14 February 2010 547 views No Comment Email This Post

CONTROVERSIAL lawyer Atty. Joel Bander has just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection for his law firm, the Bander Law Firm. The subject of so many complaints, primarily from homeowners who hired his services to “Sue the Banks” in an effort to keep their homes, Bander announced in an email blast to media outlets that the Bander Law Firm “is now forced to close its doors.”

But while announcing his plans of shutting down the Bander Law Firm (BLF), Bander chided this newspaper, which has been responsible for exposing the sad plights of many Filipino homeowners who claimed to have paid BLF thousands of dollars and yet were not provided with the services that they thought should’ve been given by the firm.

In an email to BALITA MEDIA, Bander wrote that “On Friday, February 12, 2010, at 3 p.m., the firm will be filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. About one hour thereafter, a Notice from the Bankruptcy Trustee will be posted on the Bander Law Firm web site, www.banderlaw.com, with various announcements for an orderly transition for all BLF clients.”

In the same email message, Bander said “Balita Media will undoubtedly continue to fire the flames of hysteria with little to no concern for the homeowners affected by the mortgage crisis, or the actual and complete truth of any particular homeowner’s plight.” Bander also alleged that BALITA MEDIA “considers these homeowners as mere pawns for self survival to mask and perpetuate their unlawful business schemes.”

Since December of last year, BALITA MEDIA has been receiving numerous complaints from Filipino and Korean homeowners who claimed to have hired the BLF. These homeowners claimed to have attended seminars held by the BLF that were advertised in  Asian Journal and a Korean newspaper where they were told that they could sue their lenders for “predatory lending practices.”

Paying as much as $8,000 – some claimed to have paid more – each of these homeowners told BALITA MEDIA that the BLF sold them the loan litigation program of suing their banks to force them to lower their mortgage payments and thus keeping their property. They also told BALITA MEDIA that once they hired the BLF, they told them that they won’t have to worry about their mortgage.

However, these same homeowners claimed that no loan litigation cases were filed by the BLF. Worse, they received notices of foreclosure that resulted in some losing their homes. Some homeowners also claimed that they were also asked by the BLF to file for bankruptcy, which they rejected, stating that that wasn’t part of the “Sue the Banks” program. Others also revealed that instead of loan litigations, the BLF decided to pursue loan modifications on their behalf which they also claimed was not the type of legal service they had sought from the firm. Besides, they added, loan modifications cost just a fraction of the $8,000 they paid BLF, if not totally free, if they had talked to their lenders on their own.

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