have to believe that if drug dealers had Websites, wouldn’t law enforcement have moved in to shut them down faster than it has taken to go after the innumerable scams that have proliferated around the Internet claiming to be able to save someone’s home from foreclosure? Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the response would be about the same if it were drug dealers… but would it really?

    To make matters worse, there have unquestionably been many firms that opened with the best of intentions only to discover that the banks were on a mission to make their lives miserable and their jobs next to impossible. I can’t mention any names, but I happen to know of one loan modification company that was opened by a retired banker… and not just any banker, but a senior level banking executive that ran an entire region of the country for one of the largest banks in the U.S. He came out of retirement to open a company that helped homeowners get loans modified. Why? Because he knew what he was doing, obviously, that’s why. But, today… his company could easily find itself branded a scammer for accepting a fee in advance of getting a loan modified.

    I think there were a lot of companies, in other words, that tried and failed when it came to loan modifications, and with our government’s only advice being call HUD or your bank directly, it was left to homeowners to figure out where real help could be found and who might be in business tomorrow.

    Then you had the “salesperson effect”. Salespeople working on commission who told a homeowner with monthly income of $2,000 that they could expect to keep their home even though their first mortgage was $475,000, and their current payment with which they were struggling was interest only. Again, I don’t think there should be any question that government could have done a lot to prevent that sort of thing from happening as well. They just didn’t. They rolled out a loan modification program, called Making Home Affordable, that sounded wonderful, but they failed to enforce its rules, and allowed servicers to do as they pleased… and the litigation won’t end for years to come as a result… not that it should.

    What the banks have done while Treasury looked the other way, represents the worst abuses to American citizens I’ve ever seen, read about, or imagined could occur… at least since the pre-union abuses of laborers by Robber Barons at the beginnings of the 20th Century.

    No one is pro-scammer, mind you… everyone hates the idea of a homeowner being scammed out of money when at risk of losing a home, or at any time, for that matter. But I think it should be clear that the only way to stop the spread of scammers is to make legitimate assistance abundant. Just imagine if the State of California had announced that you could find legitimate assistance with a loan modification at every Starbucks… no more scammers, right? Why would you need to search for such assistance using Google when you could get meaningful help while your decaf low-fat latte was being prepared?

    Our regulators need to understand, and it’s about time they did, that homeowners at risk of foreclosure are going to try to get their loan modified on their own if that’s what the government says they should do, but when they find out that they can’t get it done… well, they’re going to write someone a check before they give up and look for a place to rent. If they find legitimate help, great. But they’ll write a check to organized crime before they walk away from their homes without trying something else. And no one is going to change that fact… water is wet, the sky is blue, and… you get the idea, right?

    Think about prohibition. Want to get rid of bootleggers? Only way to do that is to put legal liquor stores on the corners. You can break up stills, and chase down illegal rum runners all you want, but put a legal liquor store on the corner and presto… no more bootlegger.

    We need our lawyers to get us through this… simple as that.

    The one thing you don’t want to do is pass a law that removes only legitimate attorneys from the marketplace, and yet that’s precisely what California did in 2009 with the passage of SB 94. I know… the state didn’t know what else to do… they thought the new law would help, but they were wrong on all counts. SB 94 hasn’t eliminated or even reduced the number of scammers preying on homeowners at risk of foreclosure. In the last few days alone, I’ve received links to Websites offering the most insane schemes to prevent foreclosure I’ve ever seen and some that I couldn’t have come up with in a hundred years.

    Have you heard of “assets for value”? Who came up with that convoluted concept that requires you to buy into the supposed fact that there is no federal government having something to do with our nation coming off of the gold standard? Or how about some sort of club that you join to get your house free and clear? There’s a whole slew of “put-off-your-trustee-sale-date-for-a-grand companies. And others that claim to represent a hedge fund that’s going to buy your note from your bank and then sell it to you for less, but they can bever seem to be able to tell you the name of a homeowner fro whom their plan worked, or even the name of the hedge fund, as if such a thing would be kept secret were it in any way true.

    And, of course, we’ve all heard about the forensic loan audit that is going to bring your bank to its knees for failing to do something for which the statute of limitations has expired years ago, or that requires you to get relief by refinancing and repaying your loan.

    Some of the scams out there are so far out there that’s it’s hard to believe that anyone would be sucked in… until you talk to a salesperson at one of these operations and that’s when you realize how good someone of these people are at getting you to believe their stories. If you weren’t a homeowner in a panic, you’d never buy any of this, but when it comes to losing a home, people will try anything. And that’s why the unintended consequence of SB 94, although I certainly wrote about what its passage would bring on numerous occasions, has not been to stop scammers, but more so it’s made them harder to find as they carefully crafted ways to charge homeowners outside the law.

