Just hired J. Griswold Law to handle Loan Mod w/ CW

[jdhines448]

Today, I sent in the paperwork to have James Griswold's office work on a loan mod with Countrywide. I have tried to due it on my own and finally received CW's FedEx package containg their "Loan Mod."

As it turns out, it really wasn't much of a modification, but more of a Repayment Plan that they called a modification. CW's loan mod had our balance going-up (due to the arrears & fees added on the the back), the payment went up and the interest rate stayed the same (7.99 fixed).

I have been telling them that, due to our circumstances, the payment was too high for us and we needed some relief. I almost signed the paperwork, thinking "I've done all that I can," but the I found LoanSafe.org and decided that this is BS! If Wall Street and the Fat Cats can get bailed for billions, I guess I can try a little bit harder to get some relief.

So that's why I felt it was worth it to "invest" some serious cash in hiring Griswold & Co. to try and even up the playing field a bit. I figure my wheel, just got a little "squeakier" by putting Griswold to work.

I'll keep you posted on my situation. By the way, so far, the service has been quite good. I called and left a message and Branden of their office returned my call and expalined the process to me. He was friendly and informative and got all the information to me right away.

Anyway, we've got our fingers crossed.... One never knows what the outcome will be with legal matters, but I for one, feel a whole lot better knowing that I'm being as pro-active as I can be. Win, Lose or Draw, it's the right decision for me and my wife.

Regards, Jeff

[schwefls]

Best of luck jdhines I am sure you will be on the success banner before you know it.

[elpjohnson]

Jeff....

I wish you the best of luck....I hired the very first attorney who was on this website an he was successful in getting me a loan modification. Just be prepared, it's a very long process (even with an attorney) but you do have a certain advantage....especially if you have violations in you loan documents.

Take care and God bless!

[RudyJay]

Good luck Jeff... keep moving forward

[Dan Bailey]

Good luck jeff...you're in good hands!!

[angel83]

Originally Posted by elpjohnson

Jeff....

I wish you the best of luck....I hired the very first attorney who was on this website an he was successful in getting me a loan modification. Just be prepared, it's a very long process (even with an attorney) but you do have a certain advantage....especially if you have violations in you loan documents.

Take care and God bless!

How much more advantage do you think it gives you with violations?

[jdhines448]

Angel83,

I think it lends considerable weight to our case. In my mind, it lets CW know that we are very serious about this loan modification.

Update:

Branden at Griswold has been very good at following up with me to make sure our file is complete and ready for audit.

Regards, Jeff

[jdhines448]

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words! They are very much appreciated. Jeff

[Cowgirl]

Good Luck Jeff. I am working with an attorney also. My Loan is also with Countrywide.

CW just sent my attorney the first loan modification offer and it was just like yours. Just a repayment plan but they did lower the interest from 10.25% to 6.25% fixed after 6 months if we make the payments on time and even then with all the arrearages my payment is almost the same as before I went into to default. I had my loan docs reviewed twice by two different companies only because I wanted to make sure if we go to court we know what we are talking about. Pretty much both reviews came out with about the same violations. We have broker fraud, RESPA and TILA violations on our loan docs. Paiva's office said it was one of the worst loans that have come across their desk. What I can't understand and still haven't gotten an answer from my own attorney is that the TILA Finance Charge (Under Disclosed) is off by $888,658.58. And both Doc reviews showed that. This only one of the violations on my loan docs. Can someone tell me if this is a slap on the hand for Countrywide or a real serious violation? With that much off what would they be facing if we went to court? Now I know a loan modification is more reasonable that trying to sue but I am curious as to what would a judge say if they saw this figure? If is it real serious then I don't understand why they are sending me a garbage loan modification? My attorney told me to remember it was just the first step in the negotiating process. I guess they want to see how dumb and desperate we really are before they start talking serious to us.

My attorney is not from Paiva's Office But they are very good, I just hired one closer to me. I will watch your posts too Jeff. I am curious to what your attorney tells you.

Cowgirl

[faith]

jdhines,
Out of curiousity, I've checked the licensing of both Atty James Griswold and Atty Gregory Paiva they have excellent record and no complaints. I think you are in good hands and so are those clients who used Atty. Gregory Paiva.

To check lawyer licensing:


State Bar of CA :: Attorney Search

Good luck and God bless.


Faith:

[Cowgirl]

Thank you Faith for the reminder to check out the people we are working with. I should have known better and checked my own attorney's reputation on the website too. By now I thought I had learned to check everyone's reputation no matter what their status was. But even recently I had checked my Brokers Licenses and she had no complaints either and still wrote us into a crappy loan and it has numberous violations and fraud. My attorney is clean with no record of complaints. I liked Paiva's Office they were so nice to me and very helpful. Everyone there made me feel as if my loan was the only one they were working on that day. I was referred to my attorney by a freind and my attorney was already working with Loan Mods at Countrywide at the same time. I just hope I made the right decision. So far so good. But I am not jumping up and down yet with joy. I just feel like I am walking on eggs every day.

