ML-Implode News - Could The Fair Housing Act Keep You in Your Home?

``A significant number of borrowers fall under the umbrella of this protection and were harmed in some way by lenders and servicers violating these rights. In a nutshell, if you were granted or even offered a loan or loan modification you did not have the capacity to repay it could be a violation of the Fair Housing Act; if you were told you did not qualify to apply, should not apply, or otherwise discouraged from applying for a loan or modification for any reason it could be a Fair Housing violation; if you believe you are qualified for loans you can repay to keep you in your home but believe you have been improperly denied a loan or modification it could be a Fair Housing violation; if during the course of the loan, from beginning to now you believe you were discriminated against, treated differently, or harmed by your Servicer or Lender it could be a violation of the Fair Housing Act. Get it? It casts a pretty wide net and covers a lot of ground. It might not be the silver bullet that many advocates, attorneys, and homeowners are looking for, but in many cases it gets the job done, and at a federal level.
The Diligence Group and Dr. Gary Lacefield have been leveraging these laws to help keep people in their homes and with affordable terms. "Our goal is to keep people in their homes and to negotiate the terms of the mortgage to how it should have been written in the first place," says Lacefield.

Why aren't more attorneys and homeowners taking this route? As previously mentioned it's murky and abstract and there aren't many attorneys who fully understand and appreciate the concept. Those that do however, find a compelling strategy - one that rarely needs to see the inside of a courtroom.''

Relevant:

Could The Fair Housing Act Keep You in Your Home? | Richard Zombeck