Tonight on the Neil Garfield Show: Attorneys Fees and Court Costs

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So night we will tackle the ticklish but not funny issues involved in the costs of litigation. Despite Congress’ enactment of Statutory TILA Rescission, it is obvious that nobody will get any real relief without litigation. Attorneys across the country ask me how much they should charge and how to set up payment. Homeowners are asking me how much they should pay and how they should pay it. The  answers vary widely depending upon the status of the case and the specific details of the alleged loan(s).

Q. “Will you take it on a contingency?” A: “Sure which rooms can I move into when we win the foreclosure trial.” The problem is that most layman don’t quite know what a contingency fee is, much less how it works. All they know is that it means they don’t pay anything. And lawyers are missing opportunities on contingency fees when they insist on getting paid up front.

Tonight I will review various plans for charging and payment of attorney fees, court costs, investigation costs and forensic analysis. The takeaway here is that borrowers should be aware they have substantial chance of winning or getting a modification if they are willing to go to war. If a borrower is paying a few hundred dollars per month he is not likely to get service that would put an attorney to work for 20-30 hours in preparing for trial — let alone the hearings and motions and and file analysis used to develop the best possible strategy. The other takeaway here is that just because a lawyer doesn’t know how to charge doesn’t mean he or she should get out of foreclosure defense. Don’t believe the Bank PR — we have another 7 million foreclosures to go, but the Banks are hiding it by moving hotspots around the country. Just ask the people in New Jersey.

I will describe and then suggest different plans so that it becomes affordable to the borrower and profitable for the lawyer. The banks have created a huge pool of money that can be attacked for profit. Houses can be saved, and money can be made.

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