Recently there have been a lot of false and misleading complaints from Maurice "Moe" Bedard, founder of the loan modification site "Loansafe.org" slandering our company and intentionally deceiving homeowners. None of these complaints are from actual clients of ours, and not a single one has any shred of credibility - however his slander page is ranking so high on google that it's caused a lot of people to bombard us with questions. Frankly, we are tired of answering these ridiculous allegations. Most of the answers boil down to two points:
1. National Legal Help Center is NOT, and has NEVER been, a loan modification company. We do not pitch HAMP, HARP, HAFA or any other loan modification program to our clients. While we are easily more than capable of doing loan mods (it doesn't even take a law degree, let alone a law firm to do one), we do not push them as a "solution" to foreclosure because they are usually NOT a solution! We are primarily a litigation firm, that is, we actually do LITIGATE and SUE the banks for fraud and predatory lending, a method that has far higher chances of success than a spineless loan-mod application that the bank can reject at will. A loan mod is a huge waste of time, and it's also ILLEGAL if a company charges money upfront for the mod. Lawyers frankly have no business peddling loan mod services (it's certainly not what they went to law school to learn), and any who do are likely quick-buck scammers or just plain incompetent and lazy, unwilling to actually use their law degree to do a REAL lawyer's job.
Our attorneys by contrast focus strictly on
litigation.
2. We do individual personal lawsuits, NOT class-actions or mass-joiners. The reason for this is that class-actions and mass-joiners do not provide reasonable restitution for clients, do not adequately represent the unique grievances and hardships of individual clients, take far too long to file, and are totally ineffective at stopping foreclosure or wiping out deficiency judgments on foreclosed loans. By the time a class action settles, the victim's house is already sold and they are out on the street, still owing money to the bank! Moe has in the past accused us of being a class-action firm like the now disbarred Kramer & Kaslow. WE ARE MOST CERTAINLY NOT.
Most recently he's falsely accusing our company of being a scam and fraud, without a single shred of proof. His excuse is that his site loansafe.org closely resembles one of our affiliates, loan-safe.org, however having a similar domain name is very common in this day and age when domain names that may sound similar end up being bought, sold, and registered by totally unrelated businesses - it's perfectly legal. Our business (mortgage fraud investigations and lawsuits) is completely different from his (non-litigation loan modifications). Furthermore, our company policies are rock-solid and we have always stuck by them from the beginning - either we find fraud on your loan, or your money back. And loan-safe.org isn't part of our company - it's a third-party referral service.
Moe Bedard doesn't have a SINGLE proof of illegal activity on our part. Here is this liar's email to our company:
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 10:44 AM
Subject: Fraud and Scams
To whom this may concern,
You are using my website name in bad faith and also Fannie Mae as well as the HOPE Hotline on your website Loan-Safe.org. This is fraud and deceptive advertising so if you even have a license real estate or law, it will be taken for being unethical and you could face criminal prosecution.
If this website is not taken down in 24 hours, then I will forward this information to the FTC, AG and FBI for further action. I am not going to fuck around.
--
Best regards,
Moe Bedard
CEO & Founder
Actually, all of Moe's claims are LIES. First, we are not using his website's name in bad faith. His website is essentially a lead-generation service for banks and lenders. Ours is a Legal Services site (i.e. we are a LAW FIRM, not a mortgage middleman or lead generator). Second, our company website is actually NOT loan-safe.org, which is the one Moe's all hot and bothered about - our company website is Nationallegalhelp.com. We do business as National Legal Help Center, not as loan-safe, loansafe, or any derivative thereof. In fact loan-safe.org is nothing more than a third-party referral service which offers legal information, NOT legal advice, for educational purposes only. Here is the disclaimer from the bottom of Loan-safe.org's front page:
This company and site informs its users about foreclosure law designed to help them safely cope with their own legal needs. However, legal information is not the same as legal advice. The law as it applies to each individual varies with specific circumstances. Privacy Policy * LOANFAX & NATIONAL LEGAL HELP CENTER INC. is not a credit repair organization. The service we provide is a 3rd party referral to a Duns and Bradstreet accredited law firm and real estate company.
That company is National Legal Help. Loan-Safe.org is merely one of our affiliates, of which we have many.
Needless to say, Moe never actually made good on his threat to call the FBI on us. He knows he's full of crap. His email was sent in December 2011, we're still in business (in fact we're expanding faster than ever before) and we still haven't heard a word from the feds.