    It;’s common sense really… laws only matter to law abiding people. Scammers don’t care about the laws… which is why they’re called scammers. I mean, when SB 94 was passed in California, thus making it illegal for a real estate licensed person to accept a fee for helping a homeowner get a loan modified, it was already illegal to rip someone off for three grand, wasn’t it? I’m not an attorney, but I’m pretty sure taking someone’s three grand and delivering nothing in return was always against the law.

    But what it did accomplish was to take all of the legitimate companies that were offering to help homeowners out of business because no one can work to get someone’s loan modified for God only knows how long the servicer takes to stop losing paperwork and actually look at someone’s file, and then send a bill for services… a year down the road… and even then hope that the homeowner isn’t so all-fire mad by then that they will actually pay the bill. And if someone doesn’t pay, what then? Ruin their credit? Come on now… let’s be adults about this… I pay my bills but I’m not even sure I’d pay that one a year down the road after being jerked around like chum on a line for months at a time.

  139. Guest1508

    Please, first thing ypou must do is click on the 'Sort by' and date. start at the other end of all these comments, Haffar and Associates are trying to bury all the complaints agaisnt them by spamming a bunch of positive and some, very long drawn out meaningless posts to hide alL OF US HE HAS STOLEN MONEY FROM. Most likely in an effort to continue to scam new victims. Do your research on this mmmonkey, he is a very good monkey at getting your money.

  140. Guest5181

     I have known Mr. Haffar for a few years now and his office handles a lot of legal work for me. So when he requested that I go and post my feelings about him on a review board website, I was sort of taken aback by all the negative comments. Many are wrongfully calling Mr. Haffar a liar and a cheat. I walk into his office and see the diligent work he and his staff are attending to and in fact on a few occasions overheard him getting the run around from BofA on the speaker phone. I see the stress on his face. Mr Haffar and his firm is honest, and caring and I know Mr. Haffar to be a God fearing man. I trust him and I would send him more of my busienss

  141. Guest9969

    Haffar is spamming..of course it is and here is why.  Please note to all consumers, their is one particular individual who is the exclusive agent of Tavy Dumont and her malicious claims to prosecute Haffar & Associates for saving peoples homes.  This person spends their entire time on Maybe now and Complaint boards spamming bad information about Haffar.  However, as I recall there are two sides to every story!  I aslo recall that every person and company is entitled to defend themselves and their reputation.  So, here we are defending our work product and our reputation.  If you would like to hide behind your mask we would be more then happy to address you personally.  BTW In August of 2010 due to lack of cooperation from Bank of Amercia, Chase, Wells Fargo, oversight from the FDIC and oversight on Making Homes Affordable Program, Haffar stopped taking on NEW modification clients.  So before you blame your attorney for YOUR LIFE PROBLEMS and EVERYTHING WRONG WITH YOUR LIFE, you should also consider your lenders lack of cooperation, your flucuating employment circumstance, your flucuationg income, the lack of your lenders employee to competently handle your work, and legal counsel at the lenders complete treating you like s**t!  Maybe Now, you will stop pointing the finger at people trying to assist you and reflect on your own life decision and your lender.  YOUR ARE TOO QUICK TO JUDGE AND FOOLISH ENOUGH NOT TO CONSIDER THE OTHER SIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  142. Guest9074

     Thanks Haffar i know ppl posting bad things or one person only but you will win o those who say wrong things without any evidence 


    Thanks 

  143. Guest4046

    I have known Mr. Haffar for a few years now and his office handles a lot of legal work for me. So when he requested that I go and post my feelings about him on a review board website, I was sort of taken aback by all the negative comments. Many are wrongfully calling Mr. Haffar a liar and a cheat. I walk into his office and see the diligent work he and his staff are attending to and in fact on a few occasions overheard him getting the run around from BofA on the speaker phone. I see the stress on his face. Mr Haffar and his firm is honest, and caring and I know Mr. Haffar to be a God fearing man. I trust him and I would send him more of my busienss

  144. Guest6461

    If Mr haffar and his lieing-a*s employees were so honest, they wouldnt be trying to cover up their scam on these complaint boards with counter-posts claiming to be so wonderful. Its obvious to tell its pretty much the same 1 or 2 people posting on Haffars behalf, I know by the IP address when I ran it. both out of San Diego Ca. FACT: They have numerous complaints agaisnt them for taking money up front then doing nothing, FACT: They aswked me to lie on my P&L Statement to get me a loan mod the banks says I don't qualify for. I have the documerntation to prove this. FACT: I have emails from both TonyAune@haffar.com email address's and TonyAune@RestReportmatters.com so they not only get you for $3500 up front, now their greed has them trying to milk you for another $895 for the rest report, I fucin dare you to take me to court and try and sue for telling the truth here, I'm not the only one posting about you, how you lie and steal/con people. This board is warn consumers(thats us), about shady buisness's (Thats you) Haffar. I am only doing my part as a consumer to warn my fellow consumers that you will probably only add to their problems. Go away, just stick to being a lawyer, oh wait, you already were.

