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When she called the Walk Away Plan's toll-free number, she thought losing her home was inevitable. But Paul Helbert, who started the company last fall as an extension of his real estate--investing business, drafted a letter explaining her situation--an appeal based on the fact that banks, deluged with loans going awry, would like to avoid foreclosure too, since it can cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal and rehab fees to repossess and sell a house. "We wrote a beautiful distress letter together," says Helbert. "We told her story." He was eventually able to talk...
...whole operation: a nonprofit housing counselor might have gotten Bond the same result without charging her hundreds of dollars. In fact, many of the flashiest benefits these new walk-away companies advertise are ones homeowners can procure on their own. Are you willing to pay someone to force the bank to stop harassing you with phone calls? O.K., but you can achieve the same result for the cost of a stamp by sending a letter citing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which says lenders can call only if they're taking a specific action against you. How about hiring...
...Larry Stopczynski, a retired auto engineer in Michigan, has seen the value of his home drop by more than $100,000; he now owes more in mortgage payments than the house is worth. So two months ago, he paid Short Refi Me $1,495 to try to get his banks to agree to be paid off by a new mortgage, based on a current appraisal. If it works, Stopczynski will also pay the San Diego company 1% of the new-loan value--and he'll get to stay in his home. "I wasn't getting past square one with...
...Walk Away does at least walk you through walking away. That's why Jim Lowry, a San Francisco--based maintenance manager, is pretty happy with the firm, even though it doesn't talk to his bank or do any other legwork for him as he tries to find a buyer before the bank repossesses his daughter's house. Lowry had talked to some other real estate types, but it wasn't until a phone conversation with a You Walk Away "advocate" that he felt he had a handle on the situation. "I'm not worried anymore. I know what...
...Tehran Remaining Defiant Iran has vowed to continue uranium enrichment, dismissing Western entreaties and ignoring both Britain's announcement that it would freeze the overseas assets of Iran's largest bank and its threat of sanctions on oil and gas. Other E.U. nations postponed stronger measures, pending a response from Tehran...