In addition, Moe has slandered our company's good name on his forum (and remember that anyone can post anything on a forum, doesn't mean it's even remotely accurate). He's called us a scam, a loan mod company, and accused us of pretending to be Fannie Mae and HUD, none of which are true. We have never been a loan mod company, we do strictly litigation (and for good reason - loan modifications have a terrible track record of not working, since there is no legal pressure or incentive for the bank to work with the homeowner). He's also said the following about our company:
"They are now making it look like they are not only LoanSafe.org., but also Fannie Mae and .Gov mortgage programs."
This is also a TOTAL LIE. We don't own any .gov domains (it's impossible for a non-government entity to purchase them) and we do not pretend to be Fannie Mae. We don't use their logo or name ANYWHERE on our site nationallegalhelp.com, nor does our affiliate company loan-safe.org Furthermore, while we do offer doc prep services for some Fannie Mae and HUD programs, many other law firms also do this and it's perfectly legal (that said, it's NOT our main specialization - we are first and foremost a litigation firm). And we have never posed as Fannie Mae or HUD, because simply put, we do not call ourselves a government agency! We are a private law firm that sues the banks for predatory lending. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT INDUSTRY. Learn the difference, Moe!
We responded to Moe's email as follows:
On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 9:41 PM, Law Office of NLHC <
attorneys@hudmortgagehelp.org> wrote:
Mr. Bedard please stop slandering our company on your website. We are a Law Firm, Real Estate Company, Mortgage Fraud Investigators, Wholesale Investors, and a Direct Lender. Please provide us with a list of the clients that we have Scammed before you start accusing our Firm of anything. We work with Licensed Attorneys Nationwide that will make a complaint against you and you organization. We own over 100 domains through Godaddy so if you are interested in purchasing
www.loan-safe.org or
www.loan-workout.org we will sell it to you for $1,000,000 dollars. If you know so much about mortgage loans or real estate you should know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac products are offered to all homeowners around the states.
Based on your background and the email that you sent it looks like you have some Anger Management Issues that you need to resolve. Our Team of Attorneys around the Nation have been notified of your actions against our company and will wait for you to make your next move.
STOP SLANDERING OUR NAME!!!!
Moe Bedard has lied his head off, and still hasn't produced the name of a single person that we supposedly "scammed". We have a 100% refund clause in our contracts, that is in bold red letters - not fine print, not invisible ink. If our firm for any reason fails to perform the services for which it has been retained in the contract, the client is guaranteed a full refund. Most law firms don't even have a refund policy.
In addition, Moe Bedard has himself committed numerous frauds and crimes, he should be one to talk! A brief list of his offenses and the complaints against him follows below:
LoanSafe's Moe Bedard is a convicted felon!
Hey Moe,
Did you cut a deal with the DA or did you rat out a bunch of people to only serve 18 months? This explains why your DRE license was revoked and your appeal to get it back was denied.
Jan. 2003
Arrest Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 HS 11358 F Cultivating Marijuana 01/02/2003
Filed Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 HS 11360(A) F Transport/Sale of marijuanna 01/02/2003 DISCHARGED
2 HS 11358 F Cultivating Marijuana 01/02/2003 HTA
3 PC M273A(B) M Abuse/Endanger Child 01/02/2003 HTA
4 PC M273A(B) M Abuse/Endanger Child 01/02/2003 DISCHARGED
Infor Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 HS 11359 F Poss of Marijuana for Sale 01/02/2003 GUILTY CONVICTED
2 HS 11358 F Cultivating Marijuana 01/02/2003 DISMISSED
3 PC M273A(B) M Abuse/Endanger Child 01/02/2003 DISMISSED
4 PC 273A(B) F
Abuse/Endanger Health of Child 01/02/2003 DISMISSED
Say, what was that about abuse/endangerment of a child, Moe?
