{"id":15581,"date":"2011-05-10T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/?p=15581"},"modified":"2011-05-09T22:59:04","modified_gmt":"2011-05-10T05:59:04","slug":"financial-revival-group-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/10\/financial-revival-group-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial Revival Group Revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

A word from The Tim:<\/strong> This post is from another long-time Seattle Bubble participant: Jillayne Schlicke, real estate educator through her company CE Forward<\/a>. Many thanks to Jillayne for writing this in-depth follow up!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Tim asked me to write a follow up blog post <\/a>about my meeting with Howard Bono, owner of The Financial Revival Group<\/a>. Howard reached out and invited me to coffee so I could learn more about what\u2019s going on in Arlington.\u00a0 A natural skeptic and hater of predatory loan mod scammers <\/a>and predatory short sale negotiators<\/a>, I was unsure what Howard was up to and wanted to find out, as long as I didn\u2019t have to drive up to Arlington. So Howard came to me and he bought the coffee.\u00a0 Full disclosure:\u00a0 I am not affiliated with The Financial Revival Group nor do I receive any referral fees from FRG.<\/p>\n

The elevator version of the Financial Revival Group<\/a> (FRG) is as follows:\u00a0 For a fee, FRG will act as a counselor to help financially distressed homeowners staring down negative equity sort out their options, providing reasons for and against each option.\u00a0 This fee also includes a set amount of legal advice from an attorney.<\/p>\n

The coffee version of FRG paints a more vivid picture of homeowners struggling with all the emotion and stress of financial misery, at the end of their rope and finally out of the closet of denial flailing around for some kind of hope to grasp onto beyond the conspiracy theory blogs about the coming zombie apocalypse (that is<\/em> coming<\/a>, btw.)\u00a0 But before I more accurately describe the person who would be a good match for FRG let\u2019s make a pit stop along the u-walk-away road and visit a typical day in the life of Jillayne Schlicke<\/a>, real estate\/mortgage educator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most frequently asked question in my classroom during calendar year 2010 and now into 2011 is asked by both real estate brokers as well as loan originators.\u00a0 They typically wait until everyone else has left the classroom and then ask, \u201cI have this friend who\u2019s thinking about walking away from her mortgage.\u201d\u00a0\u00a099 percent of the time the person who is thinking about walking away has already made up her mind and just wants someone else to tell her she\u2019s not a bad person. (Interestingly, a certain percentage of time, the walker is the Realtor or LO but that\u2019s another topic for a different day.)\u00a0 People who have already made up their mind to strategic default don\u2019t need FRG\u2019s help.\u00a0 Instead they are better off hiring direct legal counsel to make sure they fully understand all the legal consequences of what they\u2019ve already decided to do.<\/p>\n

So who would benefit from\u00a0FRG\u2019s services?<\/p>\n

Some homeowners are resourceful, self-reliant and have both feet firmly on the ground when they say they\u2019re thinking about selling short\/asking for a loan mod\/becoming a walker. Others, not so much. The group of homeowners who will fit well with FRG\u2019s service proposition are the anxiety filled homeowners who need hand-holding.<\/p>\n

There are a few good reasons why I like what Howard is doing:<\/p>\n

1) Homeowner receives legal answers for legal questions, legal counseling for decisions with legal consequences.\u00a0 They\u2019re also sent to tax pros for tax questions. Initial fee is $195 which is affordable for most and it comes with a money back guarantee.<\/p>\n

2) FRG educates the homeowner on the short sale and loan mod process and I just happen to like it when homeowners are able to really learn about the entire short sale and loan mod process before they get all excited about either one, and so they can avoid the loan mod scammers or hire a real estate broker with short sale experience instead of hiring a friend or family member who has never successfully closed a short sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0FRG provides counseling or, for lack of a better word, coaching on how to financially prepare for a short sale, loan mod, or foreclosure.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0FRG does NOT perform loan modification services nor do they perform short sale negotiation services. I like this because FRG has no stake in the homeowner\u2019s final decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0FRG also provides counseling\/coaching on how to rebuild your credit history and your financial life after your short sale\/loan mod\/walk-away.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0FRG offers mental health counseling to homeowners by a licensed mental health care provider.\u00a0 Some of you are probably thinking, \u201cWhat weenie would need a therapist?\u201d Well sometimes it\u2019s helpful to talk w\/someone about big life transitions so we don\u2019t take out our pent up emotions on the people we love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Licensed real estate brokers and Realtors are focused on listing and selling.\u00a0 Yes, they also do some listening and counseling but if a homeowner isn\u2019t ready to sell, why would a licensed real estate broker or Realtor counsel a person for free?\u00a0 I suppose a Realtor might answer, \u201cI already counsel my short selling homeowners for free as part of my listing services.\u201d Okay, that\u2019s fine.\u00a0 But can that same listing broker ALSO provide financial counseling on loan mods or foreclosure?\u00a0 There are likely some listing brokers or Realtors who know quite a lot about short sales and loan mods and I had one as a student last Tuesday but how many Realtors know that the Home Affordable Modification Program has gone through no less than 40 policy changes <\/a>since its inception? How many listing brokers know who does\/does not qualifies for a HAFA Short Sale <\/a>and the reasons for\/against pursuing HAFA? For that matter, if a homeowner only hires an attorney, how many attorneys are well versed on short sales, loan mods beyond the legal consequences? \u00a0<\/p>\n