  145. Guest2929

    am just shocked by the dirty talk about Haffar, he is a good man and a good lawyer just stop trashing, its not ethical

  146. Guest8782

      San Diego Attorney Speaks Out on How SB 94 Has Taken Legitimate Lawyers Away from Homeowners


    think it’s fair to say that I’ve written more on the subject of lawyers and loan modifications than anyone else… I’m not bragging, in fact I wish it had never been necessary for me or anyone else to write about the topic in the first place. The question of whether a homeowner at risk of foreclosure and who is seeking a loan modification should be able to hire a lawyer to represent them, if that’s what they want to do, should never have been a question. It just shouldn’t have ever been all that complicated an issue, in my mind anyway.

    A few years back, I was teaching 5-6th grade US History/Social Studies at a nearby elementary school and I’m quite sure that if I would have asked my students who they should call if they needed help when at risk of losing a home, they would have all picked “lawyer” off of the list of options. And, as to whether lawyers do a better job getting loans modified than homeowners on their own, the answer is also yes, no question about it. That doesn’t mean that a given homeowner can’t get their mortgage modified without being represented by an attorney, some can and some do. But overall, the vast majority of the hundreds of homeowners that contact me for one reason or another each month, all have similar stories… they’ve been tryingon their own to get their bank to modify their loan for a year or more and to no avail. They hire an attorney to represent them and lo and behold, in almost every instance, their loans get modified.

    Moat recently, there was a woman who called me days before Christmas with Bank of America having already turned her down for a loan modification and set a sale date of January 7th. I referred her to a lawyer I know well, and two days before New Years her loan was permanently modified. Would that have happened without an attorney… no, it would not.

    Another couple from Northern California also comes to mind. They had been trying to get Chase to modify their loan for over a year. Chase was talking to them but it was going nowhere and they were scared that they could lose their home of 20 years. Again, I referred them to a law firm I’ve gotten to know well, and a few months later, they not only got a modification, but a great modification, in my view, including a principal forbearance of $200,000. Do I think that would have happened without a lawyer involved… not a chance in the world.

    I’ve simply seen too many similar stories over the last couple of years for just anyone to tell me I’m wrong about this, but if anyone has any data that says otherwise, I’m certainly open to taking a look or hearing about someone else’s experience if different than my own.

    The issue has been muddied ever since President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Attorney General Holder, all told the nation in so many words that, “loan modifications are free… you don’t need a lawyer, you just call a HUD counselor or your bank directly.” I was shocked when I heard that message coming from Washington D.C. because it never made any sense at all to me… because nothing that comes from a bank is ever free.

  147. Guest2345

    Why would Mr. Haffar feel the need to ask someone to go post counter claims on his behalf on the internet?, Your answer is easy, Why is there even a ton of complaints against him in the first place?. he didn't end up here by chance, there are 1000's of Laywers in the U.S. I dont see but a few getting complaints on them about the Loan Mod and Rest Report scams occuring. Guess who is on the top of the list?, people that prey on others problems to make a buck are nothing more than Vultures, plain and simple. So Haffar and his band of crooks must be the King Vultures.

  148. Guest401

    Easy to get the truth here, the link below is for the BBB, they have 31 complaints, they are rated on a scale of A+ to F being the worst, a 'F-'


    and this is ONLY for the San Diego BBB. You can also file a complaint on this same BBB website and are encouraged to do so, if Haffar has wronged you, help others by stopping him in the future.


    www.bbb.org/san-diego/business-reviews/attorneys/haffar-associates-in-san-diego-ca-171990331/


     

  149. Guest8333

    Its funny to read all the postings on here, first you have Haffar & Associate employees putting a lot of BS or replies justifying there illegal actions. Bottom line Haffar & Associates will have there day in court and hopefully the verdict of guilty comes in and all the hardworking Americans that got scammed by this fake will get there money back.  It is also funny to read that Haffar & Associates thinks that they have a case, they can’t sue anyone, they have no case.

