An agent forwarded me an email touting an upcoming event promoted by the “US Foreclosure Institute” which shares an office with the “US Foreclosure Defense Law Group.” One draw for the event is an appearance by cast members from the Sopranos.
Now, “law groups” that don’t name any of their attorneys on their Web site instantly set my sleaze-o-meter racing, as does this sort of foreclosure Web site.
You can read about the event, which is oriented to real estate professionals, in this Trib Local article. It’s being held in Palatine, a locale that has been plagued by foreclosures in recent years.
I could very well be wrong, and I haven’t done much investigation, but my educated gut tells me that agents who attend the event will get to see real crooks in addition to TV ones.
Looking past the clearly defamatory content of your article, your admission that “I could very well be wrong, and I haven’t done much investigation” reveals the worst kind of tripe posing as “journalism”. Had you done any journalistic investigation, you might have learned that U.S. Foreclosure Defense Law Group, P.C. is a legitimate law firm registered with the Illinois Supreme Court and dedicated to representing homeowners in foreclosure. Your knee jerk conclusion based upon your so-called sensory “sleaze-o-meter ” reflects your personal bias rather than any objective fact. Could it be that you believe that homeowners in foreclosure are just a bunch of deadbeats who don’t deserve a legal defense? In fact, there are several legitimate defenses available to many residential foreclosure defendants. There is widespread evidence of fraud on the courts and on borrowers by foreclosing lenders. Had you spent 30 seconds to check the Illinois Secretary of State website, you would have found that I am the registered agent for U.S. Foreclosure Defense Law Group, P.C. I am also the firm’s outside corporate counsel. If you wish to get the facts before publishing derogatory statements that are per se defamatory, do not hesitate to contact me.
Mr Harp,
I had done enough investigation to be confident of what I wrote – including a check of the Secretary of State site. Did I say the law group wasn’t a registered PC? As if that had any bearing on what I did say.
Who are the attorneyss affiliated with that law firm and why aren’t they named on the site, as the attorneys in your firm are?
Help our readers out here by spelling out the elements of a defamation suit, and the ways in which my post falls within them.
It’s laughable – pathetic, in fact, – to suggest that cautioning homeowners about who they might enter into a relationship with is anti-homeowner.
Joe,
As promised a positive contribution. This was a well written article, and a even better replay! I’m not sure if you saw the 60 minute show, on foreclosure scams. Have similar scams happened in Chicago? If so how are home/condo owners dealing with them?
All the best,
Joe