Ken Gross along with Robin Thompson, from Budge Wise Consulting are guests Christmas Day on Steve Hood’s new hot show Detroit Wants to Know. Tune in at 7:30 PM on Saturday, December 25th – Channel 38 – WADL TV Detroit
Check out Lori William’s interview of Ken Gross in the Examiner – Will Santa Bring an end to the Housing Crisis for Christmas?
By: Lori T. Williams, Esq., Wayne/Oakland Legal News Examiner for Examiner.com and owner/managing attorney of Your Legal Resource, PLLC
Will Santa Bring an end to the Housing Crisis for Christmas? Don’t hold your breath! I interviewed attorney Ken Gross, Managing and Co-Founding Shareholder of the law firm of THAV GROSS, recently for a real estate update. Gross has seen his law practice shift over the past 2 years from 80% Corporate and transactional business law and estate planning to 40% of that work, with the remaining 60% of his work today focused on “financial crisis management”. The clients in the latter category are being helped by Gross and his firm through loan modifications, short sales, or the Bankruptcy process. Gross feels that the Bank’s loan modification process is worse now than ever. “Banks are losing paperwork submitted by homeowners, and if you do get a live person on the phone, it’s hard to find anyone who knows the facts of the loan modification transaction,” remarked Gross. “Furthermore, denials are made with no explanation and often mistakes are made by the banks, making the denial improper.”
Despite the difficulties inherent in the process, Gross enjoys strategizing about which method will best help the debtor solve their financial crises, and for the least amount of money. Gross feels, “if an individual can do for themselves what the Government did for GM, it’s a smart move.” “Often my clients are hard working people who were doing well and paying their bills on time, before the housing market and economy took a hit”. Gross’s goal is to preserve assets and future income for his clients and their family. “If they have 2 mortgages, and their house is underwater such that its value is less than the amount of the first mortgage, they might be a candidate for a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. That’s the only way to eliminate the 2nd mortgage on the property. At the same time, it’s possible to work on a loan modification of the first mortgage.” Gross remarked, “the process is difficult. In some cases, it is necessary to push the matter to the brink of foreclosure in order to get the banks to agree to a short sale. You just don’t know how the process will go, until you try. Bankruptcy or another Debt Resolution program is available as a relief measure for those clients who can’t modify the loan or get approval from the bank on a short sale.” Gross helps his clients who previously had a good credit score, to understand that their credit score isn’t as important as discharging debt that cannot be repaid because of the current housing market and economy. “The credit score can come back, but if you risk your assets and income to protect your credit score, you are throwing good money after bad”, says Gross.
Gross hosts a weekly radio show on WDFN’s channel 1130AM, every Saturday from 8:30-10am. “The show is called Financial Crisis Talk Center and the goal is to educate listeners about real estate options and debt relief options available under the law today”, says Gross. “The show has resulted in referrals from real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, attorneys, and CPA’s who heard us on the radio, and who referred a client with an upside down mortgage or other debt problems.” “Our listeners tend to be males who are 30-60 years old, since WDFN is a sports station. We’ve been on the air for 2 years now and are growing a regular following.” “As I see it”, says Gross, “we have a limited window of great opportunity to help homeowners shed debt. As the National Economy improves, the window of opportunity to shed debt associated with the housing market will close.” “We all want the economy to improve, but the message is for homeowners and debtors to get educated about their individual rights, so they aren’t holding on to a sinking ship”. For more information about the radio show, credit card relief, tax relief, loan modifications and short sales, Bankruptcy, or other financial problems, visit the website.
For many entrepreneurs, phoning an attorney summons images of a ticking clock and mounting bills. Now law firms are trying to win new customers by offering deep discounts for start-ups.
Some firms are offering small businesses a flat monthly fee rather than charging them by the hour. Others offer flat rates for certain services, such as handling the paperwork for starting a company.
Many small companies say the discounts are a big help at a time when budgets are tighter than ever. Ray Case, a plumbing contractor in Ann Arbor, Mich., says flat fees from attorney Ken Gross proved precious as he journeyed through bankruptcy court, folding one company and forming another. He paid $10,000 total for at least 100 hours of work, and estimates he saved at least $15,000 over typical hourly rates.
“When you’re basically out of money,” says Mr. Case, “you can’t give an attorney a blank check.”
The impetus for these deals is simple: Lawyers need to drum up more business, but many entrepreneurs can’t afford traditional payment plans these days. “The economy has melted down, and a lot of work we’re doing is for people on a tight financial budget who can’t commit to an hourly fee schedule,” says Mr. Gross, managing partner at Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett PC in suburban Detroit.
Mr. Gross, whose firm started offering flat rates to small businesses in 2005, says his small-business clientele in the first half of 2010 was quadruple that in the same period of 2005. “You have situations where people got buyouts and had little nest eggs of money,” he explains. “They’re trying to replace income from the jobs they lost.”
Sadly, he says, there’s another reason demand is booming: Many small-business clients, like Mr. Case, need help with debt resolution and bankruptcy-related matters, rather than with starting up.
