premier legal advocates review: trust 71

I just signed up with this firm because my sister got an awesome re-modification through them. She was like 3 months behind on her payments and these guys stopped her foreclosure and now she is safe in her home paying a much lower payment! I have also seen them on a list of approved ligitimate modification companies.

My husband is an investigator and he did a very complete background check on this company and they are totally clean, trust me. My husband would never let me sign up with some Scam company!

I hope this helps.

Tammy

Is there anyone else out there that can attest to the previous email sent by Tammy regarding whether or not Premier Legal Advocates is a legitimate company. I have been recently contacted by them but live in Massachusetts and have been scammed in the past and suffered a great financial loss. The information I have researched so far and even from my lender is that a reputable company should not be asking for any money up front when assisting someone with a home modification. Please someone else send me something that is true and credible.

Does anyone know if you have to be in default or late on your payments, or if you can be up to date and still receive a loan modification?

I would not believe Tammy for a minute...any company that asks for money upfront is against the law and a scam. If it's too good to be true...it is!

I will let you know... I also researched them and could not find anything negative on them. We are in the process with them of having our home loan modification negotiated by them.

DON'T USE THEM!

Just check out these links!

http://www.trustlink.org/BusinessProfile.aspx?ID=205980704

http://www.trustlink.org/BusinessProfile.aspx?ID=206069100

Believe me...I know! I so, so, so know.

Tammy... you may want your husband to check again.

The reason you cannot find anything negative on them is because:

1. they have created numerous websites pointing to them and in favor up them and bumped them up on the results list.

2. they bully customers and non-customers in to not complaining

Premier Legal Advocates will take your money, promise you great things, keep putting you off...and do NOTHING.

If you are still foolish enough to pay these people, you MUST keep paying your mortgage and CALL YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY!

I cant even believe what I am hearing, this company is not a scam. My sister would be homeless or living with me right now if it wasnt for there help. I am also signed with them and so far everything is fine so I really dont get why there is so much anomosity towards this firm.

When my husband did a background check he did not do an Internet search, anyone can do that. Anyone can write a blog, true or untrue. He did a real search on the owners and partners whole background...a very involved and thorough check.

There will always be a few unhappy customers in every business but saying they are a scam is going way to far. They do a very good job and if they cant get it done they give a full refund. You cant ask for much more than that!

Here's the BBB report:
BBB Comments and Analysis - This company is a law firm.

This company's principal, Brian Pascal previously owned or operated another loan modification company called BWP & Associates, Inc. dba Bank Modification Experts and Home Resolution Company. This company earned an F rating with the BBB due to a pattern of unanswered complaints alleging they failed to follow through on loan modification contracts, and failed to provide refunds for the unfulfilled contracts before going out of business. A separate report is available upon request, or can be accessed by cutting and pasting the following link;

http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Bank-Modification-Experts-100079873.

Effective October 11th, 2009, it is illegal to collect any fees, regardless of the form, for negotiating or attempting to negotiate a loan modification for a residential mortgage in the State of California. All services must be fully completed before any charges can be imposed. In California, it is also illegal to divide advance fees or services into components for the purpose of avoiding this law, or to split advance fees with attorneys.

Consumers should check with their State Attorney General for compliance laws in their own State. Any Attorney associated with this company must be registered with the State BAR in the State where the client lives in order to perform legal services in that state.

While the company claims that they only perform modifications for non-California residents, the BBB has received on complaint from a California resident from whom they collected advance fees.

And here's the BBB Rating:
Company Rating D
Our opinion of what this rating means:
We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.

I alos looked at TrustLink; there are 5 very positive review, 3 extremely negative review, and 1 "lukewarm" review.

I think that at best, this company is inconsistent although they seem to have improved. Caution is recommended -- please read the negative reviews before you decide to do business with them!