March 2003
Arrest Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 243(E)(1) M Battery on Spouse/CoHabit/Pare 02/11/2003
Filed Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 243(E)(1) M Battery on Spouse/CoHabit/Pare 02/11/2003 GUILTY CONVICTED
August 2004
Arrest Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 245(A)(1) F Assault w/deadly weapon/instrument non-firearm produce GBI 08/26/2004
Filed Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 273.5(E) F Corporal Injury on Spouse/Cohabitant 08/26/2004 GUILTY CERTIFIED
2 PC 245(A)(1) F Assault w/deadly weapon/instrument non-firearm produce GBI 08/26/2004 CERT ACTIVE
3 PC 273.6(A) M Violation of Court Order 08/26/2004 CERT ACTIVE
4 PC 136.1(A) F Dissuade Witness 08/26/2004 CERT ACTIVE
Enhancement Description PleaStatus
PC 12022.1 COMMITTED ON BAIL/O.R. DENY CERT ACTIVE
5 PC 273.6(A) M Violation of Court Order 08/26/2004 CERT ACTIVE
Certified Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 273.5(E) F Corporal Injury on Spouse/Cohabitant 08/26/2004 GUILTY CONVICTED
2 PC 245(A)(1) F Assault w/deadly weapon/instrument non-firearm produce GBI 08/26/2004 DISMISSED
3 PC 273.6(A) M Violation of Court Order 08/26/2004 DISMISSED
4 PC 136.1(A) F Dissuade Witness 08/26/2004 DISMISSED
Enhancement Description PleaStatus
PC 12022.1 COMMITTED ON BAIL/O.R. DENY STRICKEN
5 PC 273.6(A) M Violation of Court Order 08/26/2004 DISMISSED
Origin Charges
CountChargeSeverityDescriptionViolation DatePleaStatus
1 PC 273.5(E) F Corporal Injury on Spouse/Cohabitant 08/26/2004
by Joe Bob Briggs July 30, 2008 12:00 AM
Moe Bedard Spins A Tangled Web Of Deceit
________________________________
Moe Bedard of LoanWorkout.org, LoanSafe.org and Loan Safe Solutions spins a tangled web of deceit. The self-proclaimed community based, grass roots, consumer leader was exposed today, by an ex-employee, for being a fraud, liar, manipulator and scam artist. Loan Safe’s Moe Bedard has deceived not only the homeowners of America, facing the toughest time of their life’s, but also hundreds of his own employees who are now unemployed.
Moe Bedard’s website
www.LoanSafe.org is quoted saying Loan Safe is “based on the simple premise of “paying it forward”. We help you, you help him, he helps her and so on and so on….. No strings attached ever and no favors needed to be paid back. Just pay it forward to the next person in need of help!.....”
Well Moe Bedard sure did pay it forward …… in a negative, economy crushing way!!!! Way to go Moe! Not only are your employees out of work but you have deceived the American people.
Moe Bedard has spent the past year of his life/career at Loan Safe manipulating and distracting the American homeowner, the US Government, the media, the Banks, and his own employees. Moe Bedard has accused everyone (from Wall Street to the Government) of causing the home foreclosure crisis. However, Mr. Bedard has done nothing to help the problem or to help Americans. The one thing Moe Bedard has successfully done is increase the outrage of homeowners across the country. Moe has increased the homeowners paranoia, finger pointing, and distrust of Wall Street and the US Government making it more difficult (if not impossible) for all parties involved to solve the problems at hand.
Moe Bedard has spent countless hours planning events and protesting at Banks such as Morgan Stanley, calling it “Save the Dream Campaigns”. Moe Bedard rallies together frightened homeowners with aggressive advocacy groups causing turmoil and chaos. I fail to see whose dream is being fulfilled. These types of actions are negative and help no one. The banks are being distracted from performing their job duties and the homeowners are getting riled up and outraged. Moe Bedard convinces the homeowners to complain and rebel instead of helping to fix their current circumstances. Other foreclosure prevention companies who are trying to work with the banks and homeowners are being distracted in their efforts in order to do damage control.
Moe Bedard is constantly trying to ruin the reputations of legitimate Foreclosure Law Firms, accusing them of defrauding consumers, stealing money, and ruining the lives of hundreds of homeowners. These companies are doing the right thing, forcing banks to come to the table to work out settlements with the homeowners, following government guidelines, saving homeowners from losing their homes, and employing hundreds to thousands of out-of-work Americans.
The only logical explanation for this type of behavior is to manipulate the public. I call it “The Die Hard 3 Movie Explanation”. In the movie Die Hard 3 everyone in the city is being distracted by chaos in one side of the city and the crooks are on the other side of the city stealing all of the gold. Moe Bedard is the king of spin and deceit and the second you are looking to the left he will steal everything you have on the right. Loan Safe’s Moe Bedard is not prejudice against whose life he ruins for he has no morals. As proven in the article below (from
www.Ripoffreport.com<
http://www.ripoffreport.com/> ) he will even ruin the lives of those who worked for him.
*“Loan Safe, Moe Bedard, aka 'The Moeniac' fires all processors and negotiators last week!
I was a long time employee <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> of Loan Safe and the related law firms until recently. I will state indisputable facts in this post. Moe Bedard can try to justify his actions or give his own spin, but any reader can easily verify this information.
California law requires companies acting as loan modification processing companies be affiliated with a Licensed Real Estate Broker <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> in the State of California. Loan Safe has no such affiliation.
