Before hiring a lawyer for foreclosure help, verify their license with your state bar, get written details of services and fees, and avoid mass joinder lawsuit scams. Under the MARS Rule, lawyers can only charge upfront fees if they follow strict legal and ethical requirements. Contact your lender, HUD-approved housing counselors, or federal agencies for legitimate help. Report scams to the FTC and your state attorney general.
A reputable lawyer doesn’t guarantee results, no matter what your circumstances.
Before you hire someone who claims to be a lawyer (also called an attorney or counsel), or someone who claims to work with lawyers, ask relatives, friends, and others you trust for the name of a lawyer with a proven record of helping homeowners facing foreclosure.
Get the name of each lawyer who’ll be helping you, the state or states where each lawyer is licensed, and their license number in each state. Your state has a licensing organization — or bar — that monitors lawyers’ conduct. Call your state bar or check its website to see if a lawyer you're thinking of hiring has gotten into trouble. The American Bar Association has links to your state bar or search online for the name of your state and the words “state bar” to find the site for your state’s bar association. Get — in writing — specific information about the work the lawyer or firm will do for you, including the cost, and the payment schedule
If you decide to hire a lawyer, stay in touch with them and keep a file with a record of your conversations, letters, emails, texts, and paperwork.
Some less-than-honest law firms send direct mail flyers that urge you to participate in a “mass joinder lawsuit.” The firms charge upfront fees and bend the truth to make you think you’re joining with other people in similar circumstances to sue your lender. They make it seem like they can stop your foreclosure, cut your loan balance or interest rates, get you money damages, and even get you the deed to your home, free and clear of your mortgage. Mass joinder lawsuits are not class action lawsuits. In a mass joinder lawsuit, you still have to go to trial separately to prove your case. And a mass joinder lawsuit is not likely to help you save your home.
Lawyers and Upfront Fees
Under the MARS Rule, lawyers can ask you to pay an upfront fee, but only if they
are licensed to practice law in the state where you live or your home is located
are supplying you with real legal services
are complying with state ethics requirements for lawyers
place the money you pay them in a client trust account, withdraw fees only as they complete actual legal services, and notify you of each withdrawal
Where to Find Legitimate Help
Contact your mortgage servicer or lender.
If you're having trouble paying your mortgage or you've gotten a foreclosure notice, contact your servicer or lender immediately, even if the foreclosure process has already started.
Talk to a certified housing counselor for free legitimate help.
Scammers often ask you to pay in ways that make it tough to get your money back. No matter how you paid a scammer, the sooner you act, the better. Learn more about how to try to get your money back.
Report Fraud
If you think you’ve run into a mortgage relief scam, report it to
