The following is for attorneys only.  It is time for "blunt and pragmatic" talk. 

To all attorneys:

 I have been on the front lines of the"Housing and Foreclosure Crisis" for two years now. I have seen and heard and learned more about this crisis and how it came about than almost anyone in the U.S.  I have seen first hand the "carnage" to homeowners and families. 

In Sep 07, I began to assist homeowners in foreclosure, attempting to stop auctions and to get the lenders to work with borrowers.  This was before the term "loan modification" gained any real recognition.  When dealing with the Servicers, one would need to talk with the foreclosure department.  To get an auction stopped, one would have to provide evidence that the borrower could qualify for a loan and loan approval had been granted.  Auctions would be postponed, and if anything delayed the refinance, then a Servicer "might" postpone again, usually for ten days or less.

By Nov 07, I realized that only attorneys could help the borrowers and I began the process of auditing loans.  Since Nov 07, I have audited approximately 1,500 loans, appeared in Federal Court on the witness stand, been to numerous TRO hearings, where I stood by, in case the attorney needed my assistance, written Declarations for the Court, attended Settlement hearings, PI hearings, and much more.  I have worked with over 50 attorneys at different times in these two years and seen how they respond to the foreclosure crisis.  As a result, it is now time for "blunt talk".

This is a "war" that we are fighting.  The enemy are the Servicers and the Banks. We have been fighting in the "beginning stages" of this war. It is fought in a manner akin to "resistance fighters" in early World War 2 France.   Individual attorneys are fighting by themselves, one homeowner at a time.  Each attorney normally starts his foreclosure career with arguing TILA/RESPA, and trying rescission of the loan.  They are unsuccessful with this strategy because in California, to rescind the loan, the homeowner must be able to "tender" the original loan amount, minus costs, fees and payments of interest. Eventually, they learn that they must change tactics.  Usually, this involves using TILA/RESPA for loan mods.

As the attorney progresses, he finds that Servicers do not care about the homeowner or violations of TILA/RESPA. The Servicer wants to foreclose on the property no matter what.  At that point, the attorney must initiate litigation, usually by filing a TRO and lawsuit.  Typically, the TRO gets denied because again, TILA/RESPA is argued.  If the TRO is granted, within a few days, the attorney finds the case remanded to Federal Court, where he must respond to a demurrer.  Usually, the case is dismissed and then the homeowner is left with little hope of a favorable outcome.

Every step of the way, the new "foreclosure/loan modification attorney" is relearning what previous attorneys have already learned.  The learning curve is steep, and in the meantime, more homeowners lose their homes.  THIS HAS TO STOP!

What I propose is that it is now time for attorneys to get on the "same page" and unite together to effectively fight the Servicers and lenders. It is time to develop an informal network whereby attorneys can share what is working, what is not working.  This would likely consist of someone, most likely LFI, creating a "Forum" where attorneys can communicate together, share pleadings and develop strategies to assist the homeowners.  This would lead to attorneys presenting foreclosure defenses of well-plead arguments that the Court can understand and can create "good law" instead of the "bad law" often being seen.

The Forum would be by invitation only, registered with passwords.  Attorneys would need to be "vetted" to ensure that they were legitimate. Homeowners would be  prevented homeowners from "cluttering up" the Forum with questions or comments that would simply detract from the intent of the Forum.  This would also prevent Servicers and Lenders from entering the Forum to see new strategies that are being developed to assist the homeowner.

However, this is not enough. There are other actions to be considered as well. These actions have been presented to some individual attorneys who have seen the thought process behind the concepts of the Class Action and agree that it is feasible and that the arguments make sense. Examples of this:

• LFI is currently engaged in negotiations with undisclosed entities on a lawsuit that will benefit financially to the tune of at least hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide due to lost income.  The "discovery" of the lost income and any ruling or settlement regarding it will have significant impact on independent attorney actions representing homeowners.  If the action is initiated, then attorneys will be able to "piggy-back" on the actions.  It also forms the basis for the following Class Actions.
• LFI is in contact with two other categories of entities  that have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the foreclosure crisis, and through LFI's findings, could result in potential recovery of much of the losses incurred.
• LFI has developed the arguments for several Class Action lawsuits that would be of tremendous importance to homeowners, some of which could piggy-back off of the first lawsuit mentioned.  As well, some of the findings, if won in court, would likely show that at least 50% of the foreclosures across the nation may be unlawful. At this point, LFI is looking for the "correct" Class Action Law Firms who will grasp the significance of what has been found and developed and has the "Deep Pocket" to support such actions.

There is much work to be done, and little time to do it.  We must quickly form the nucleus of this alliance and implement the strategies needed to fight the Servicers and Lenders in a consistent manner and with consistent and effective arguments.

I hope that the attorneys reading this understand the common sense rational behind the concept.  Even more, I hope that they would consider being a part of the Alliance. 

I should have the Forum developed, formatted, and ready to begin within the next couple of weeks. Once it is up and running, I can begin to disclose and update in more detail the actions that I referred to above.  With these actions and the Forum, we can begin to effectively fight the lenders in mass.  

For those interested in what I propose, you may contact me directly at 925-238-1221.  You may also contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  We can discuss in further detail what is proposed and you can see how it could be of benefit to you.

I hope to speak with many of you soon.

Patrick Pulatie, CEO

925-238-1221