  150. Guest2458

    I didn't even think of filing a complaint with the BBB. I wonder how many others did not also?. I'm doing it now, so make that 32 complaints.


    http://sandiego.bbb.org/find-business-reviews/

    The proof is in the pudding, What Haffar, is the BBB lieing too?, too funny. When you get to prison, I have some friends that are waiting for you. Bring vasoline.

  151. Guest8963

    Haffar may want to plea bargain now?, BWAAAAAAAAAA. lmao!


    I rest my case your honor, Better Buisness Bureau has the last word.

  152. Guest6525

    A common practice among companies offering loan modification services is accepting a fee prior to commencing work. On October 11, 2009 Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 94 stating companies are NOT allowed to take advance fees for loan modification or mortgage loan forbearance services. Formerly real estate agents were issued a "no objection" letter from the Department of Real Estate to collect advance fees. This agreement is no longer in effect. Attorneys were formerly allowed to accept advance fees, but are also not allowed to take advance fees for loan modification or mortgage loan forbearance services. More information regarding this bill can be found at http://www.dre.cahwnet.gov/pdf_docs/SB94WebAnnouncement(brokers).pdf.


    Beware of individuals or companies that ask you to sign a power of attorney or ask that you transfer the title of your home. These actions allow the party with the power of attorney or title to evict you, sell your house without your permission, or strip any remaining equity from your home. The BBB encourages you to read and understand ALL documentation before signing. If you have any questions and/or are unclear about any terms and conditions, contact the appropriate licensing agency. High-pressure sales tactics, instructions to miss payments, and claims that sound too good to be true are signs that you may be dealing with an unscrupulous individual.


    Check with your local BBB for company reports and further tips and referrals to sources that can help.


    Haffar is breaking the law.

  153. Guest8955

    http://www.sccomplex.org/calendar/docalendar.jsp?futureOnly=&FormCaseId=&adminparam=false&listall=&e_casenum=&casename=haffar&fileno=&event=&comments=&search=Search


    Whats this Haffar?, lol, so there really is a class action suit agaisnt you?, lololololololol get em Tavy!!

  154. Guest4138

    Haffar a little piggy......oink oink

  155. Guest4737

    I was contacted by an A.J. Wiggins over a year ago, told me he was from Haffar and Associates, I also was contacted 6 months later by a Tony Aune, also from Haffar and Associates, Both told me that if I do not recieve a Loan Mod, that I do not have to pay anything, yet they both wanted the money up front, I smelled a Rat. and by the looks of it, they don't return the money to those who they can't help?. I'm happy I did not pursue a loan mod thru them now, there is just too much to chance according to all the complaints and also I clicked on the BBB site, geez is all I can say. I hope you all get your money back somehow.

  156. Guest5892

    haffar and associates just closed their doors for good and off he goes back to libya to disappear into the desert where he belongs. I can't believe I got a modification with his help, and when I went to have him review the terms, he couldnt even do that! I mean seriously!!! This guy is crazy, I had nothing but happiness, and he treated me so badly and I was a client that god modified. He yelled at me and hung up his phone and then his wife called me back and aplogized but the man is simply crazy. Who yells at their client who is happy with their service?

  157. Guest6480

    This is the internet at its best, Common Thief rips consumers off, consumers fight back to stop him from stealing money from more victims. Looks like his websites are gone?, Thanks to Maybe Now and the other complaint boards, we helped drive this criminal back to some cave in the middle east, were all the money he stole will be handed over to terrorists and used to kill innocent people in their twisted quest. I hope when  Haffar and his Associates die, they enjoy the red hot pokers up their a*s for all of eternity for their sins,....... and eternity is an awful long time. The only virgins waiting for you Haffar in the after life will be 70 Catholic Nuns with those very red hot pokers, maybe Allah should of been more specific?

  158. Guest5770

     Hey were did Haffars website go?, lol Haffar the Pig of Bagdad. Justice has been served. Hope you enjoyed your visit to America, you lieing scum. The 70 virgins you think you have coming when you die, are 70 Catholic Nuns with red hot pokers that will be up your butt for all of eternity, thats a long time btw. allah should of been more specific maybe?. lmao.

     


    Maybenow and the other places on the web that everyone complained about, seems to pay off for the consumer. Thanks Maybenow.

  159. Guest1922

    This is GREAT!!! Haffar & Associates site is closed, hey I hope he isn’t a flight risk, maybe they should arrest him and put him in jail until his court date, we need to get paid!!!

  160. Guest6395

    After all this, all the complaints and reports to the better buisness bureau, and complaints to the state bar, the california state bar allows this idiot to still practice law and therefore scam victims by taking no action to date. f**k all lawyers and the bar association.

  161. Guest8158

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