Thank you for this variety of inputs. I am considering using them (as they contacted me and sounded too good to be true). My home mortgage company is doing the usual, ( we need this, then that, and not moving forward on coming up with an actual contract / fixed rate to lock into and finalize). I can't trust them, andnow I wonder if I can trust a company who is skirting the law and requiring monies upfront.

We are in the process of a modification with them also. I agree that the process has been a very slow one. I can only hope that I can report good news on here in the next month or so. When I first signed with them I found nothing negative about them at all. Now, I am beginning to see negative reports. There still is not enough negative reports to stop me from the process. They have always answered my questions. I am a little unhappy with the slowness of the process but I happen to know that the Loan Companies drag their feet when trying to talk to them also. I hope for the best. I will be sure to update when I find something out! I must say I am a little worried now.

I hate to admit this, but I happen to be an acquaintance (and I use this term loosely) of this, or shall I say ALL of those, companies.

You may be thinking, why would someone who knows the owners be "outing" them. Well, the reason for me researching them is that I am a Financial Planner with a concentration on young families just starting their lives. I live in Southern California and have seen (and experienced) too many businesses trying to scam people out of their hard earned money and it is simply NOT right.

My wife and I were recently invited to their home for a party (our first time there and probably our last) and we overheard a few of their "associates" speaking of their business practices or lack thereof. I must say, I was initially impressed by what was perceived as a well-to-do family, but in speaking with Brian himself it seemed as if he was more than happy (relieved almost) to move onto another topic when I asked him about what type of business he owned and details of the company. (Could it be because I’ve been a Financial Advisor for the past 5 years?) At first I didn't think anything of it, as he probably did not want to discuss business at a social gathering, but then a buddy of his heard our conversation, came over and made a comment that he was a "Scam Artist, " in a joking way. (I don't quite understand why a "friend" would do such a thing to another friend, but I later found out this person had worked as a real estate agent. Maybe he was joking…who knows?) Anyway things just didn’t add up. The whole vibe at the party felt like a reunion for a “Looking to Make Quick Buck” club--a big ol’ schmooze fest if you ask me. Call it intuition or call it skepticism (I’d like to call it realism), but during these hard economic times it is difficult for me to believe that someone in the home loan industry could be “over-the-top” successful doing something legal.

This past year I saw a news segment on NBC4 on a home loan modification company in the Inland Empire that seems rather similar to the businesses being discussed in this forum. They scam people into paying them money upfront for their services and essentially do nothing. I’ve had a few clients come to me with their mortgage concerns and every time they’ve brought up using a nationwide company to do so, I’ve advised them to go local and consult with their lender beforehand. There isn’t anything “special” these companies can do, that you can’t do/ research yourselves. They’re selling legal services (which should be provided by an attorney), but the associate doing the selling is just a salesman/woman. They probably don’t have the slightest clue as to what you really need to get your payments back on track and sadly, don’t care.

My wife (at one point) was part of Brian's e-mail strings--he'd send comical forwards and such and when my wife and I went back to her old e-mails, we found three different websites he'd attach to his signature:

www.homeresolutioncompany.com (They are no longer in business, no surprise)

www.bankmodificationexperts.com (Neither are they)

www.PremierLegalAdvocates.com

Check this site out: hhttp://www.trustlink.org/BusinessProfile.aspx?ID=206069100

At the party, I had met Brian’s sister Melissa and her daughter Mikela and I found it rather funny that this site has two comments from a "Melissa S." and "Mikaela S." It’s bizarre how much praise they give the company and that they rated them perfectly, but did not give any substantial supporting evidence as to why they should be hired. Both responses are extremely juvenile and simple—not the type of responses you’d expect from an educated individual regarding such a serious matter.

So although I can only speculate as to what really goes on at these companies, I definitely don’t trust them. I consider myself a good judge of character and sadly this came to pass after meeting the owner himself.

Do your research and if something doesn’t seem right, trust your gut as it probably isn’t.

Good Luck.

