You Walk Away, LLC, a company that helps families facing foreclosure, has introduced a new product which performs a comprehensive investigation of mortgage documentation. Based on loan audits the company has already conducted, over 80 percent of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) revealed major TILA (Truth in Lending Act) and RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) predatory lending practices and real estate/mortgage fraud violations, the company said, giving the homeowner grounds to request a loan modification.
According to Chad Ruyle, principal and co-founder of You Walk Away, the company’s new Forensic Loan Documentation Review and Loan Modifications programs, have placed an ominous spotlight on how the average home buyer was abused during the mortgage boon of recent years. “The attorneys we work with go over the loans in the program to look for violations and for APR (annual percentage rate) hikes that are often misquoted,” Ruyle explained. “This allows the homeowner to possibly go back to the lender for a loan modification, often saving the home and the homeowner from the foreclosure process.”

The high number of loan violations their system uncovered did not surprise the founders of You Walk Away. Jon Maddux, the company’s CEO, commented, “Many homeowners got pressured into signing loan documents with much higher rates and fees at the closing than what was disclosed on their Good Faith Estimates.”
Maddux went on to describe the program, “In some cases, if people were simply overcharged by $30 on the final HUD-1, or if the APR was higher by just 0.125 percent than what was originally disclosed, this may give the lawyers leverage when negotiating with the lender to grant a beneficial loan modification and ultimately save their home.”
San Diego, California-based You Walk Away says it strives to empower those homeowners who purchased homes at the peak of the real estate market to take control of their financial future. “We strive to help people understand their rights and know their options so they do not feel helpless,” the company said.