The deals are springing up across the country. In New York, MasurLaw offers small businesses a flat rate, starting at $500, for services such as help with launching a company. Senior partner Steven Masur says that “when the recession hit, we felt that predictable pricing would take the guesswork out of legal fees,” raising the comfort level of potential clients and fostering continuing relationships with them through their early days.
In Blacksburg, Va., Creekmore Law Firm PC introduced a plan last year that charges small businesses a flat rate of $75 a month, after an initial fee of $750. “Some small-business owners would come in for an initial consultation, find out our hourly fees and wouldn’t come back,” says Keith Finch, an associate at Creekmore. “They’d just disappear.”
To be sure, there are some potential hazards for small businesses in going this route. Joseph DeWoskin, chair of the American Bar Association division that specializes in issues facing small law firms, advises entrepreneurs to check references and get promises in writing. Be careful, he says, of “the bait and switch, where they tell you they can do it for this price and then say they can’t.”
What’s more, you can’t expect attorneys to do everything for a flat rate. Most lawyers who offer these deals set limits for what the discounts cover. For example, Mr. Finch excludes some potentially time-consuming legal work from his small-business price, such as suing or defending against litigation, and giving tax advice.
Further, some law firms insist that their discounted services for entrepreneurs be conducted on the phone, rather than consultations in their offices, to speed up the conversations. Others want much of the work to be done via email. That might make for a distant relationship between lawyers and clients.
Some entrepreneurs, however, say that they don’t mind, since they’ve gotten used to dealing with customers that way to save time. Rafe Steinhauer, president of Benefeast LLC, a White Plains, N.Y., company that raises funds for nonprofit organizations, says long-distance contact works fine once a sound relationship is established.
“You don’t have to keep making special trips to the lawyer’s office,” he says.
Mr. Johnson is a writer in Roanoke County, Va. He can be reached at reports@wsj.com.
Catch the Interview from the The Financial Crisis Talk Center, which aired Saturday, October 30, 2010. Mortgage relief and consumer issues are covered, along with the differences between the candidates.
Click here- Interview
William Krieger of Lansing watched the news earlier this month about banks halting foreclosures because of problems with paperwork and was relieved that wasn’t happening to him. Two days later, he got a letter from Chase saying he was delinquent on his mortgage and that it would foreclose if he didn’t contact the bank. The only problem — he never missed a payment and can prove it. News of big lenders halting home repossessions has raised questions over how banks handle paperwork. Earlier this month, Bank of America stopped home seizures in all 50 states. At issue: a process called robo-signing, in which bank employees or its lawyers signed off on foreclosure affidavits without reading them. It has been a problem in states where judges must approve foreclosures. The crisis has heightened awareness about paperwork errors nationwide, but experts say the impact will be minimal in Michigan. That’s because it is not among the states that require judicial review for home repossessions. Bank of America is the only lender reviewing Michigan foreclosures and most industry observers don’t expect it to take long. The lender recently resumed foreclosures in the 23 states that require a judge’s approval after finding that its paperwork processing was up to snuff. The Michigan Association of Realtors in Lansing issued a statement last week saying the impact here has been almost nonexistent. “Valid real estate contracts and mortgages remain enforceable and unchanged. There are no major anticipated legal challenges associated with recent headlines that will have an effect on our state.” And the investigation hasn’t caused foreclosed properties to be pulled off the market in Michigan, which has occurred in some judicial review states. Experts say cases like Krieger’s — while unfortunate — are rare. Chase spokeswoman Mary Kay Bean said the bank had resolved the problem on Tuesday, reimbursing Krieger for fees and expenses and corrected his credit report to indicate he is current on his payments. Krieger said the problem began when he made an online payment in August and mistakenly forgot to indicate the date Chase should take it from his account. Two payments were taken, but one bounced back to Chase. That was counted as delinquent. While Krieger’s situation is uncommon, it’s still a major hassle. The only thing someone can do is to keep copies of every payment and statement and send a copy of those along with a letter explaining the error to the bank, said Ken Gross, a Bingham Farms financial crisis attorney. They need to be sent by certified mail with a return receipt, he said. “Calling does you no good in this world,” he said. “You have to prove you sent the letter.” What’s more at issue with the paperwork mess is an underlying sense that the loan servicers can’t always prove who owns the mortgage and has the right to foreclose, he said. “It all comes back to where does the responsibility lie?” Gross said. “The banks have to do their jobs and create a method of administration to do it.” Still, Krieger isn’t convinced. For him, the paperwork crisis calls everything into question. “I absolutely believe because of their accounting problems they probably have foreclosed on people who didn’t deserve it,” said Krieger, 45, an Iraq War veteran. • CONTACT GRETA GUEST: 313-223-4192 OR GGUEST@FREE PRESS.COM
Virg Bernero – joins Ken, David, Brian and Special Guest – Mark Brewer – Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party – learn Virg’s views on foreclosure, the housing problem, jobs in Michigan and creation of the Michigan Main Street Bank – Click here to listen -
Part 1 of 3 (Virg joins in at end)
Dave - many thanks and Happy Holidays to you and yours,...December 9, 4:32 am by Ken Gross
Touching commentary...makes me want to go see it. Mitch...December 9, 4:32 am by Dave Smith