I had contacted this company in January 2010 and we were really thinking this was the right way to go, since we are upside down on our mortgage. Did anyone speak with an Adrian by any chance? He e-mailed me some info about the company and he also contacted me through cell phone. I wasn't ready to pay them the 1, 750 without doing a little investigating of my own. A few weeks past and I tried to call one number that I had found for the company and the guy that answered sounded as if he were at home lying around his house in his underwear! Something just didn't add up. Adrian talked a good talk about how it has been proven that the "governmental programs" don't work. He even referred me to a TV station (i forget which one now) which talks about how the government programs are useless. There may be some truth to what they say, as we are having an extremely hard time getting anything more than a temporary modification on our mortgages. (1st and 2nd) We make our payments but have been late a few times. Our rates are 8% and 14%. Of course, we do owe more than our home is worth (about 20, ooo more). If we could just get a refinance, we could afford our monthly payments with no problem. Anyone have any suggestions?

I work for one of the major lenders in their loan modification department and Premier Legal Advocates is the shadiest of all of the companies that have attempted to do loan modifications for our customers. They call claiming to be the customer. They charge upfront fees when it is illegal to do so in CA. I have had them even call and tell me they have the customer on the line on a 3 way call and I know it is a lie because I had just got off the phone with the customer. Any positive feedback people see for this company I have to assume is from their own employees trying to pump their business. I contacted one of our customers to let them know how Premier was calling claiming to be them and he had agreed to work w/ us directly for FREE and Premier is still trying to claim they are working with him and this guy is already in the trial modification and has not talked to them in months. Beware these guys they will screw you over. Work w/ a HUD approved company in your area. It's much cheaper and you know they are looking out for your best interest rather than your money.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I have paid them 1, 800 so far and am unable to contact them by phone. I began using them in March. I've faxed them for 2 month asking them to call me with the status of my modification with my mortgagor US BANK. They have not called.

Yesterday I was STUNNED to receive a call from US bank telling me that foreclosure proceeding are beginning on my house today at 3pm unless I can pay them 4, 800 in back payments. Since I was told not to worry about the back payments by Premier LA, I did not save the money and cannot get it with such short notice.

Do not trust this company. They may have caused me to lose my house without giving me so much as a warning. I am faxing them today to ask for an immediate refund. I will let you know if it is forthcoming.

KT, Mobile, AL

I have been going thru this mod. process since Oct. 2009. I just spoke to someone at the #888/303-0868. I am not sure who answered, but it sounded fishy. I asked to speak with a supervisor, but gentleman said he was unable to transfer calls.?
I gave them $1, 750.00 back in Oct., and nothing seems to be happening. I would think hard and long before dealing with this company. Can't ever seem to speak to the same person twice. The background noise on this last call sounded like the gentleman was in a warehouse full of other people on phones. Very questionable! I researched this co. before using back in October and everything sounded up and up. Now I wonder!

Do not go through this company! I also have been with them since last October. When I first signed up with them, I was able to speak to someone who worked personally on my account. I was able to get a temporary modification, and all paperwork was supposed to have been completed in May. Now when I call, everyone that I used to be able to speak with is no longer there. I can only speak to people who are not able to communicate effectively in english, and who refuse to transfer me to a supervisor or anyone that is actually working on my account. I have no idea what is going on - no one that answers the telephone seems to have any idea - and they certainly don't care. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY! I AM CERTAIN THAT THEY ARE A SCAM!

We paid this company $3500 to handle loan mods on two of our homes in January 2010 and nothing has been done! I have ended up faxing all of the info to our mortgage company myself. I agree the post about the people I began talking to have all "moved to other departments" and now can barely understand the person who was answering the phone. The past couple of days have not been able to get through to anyone. This is a major scam and I hope these people rot in @#&*!

THEY TOOK MY MONEY AND RAN WITH IT AND I LOST MY HOUSE TOO!