Cowgirl

[dontwantthehouse]

Hi Jeff,

I am glad to hear from someone who has recently hired on Griswold's services. I have already made contact but have been hesitant to actually make the call to say "you're hired" because again money is the big topic of everyday for us right now and until I explore every other option like getting the assistance of the better housing league in our area then I will "invest" in an attorney. But fyi, the rep at Griswold that i have been in contact with has been very courteous and helpful so far.

[jdhines448]

Good luck to you too Cowgirl and dontwantthehouse. Faith, thank you for the info and link! Branden sent me an email that my file has been moved to Audit. That was fast. Thanks all. Keep fighting the good fight. Jeff

[amendoza]

Good luck Jeff! Your definitely in good hands with Branden.

[branden_williams]

Jeff, thank you for all the kind words. Times are tough for everyone and we at the Law office just want to do our best to help people through this mess. Have a good weekend everyone.

[Wathera Cuamatzi]

Great job Branden on serving your clients!

[jdhines448]

Looks like the Audit Department is really on top of things. Branden let me know that Audit was requesting a few more things for my file, that I am only too happy to provide. I really appreciate their completeness and dedication. it took me a long time to get all the documents together, but I want them to be able to make the best case possible so we can get our payment down where we need it to be to make this work. Best of luck all. Regards, Jeff

[elpjohnson]

Jeff....

I really like this thread....it's very informative. Keep us updated and good luck with J. Griswold's Office....sounds like they are great and know exactly what they are doing!

[jdhines448]

Thanks ElpJohnson. I plan to post regularly during the entire process. It might be helpful to those who are considering hiring an attorney. I agree, J. Griswold's office does sound very knowledgeable about this process. They've been to a few rodeos as it were!

I'm hopeful that this new proposed 700 Billion Dollar federal bailout plan will give Countrywide some incentive to start granting more favorable loan modifications to struggling homeowners. I heard one commentator suggest that if the government does purchase a banks bad debt, there should be caps on CEO pay, so that they don't walk-out the door with millions in compensation when they caused this whole mess. Sound like a good idea to me.

I realize that the government can't let the entire finacial system go down the tubes, regardless of how this mess originated, but I'd like to see an equal effort to help homeowners from going down the tubes as well. Is it too much to ask our government to help the people?

Don't let them wear you down and good luck! Regards, Jeff

[elpjohnson]

Jeff....

I know what you mean by not letting them wear you down....I went through this for 10 months (7 months with an attorney) before I was successful in getting a modification. It was a rollercoaster ride to say the least and each and every day I went through a myriad of emotions from happiness to sadness to fear to anger to shear frustration....and this was almost everyday. So, be prepared for the fight of your life....even though you hired an attorney, it still rocks your world on a daily basis because this is YOUR home we're talking about! Be sure to stay in constant contact with your attorney....I e-mailed mine like once a week for a status update. You have to stay on them to to get them to do what needs to be done....it's like anything else, you have to make sure you manage it so it gets done right.

Good luck, I am praying for your success. God bless you and your family. Keep us posted on your progress, I'll be following with great interest.

[jdhines448]

Thanks for the support eElpjohnson. It is appreciated.

[arotella]

hi quick question because i seem to be in the same situation you were , i also have country wide and i am currently waiting on an answer for the loan modification. how much is this attorney costing you ?

[jdhines448]

Hi aretella,

The fee for the audit and representation is $2,995, which is based on our mortgage of $318,000. If we are successful in getting a modification of our loan that will allow us to stay in the house we love, it will have been a super bargain. if it doesn't work, we know we tried real damn hard to save it. As I said in my initial post, win, lose or draw, I'm going to take my best shot at this.

Best of luck to you and the others on the forum.

Regards, Jeff

[jdhines448]

Update: Branden followed up with me on Saturday and sent me an email on Monday. A reviewer from Audit gave me a call about some documents that didn't come through on the fax machine. It is really nice to be kept in the loop during this process. The team at J. Griswold Law office has really been efficient and a pleasure to deal with. Thanks guys! Regards, Jeff

[elpjohnson]

Jeff...

Great update....so glad to hear they are on the ball, sounds like the customer service is just awesome. I wanted to comment on the fee for the attorney....I paid a similar fee for my attorney and I felt exactly the same way you do....at least we did everything we could do to save our home. I felt like it was a small price to pay to stay in our home that we love so much AND we ended up to be successful in getting a pretty good mod....so we can't complain. So what it boils down to is can you really afford to get an attorney to assist you in the process? OR do you spend literally months out of your life fighting and fighting for what's yours....it's so hard. I started off the process on my own but froze and just couldn't do it anymore and I'm a strong, tenacious person....I just couldn't deal with the daily stress. Instead I focused on getting my attorney what he needed and putting my foot in his a$$ from time to time to get him going ....it still takes a lot out of you even though you have help....

I can't wait to hear if you have violations in your loan docs....that's what really got me my loan mod....we had violations and threatened to sue, so they gave us a mod to 6% for the life of the loan. I am praying for a positive outcome for you and I know you'll get the modification you deserve!

God bless you and your family, Jeff...I'm pulling for you!