Reasons against using FRG<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0In order to access the entire FRG program, the cost is\u00a0$2995 (readers please note the date of this blog post and check with FRG for their current fee schedule.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suggestions for Financial Revival Group:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Get rid of any referral fee program offered to Realtors or LOs. If indeed what you\u2019re doing is working well, you WILL get referrals.\u00a0 Instead, coach or train the Realtors and LOs on some of FRG\u2019s secrets.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry about giving away your secrets.\u00a0 Chances are they\u2019re not secrets and the Realtors and LOs will see them as gifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2) If there as any, get rid of referral programs on the other side.\u00a0 This means any Realtor, loan mod provider, or short sale negotiator who receives referrals from FRG should receive them because they have a HIGH success rate and not because FRG is receiving anything behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0Make the Realtor\/LO referral program reciprocal meaning, if a Realtor refers a client, that same Realtor will receive the client back as a short sale listing.\u00a0 If a loan originator refers a client, that same LO receives the client back\u2026..uh, someday many years in the future. If an attorney refers a client, make sure that same attorney receives the client back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0Make it plain-as-day crystal clear why a homeowner should part with money to receive counseling that they could otherwise receive for free from HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies.\u00a0 (WA State\u00a0borrowers go here<\/a>, other states find default counseling here<\/a>.) Maybe create a table or chart comparing free v. paid counseling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5) Spell out, in great detail, why a homeowner should part with money that could be used to pay for lots and lots of legal counsel, though I think the answer might be, because attorneys know the legal side of short sales and foreclosures very, very well but they might not have all the practical knowledge that comes from successfully working with loan servicers.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0Make sure that FRG is complying with all state and federal laws <\/a>governing service providers who help homeowners in financial distress. \u00a0Become a friend of local regulators <\/a>and go beyond getting legal opinions.\u00a0 Invite regulators to scrutinize every square inch of your business model up to and including a rectal exam if that\u2019s what they want.\u00a0I am not entirely convinced that FRG’s counseling services don’t fit into the FTC MARS provider rules<\/a> since FRG’s business model dances right up to the edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0Do a gut check on whether the employees at FRG favor one solution over another (ss v. loan mod v. walk-away) because that favoritism will come through unless you own it.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

At some point in the future, the Federal Reserve Board will raise interest rates gradually. Some might say the master plan all along is to gently inflate our way out of this god-awful real estate mess.\u00a0 If and when that happens, all these underwater homeowners might find themselves surprisingly less underwater than they previously thought.\u00a0 It is terribly difficult to try and uncover all the possible consequences of a choice.<\/p>\n

I am all for homeowners taking responsibility for educating themselves as best they can before making a decision to become a walker.\u00a0 It looks like FRG is offering, for a fee, a chance for\u00a0people to fully educate themselves.\u00a0 At this point, I do not see many real estate brokers or loan originators who are able to provide a similar\u00a0fee-based,\u00a0unbiased counseling service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FRG’s biggest challenge will be to convince homeowners that\u00a0FRG is not just another\u00a0foreclosure scam.\u00a0Maybe getting rid of all upfront fees is the best solution for FRG along with offering homeowners an alacart pay-as-you go counseling menu.\u00a0 My last recommendation is for FRG to run everything by the state attorney general’s office <\/a>and get their feedback in writing for their future legal defense files. That way when a regulator shows up at office, they’ll be ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A word from The Tim: This post is from another long-time Seattle Bubble participant: Jillayne Schlicke, real estate educator through her company CE Forward. Many thanks to Jillayne for writing this in-depth follow up! The Tim asked me to write a follow up blog post about my meeting with Howard Bono, owner of The Financial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1956,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[206],"tags":[772,773],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-15581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-financial-revival-group","tag-howard-bono"],"yoast_head":"\nFinancial Revival Group Revisited \u2022 Seattle Bubble<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/10\/financial-revival-group-revisited\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Financial Revival Group Revisited \u2022 Seattle Bubble\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A word from The Tim: This post is from another long-time Seattle Bubble participant: Jillayne Schlicke, real estate educator through her company CE Forward. 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