California law requires that the individuals acting in the capacity of 'negotiator' have a valid California Real Estate Salespersons License. This person has conversation with the homeowner and the bank <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> , relaying terms, paperwork requirements, proposed mortgage payments, etc.
Loan Safe's negotiators/processors are not licensed real estate salespersons.
The above information can be verified at the California DRE website.
One of the reasons that Loan Safe does not have a broker's license <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> is that
Moe Bedard, aka Maurice Clement Bedard Jr. is a convicted felon and had his salespersons license REVOKED by the DRE on August 8, 2005. The revoked license number is 01237996. You can look this up on the net or call the DRE in Sacramento to verify.
The reason his licensed was revoked is that his felony convictions involved 'moral turpitude'. Wikipedia defines 'moral turpitude' as a legal concept in the United States that refers to 'conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals.'
Case #1 Riverside County Superior Court RIF108001
1 HS 11359 Felony Poss of Marijuana for Sale 01/02/2003 GUILTY CONVICTED
Case #2 Riverside County Superior Court RIF118953
1 PC <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> 273.5(E) Felony Corporal Injury on Spouse/Cohabitant 08/26/2004 GUILTY CONVICTED
Case #3 Riverside County Superior Court RIM431684
1 PC 243(E)(1) Misdemeanor Battery on Spouse/CoHabit/Pare 02/11/2003 GUILTY CONVICTED
On November 23, 2004 Maurice 'Moe' Bedard was sentenced to 2 years in State Prison, (less 66 days time served). Remanded to custody of Riverside County Sheriff, subsequently transported to California Rehabilitation Center <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> in Norco, CA.
Soon after he got out of prison, Moe began working on the idea of Loan Safe in early 2007. The website loansafe.org went live that summer. The actual 'for profit' business <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> of Loan Safe Solutions opened to the public in May 2008. Moe makes claims that loansafe.org is a 'not for profit' (same as non-profit), however the company is not registered with the IRS <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> as a 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization.
The website loansafe.org, is actually an extremely good source of information for distressed homeowners to help themselves with the support of the loansafe community of volunteers. For homeowners who want help from an attorney, Loansafe.org has their 'selected' attorney or law firm advertise on their site for a marketing <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> fee which is paid to Loan Safe Solutions. A portion of EVERY retainer fee collected by the law firm which got the lead from Loansafe.org is paid to Loan Safe Solutions.
The Law Offices and Loan Safe Solutions are separate entities. However, Moe calls the shots at both. The attorneys <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> do their attorney work, but regarding policies & procedures for Loan Safe cases, we all know Moe is basically in charge.
Once the fee has been paid by the homeowner and the required paperwork has been exchanged and received by the salesperson <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> aka 'Mortgage Investigator', the case is then handed over to Loan Safe Solutions for the forensic auditing and processing of the modification with the lender. The 'Forensic Loan Audit' may or may not play a part in the negotiations with the lender <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> . As the Federal Loan Modification programs become generally accepted by the lenders, the audit will become unnecessary in most cases.
While the case is being processed at Loan Safe Solutions, the auditing staff of 2 young ladies, probably no more than 24 years old and each with just a few years experience in the RE business review the old loan for violations and prepare the loan audit. Neither one of these persons have Real Estate Salesperson licenses.
The processing staff of just 2 people as of last Friday, prepare the submission of the loan modification file to the lender. Neither one of these persons have Real Estate Salesperson licenses. It is the job <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> of the processing staff to submit the file to the lender and to follow the progress of the case with the lender's loss mitigation agent. The processor/negotiator person discusses information and terms of proposals between the homeowner and loss mitigation person at the lender.
You may have noticed that there has not yet been an attorney involved in the case. As a practical matter, the attorney who is assigned to these cases is a young man who just graduated from law school and passed the bar within the last 2 years. The supervising attorneys were admitted to the bar in June 2005 and June 2006. The attorney assigned to a case may or may not review the file in the early stages and talk with the homeowner on the phone <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> . The attorney generally make the final call to discuss the proposed modification with the homeowner and will advise them as appropriate.
At this point, it would be helpful for the reader to understand the layout of the offices and the relationship to the law firms. Loan Safe Solutions occupies a leased building in Corona. There is approximately 6,000 sq. ft. of office space <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> . On 1 side of the building the Loan Safe Solutions corporate staff and support personnel have offices. The other side of the building is the 'Law Office' staff, the actual attorney office and processing. There is no physical separation between Loan Safe Solutions and the Law Office sales staff. The salespeople 'Mortgage Investigators' used to occupy about 30 cubicles. The attorney has a separate locked office. The Law Office personnel and Loan Safe Solutions personnel can freely move about the shared office space. In fact, the phone lines <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> that come in are answered by persons employed by Loan Safe and they can transfer to either Loan Safe or the Law Offices.
