In the day and age of email, twitter, Facebook, the mortgage crisis, and loss mitigation, one has to ask what does Abraham Lincoln have to do with it…

Money is tight in the real estate industry. Attorneys, lenders, mortgage officers, real estate brokers, and other professionals, are simply dropping like flies because there is just not enough business to go around. I have always taken the position that if you take care of your clients and referral sources, you will not have to worry about the money, the business will come. Unfortunately, while the first half of the belief holds true, somehow, some way the second half of that belief is no longer true.

As one of the pioneers in the Short Sale law industry, I have been studying the default industry and building relationships with the industry since 2001, and now these relationships and knowledge are the only thing I have which keeps me from becoming a commodity in the “right here right now” commodity driven business environment which is the current state of affairs in the real estate law business.

OK… but what about Abe Lincoln…. Abe was a lawyer from a small firm much like mine… he said: “A lawyer's time and advice are his stock in trade".  What does that mean???? It means that the only product that a lawyer has is what he knows, and he can sell it only in the form of advice and action. This is a big problem for the industry in today’s market. I have been recently criticized for not dispensing free advice to random strangers with whom I have no past business history and do not know… I simply cannot do it for free…

 The Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Act prohibits Real Estate Brokers, and other non-attorneys from collecting a fee before getting a result for a home owner. This law is an abomination and should be thrown out.

As a lawyer I have studied the subject matter, spent countless hours with clients learning more and more about the industry, and even more developing practices which mesh with the banks. I cannot and should not be expected by anyone, even our government to give away my stock in trade without charge. When I went to WalMart last night, I waited in line for 20 min and paid over $6.00 for a gallon of milk for my three kids because they needed it, why should it be wrong for me to charge a reasonable fee to sell my “milk” to someone else when they need it? If I can’t sell my stock in trade, I might as well let my ten employees go, and go to work for a cell phone company, starbucks, or WalMart, where people pay for what they get… If I were non-exempt under MARS, I would quit doing loss mitigation, and there would be many more foreclosures in our area. 

Why did I write this piece? Two reasons: #1 I enjoy helping people who need help, however I have to charge for my professional services. I am thankful I am able to legally charge for them, and I will continue to charge for them. #2 to Sympathize with those who do not have the right to charge up front for valuabe advice. I feel bad for the professional broker who cannot charge for their services because of the MARS act, and would encourage you to contact your legislator and get this thrown out.