THEY TOOK MY MONEY AND RAN WITH IT AND I LOST MY HOUSE

I am a police officer who was injured and got behind on my payments. I have been working with them since Feb 2010. They seemed to be helping as i was faxing stuff to PLA and they were faxing it on to the bank. Last week i called and over and over received and Indian (India) sounding male with an american name. I asked to speak to the women i had been working with for months. Some said they wouldn't transfer because they couldn't and some one else said the women no longer worked there. I was irate and asked to speak to a supervisor. They told me this was not possible. Every time i called last week i would ask where they were located and they would tell me California. Yesterday i noticed both there Phone and Website for no longer working. I did find a Face book page that had a few "Likes" on it. Just for the record most of the "Likes" were Indian Males who live in India. I dont know what we can do but i hope and that together we can come after these people. Mitzi09 i hope that you are willing to help. We are losing our homes because of these people. Please

We were promised a refund mailed to us today 8/4/2010. I called to confirm and all contact numbers are busy and all email addresses come back invalid and when I go to www.premierlegaladvocates the site is gone. I am so scared. We truly needed that $1119 back. They did nothing for us except make the bank more inclined to progress with Sherriff Sale. Unbelievable!

I also have been dealing with this company since May. They have no problem taking your money and not following through. So what do we do at this point? Can we find anyone to help us? How sad not only the distrust in private industry (scams) but also getting the screws from the government. I don't know what to do, but someone out there should be able to help. Please come forward.

We have also been dealing with this company since March and they owe me about $1900. I was told last Thursday that our refund check would be mailed out on 8-2-10 and we have not recieved it. I am very upset and we need that money to pay our mortgage this month. I have been able to save our house so far by dealing directley with our lender on a loan modification. DON'T use this company call your lender directly and speak to them! I am affraid that we all have been scamed! I hope that someone can help us to get our money back!

Unfortunately we are in the same boat. We started to work with them in January. I use the term 'work' very loosely. No progress had been done on the loan modification, so we submitted a written cancellation request at the beginning of June. After quite a bit of runaround, they said our check would be sent out 8/2. As stated in previous comments, phone numbers have been disconnected and website is no longer valid. We are going to keep on trying to find Brian Pascal and his new company, so we can resolve this matter. If anyone is can find out any new contact info, please post so we can followup. We will do the same, if we find out any information.

I dont know what to do -- I was with them for almost 6 months and paid over 5 K ...

I thought they were working with me all along and then just found out last week that my bank - Bank Of America is now denying my application again and they have no record of "premier advocates"
?

I spoke to a man last Wednesday at the 888 # and they said they re-sent my info to the bank and to call on Wednesday (2 days ago ) for an update --
I have been calling since Tuesday and busy busy busy - no way to reach --

No e-mails work

They have all my money --

no way to contact --

any ideas of anyone to contact or any way to sue or get money back ?

I cannot believe this -- they have seemed so helpful all along - until last week ?

thx CG

Everyone - contact the California attorney general. Do a search for the website and fill out an on-line complaint. It doesn't take long to do - just a couple of minutes. The more complaints they get, the more likely they are to do something about it. Make sure to mention Brian Pascal in the complaint. He is the [censor] behind the scam, apparently.

I also feel like a fool i started with this company in February and when i checked the BBB they had a good Rating I also gave them a $1000 and everything looked to be going good now phones are busy fax is busy e-mails are not delivered my home is now over $8000 behind and 1 year foreclosure is coming i know they didn't help me they just delayed it long enough to get the money and close shop, DO NOT USE ANYTHING that has the piece of crap Brian Pascal name associated with it, I hope that [censor] gets his I know a nice piece of land he can visit here in MS and then nobody will have to worry about him and his scamming again

We had paid $2800 to them this Feb 2010 and hope they to help us to walk thought our difficulty - both my husband and I laid off. But suddenly we could not get hold on them and plus read all those bad things about them... What we can do at this moment ?

I work at a bank in collections and have just foreclosed on a home because the customer trusted them to handle everything. We never once were contact by the company, and every phone call I ever made to them resulted in a busy signal or automated voice messaging. We waited and tried over and over to contact somebody for 5 months, and nobody ever called back. These poor people have lost their home of 17 years. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY! PLEASE! I don't want any more people fall victim to this scam.