In the building adjacent to Loan Safe, there is another law office which feeds cases to Loan Safe Solutions.
In September 2008, the very experienced and savvy B2B <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> Sales Manager left the company over growing frustration over cases not being handled properly and the huge increase in complaint calls from brokers and homeowners.
In September 2008, Moe abruptly shut down the 'B2B' division of Loan Safe and laid off almost all of the sales staff.
In September 2008 the original Law Firm #1 ceased taking on Loan Safe cases. Law Firm #2 was created.
In November, the V.P. of Operations suddenly resigned, citing dissatisfaction with the processing method as being overly complicated and time consuming. Moe's frequent verbal abuses of the personnel was also a contributing factor to resigning.
Talk about the kettle calling the pot black - Moe Bedard's Loansafe is itself BEING SUED for trademark infringement!
Loan Safe Solutions received a trademark infringement complaint in late 2008 initiated by First American Title Company. First American has a division called Corelogic which has had a product on the market for many years called
LoanSafe 2.0. The complaint alleges trademark infringement of the LoanSafe trademark by Loan Safe Solutions. As yet, unresolved.
In January 2009, the CEO of Loan Safe left the operation due to differences of opinion on the proper operation of the business.
In late February 2009, the corporate attorney for Loan Safe was all of a sudden not at work. Who knows?
In late February, Law Firm #2 ceased taking on new business <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> from Loan Safe. Law Firm relationship #3 was established.
In early March 2009, almost all of the 25+ sales people 'Mortgage Investigators' were fired.
Last week, everyone in processing (except 2) and everyone in auditing (except 2) were fired.
A little over 3 weeks ago, Moe made an announcement to management that he was considering selling Loan Safe. Unknown at this point if any action has been taken.
Homeowners who are researching loan modifications should do their own due diligence, make wise decisions and are advised to not rely solely on this information for making their decisions.
loansafe, loan safe, loansafe solutions, modifyloan, loanwork, predatorylendinglaw, mhlloanpro, Moe Bedard, convicted felon, abuse, loan modification, forensic <
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/437/RipOff0437745.htm> loan audit,”
We sent Moe all of the above information, to show that we are not some fly-by-night outfit of amateurs, we know our stuff and we diligently do our research, and if we really wanted to put him out of business, we could easily do it without "ripping off" his website (for the record, our affiliate
Loan-Safe.org's site actually looks nothing like
Moe Bedard's site - his site is full of spam and shady ads for predatory loans, where as our affiliate's site is clean and free of sponsored ads). If he REALLY wants to accuse us of being a scam, he should answer about all his own skeletons in the closet first. If we were scammers like Moe, it wouldn't be hard for him to find negative testimony from our former clients and employees - but he hasn't, and the reason is simple: there just isn't any. Yeah there are rumors, but no actual negative testimony from anyone who's worked with us or hired us. Moe still has not provided us with a list of the clients that he claims we have "scammed". We've still heard nothing from the FTC or the FBI. And our client base is growing faster than ever before, ironically mostly through referrals from satisfied clients. Extraordinary accusations demand extraordinary proof - and Moe is just a professional liar and conman who doesn't have any.
All he said to us in response was the following:
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 3:18 AM
To: Law Office of NLHC
Subject: Re: Fraud and Scams
FUCK YOU AND YOU NOW WILL BE TAKEN OUT YOU PIECE OF SHIT SCAMMERS AND FRAUDS!!!!
Hardly professional language for a guy who is supposedly a foreclosure prevention professional. Not only is he practicing real estate/loan negotiation without a license, he also is totally lacking in professional respect and civility.
Here's a thought, Moe - Instead of screaming like a castrated dog and calling us names, why don't you actually give us the name at least ONE person that we have supposedly scammed? EVIDENCE PLEASE. You are talking to a Law Firm, you understand that, right? It's not what you want to believe, it's what you can PROVE beyond any reasonable doubt.
Show us, Moe - just whom have we scammed? Screaming louder and threatening us with death (or whatever being "taken out" means in your paranoid mind) doesn't make your lies any truer. In fact, if you're not careful from this point on, it could get you arrested - AGAIN. And then the entire non-licensed LoanSafe empire will come crashing down.
And we'll still be here, helping exploited homeowners with REAL legal solutions that get settlements in their favor,
not the bank's.
