Tony Stasiek, editor

As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, September 2009.

Compiling a magazine geared to a fairly small subset of the reading public, we often ask ourselves: Is this or that topic too swayed toward mortgage brokers at the expense of common sense, decency and the human race in general? Or swayed just enough?

September’s Scotsman Guide features two such articles in which those questions came up. Our answers? Well, seeing as how we’re featuring said pieces, we feel both address situations not often publicized and rational solutions brokers likely won’t hear about otherwise.

This month’s Lead Article examines how borrowers might sue their broker and other parties as they head toward foreclosure. Now on one hand, it’s not necessarily humane to paint borrowers’ actions as in the wrong for delaying foreclosure and attempting to stay in their home. On the other, as attorney Christopher E. Thorsen writes, many past clients are bringing litigation simply to delay the inevitable — and in the least-sympathetic cases, to keep not paying for a home they cannot afford.

For impacted brokers, it’s a strain — on their time as well as on their relationships with investors, servicers and others named in the suit. So Thorsen shares five ways in which brokers could speedily resolve situations created solely for the purpose of dawdling irresolution.

Speaking of legal action: In late July, the Federal Trade Commission filed no fewer than 189 suits and cease-and-desist orders against loan-modification companies and individuals. These came as part of an effort to crack down on companies charging upfront fees for services borrowers can get for free — and to let borrowers know of their real options.

As loan mods receive additional press with accusations of banks’ reluctance to see them through, Greenway Capital Management’s Ray Williams shares 11 things brokers should know before they and their clients attempt to traverse the unpredictable loan-mod path. After all, it might be borrowers’ only way home.

Also: Keep an eye out for October’s Scotsman Guide, which should look a bit different from this issue. We’re changing, and we’re excited to share our changes with you.

tony@scotsmanguide.com