Also, companies like this pose as "satisfied customers" and post tons of good feedback on the internet to make them look legitimate. Don't fall for it.

I also made the unfortunate decision to pay this company an up front fee to seek a Home Modification Loan. Although they did contact my mortgage holder and tried to work with them, in fact all they did was fax documents which I could have sent in the first place. Brian Pascal, CEO has done this twice or more to thousands of customers. He is nothing but a thief, [censor] and cheat. He lives high on the hog with your money. If you have invested your money with Premier Legal Advocates, it's gone! You will not be able to recover it, deduct it or whatever. They have picked up their business in Agoura, CA and left without a trace . . . so far. People like this are greedy. Brian Pascal, like the Madoff type people, will surface again somewhere, someplace he can do business without a license. Keep checking all sources and report back here to help others if you find anything.
Thanks.

I agree is anyone considering a class action suit against them...

I have wondered about a class action lawsuit but if they aren't in business we probably wouldn't get much done for our efforts.

Just make sure you register a complaint with every regulatory commission you can find.

I to paid them to handle this for me, everything was going good I was working with a lady named christine tichnor one on one. She answered every call and every email I sent her. Then in June I noticed I was not able to get ahold of her thru email, So a few days passed and I called there and asked to speak to her and they told me she no longer worked for them. So I spoke to a guy that could barley speak english and got very irritated with him and asked to speak to a supervisor, he simiply said hold and 2 seconds later got back on the phone and tried to deepen his voice to trick me, which from there I chewed him a new one. I have not been able to get thru to them at all since.

But on the other hand while christine was there she did get things going and got my bank to started on the modification and the trial payments. But since she left the so called company I have been handling everything myself. Which I never left it totaly up to them anyways. I know feel bad for all I refered to her, since I now know that this was a scam.

Like yourself, there are new people coming forward since they can no longer find these scam artists. I am sure there are hundreds of more to come. If you are in the state of Washington, you might be interested that a class-action lawyer, I contacted is looking into the case. He may need someone local to initiate the case. Just make sure you register a complaint with every regulatory commission you can find.

I paid $2, 000 for a home modification many months ago. Now, all their phone lines ring busy. They are apparently out of business.

I was also scamed by this company for 1000.00 $ if anybody hears of a lawsuit please let me know.

I signed up with Home resolution Company back in June 2009. And paid $2, 750.00 for a loan modification that I was told I already qualify for. Since then, Home resolution company has changed company names several times and are very hard to track down. I was finally able to locate them AGAIN back in November 2009 and Mr. Brian Pascal informed me that my information got "LOST" during all the company changes. He promised me that he would handle my file with Priority and that I would have some answers in a month or two. I kept on them for several months. Constantly being told to submit new financial paperwork from customer service. After several months had passed. I decided to contact my bank directly (considering they told me not to have any communication with my bank during the modification process) My bank had informed me that "NOTHING" has taken place regarding a modification for my loan. They also informed me of several other complaints they had against this company and that they were fraudalent. DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH PREMIERE LEGAL ADVOCATES. They have stolen my money and closed there doors again.

In regards to a previous comment by Tammy - - Not sure who your husband does investigations for...But he apparently has no clue...It's written everywhere that this company is not licensed to do what they say they do...Not listed with the city they are doing business with. Has an F rating with BBB. And a zillion complaints on here. You must work for them...Right? Silly girl. Trix or for kids

We paid them 2750 in March .We have been scammed too. I dont understand these people Thersa Morris she talkes a good talk I hope she gets everything shes intitled too. I hear Brian Pascal is right ther with her. I will file with the attorney general also.Im now 7 months behind in my mortgage and im forced to sell threw a short sale.

these people ripped me off 2, 500.00 and promised me my money back now the phone is busy all the time . does anyone know what we can do ?