To: Anyone behind on mortgage payments and without options who just needs some cash and a way out.

From: Brian Urbanski

Dear Friend,

Can I have your permission to talk to you like a "big brother"?

The reason why I am asking you this is because I am going to talk to you about your foreclosure situation in a way that you may have never heard before. While I do not mean to be offensive, I will be very open and candid about what is going on in the economy today and I will share my own experiences with foreclosure.

My name is Brian Urbanski and I am a real estate investor, real estate trustee and seminar speaker in the real estate investing community. I work with Columbus and Central Ohio homeowners in “must-sell” situations who have unwanted houses with little or no equity they need to unload.

Specifically, I work with homeowners just like you who are close to missing their first payment (or are already behind in payments or even in foreclosure) and just need help getting rid of their houses because they have no equity or they owe more than the house is worth.

In a nutshell, my company takes over financially troubled properties with no equity (even if they are upside-down in value) at ZERO cost to the homeowners. We provide Relocation Grants (moving money) so the homeowners can put their properties behind them and move on with their lives.

DISCLOSURE: I am NOT going to sugar-coat the harsh and devastating process of foreclosure nor tell you things you want to hear. Instead, I am going to tell you what you NEED to hear from one who has faced the brutal reality of fighting foreclosures myself in court against the biggest,most uncaring and ruthless banks in the country. These harsh truths can only come from a battle-hardened veteran who has fought for survival on the front lines. Let's cut to the chase.

Okay. - time for the brutal facts. Are you ready?

My apologies for being blunt, but the statement above is a fact for the overwhelming majority of homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments. Unfortunately, most homeowners wind up making one of these critical mistakes:

Head-in-the-sand strategy: If you are like most people, you are probably avoiding the phone calls and ignoring the letters your lender is sending you. Maybe you are throwing the letters in the trash without even reading them. If you can no longer afford your mortgage payment, this is exactly what the lender is hoping you will do so they can fast-track the foreclosure process through the court system to legally repossess your house and have the Sheriff kick you out as soon as possible.

Stick-it-to-the-bank strategy: Speaking of the Sheriff, maybe you have decided to stay in the house to “get even” with the lender until they send the Sheriff or a Court Bailiff with documents ordering you to vacate the premises. This is a risky and humiliating decision for many reasons.

While the bank may not try to evict you the day they file their foreclosure lawsuit, the court system will be granting them a judgment very soon to repossess the house and have it sold at the Sheriff’s sale. Once the house has been sold, the new owner (either the bank or the highest bidder) will probably start the eviction process soon afterwards since, at that point, you will be living in their house.

You may have very little time to find a new place and get all your things packed up and ready to move by the time they evict you. If you do not obey the eviction and move immediately, the new owner can order a set- out and have the Sheriff or a Court Bailiff supervise the removal of your possessions to the curb if you have not vacated the premises and removed all of your belongings by the deadline.

Long before the Sheriff’s sale, however, a Sheriff’s Deputy or Process Server will likely be coming to your home to personally serve you with the foreclosure lawsuit. This extremely humiliating legal procedure can happen on evenings or weekends when you are having dinner, when your kids have friends over or when you are entertaining guests. Not to mention what your neighbors will think when they see a Sheriff’s patrol car at your house.

But it gets worse: because the foreclosure is a lawsuit and all lawsuits are a matter of public record, your name, address and foreclosure status are easily available to the general public. Your name will be added to many mailing lists and you will probably receive tons of junk mail and postcards offering to “help” you while reminding you and your family on a daily basis that you are in foreclosure.

You may also notice a lot of cars driving by your home very slowly and maybe even taking pictures. These could be Realtors, “foreclosure rescue” or “loan modification” companies, real estate investors, or even homebuyers who may be considering bidding on your house at the Sheriff’s sale.

While these people usually do not get out of their car and walk around your property or look in your windows, there is no law prohibiting them from viewing your home from their vehicle even when you are cutting your grass or your kids are playing in the yard.

Some aggressive “foreclosure rescue” and “loan modification” companies even hire “door-knockers” that drive around to properties in foreclosure to try to convince the homeowner to use their services. They will promise to stop your foreclosure, but beware that most of these companies are scams (see warning below).

The bottom line is this: regardless if it is sooner or later until you are evicted, waking up every morning and wondering if today is the day that an eviction notice will be posted on your front door forcing you and your family to move is a very demeaning and stressful way to live.

If you were thinking about remaining in the premises until you are evicted, you should seriously reconsider how this will negatively affect your daily life and how you and your family will feel by receiving all this “unwanted attention” from people who are trying to take advantage of your foreclosure situation.

“Foreclosure rescue” or “loan modification” company strategy: Maybe you are considering working with a “foreclosure rescue” or “loan modification” company.

WARNING: many of these companies are scam operations that take the last few dollars a homeowner has by making false promises to stop the foreclosure.

Aside from legal action against the lender for something they did wrong, the ONLY two ways you can permanently stop a foreclosure are by making (and keeping) payment arrangements or by paying off the loan. Contrary to what many people think, even filing bankruptcy only DELAYS a foreclosure, it does not STOP it (see our FAQ section below for more details).

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and many state Attorneys General (including Ohio) are suing a growing number of these companies for fraud all across the US. Two warning signs to look out for are the requirement to be paid up front and the lack of a “money back guarantee” if they fail.

Waiting-on-a-handout strategy: Perhaps you are waiting for the government to step in and bail you out. Unfortunately, history proves it is NEVER a good idea when the government gets involved to “try to help”. Forgive my candor, but if you have not figured it out by now, the only “bailouts” coming from Uncle Sam are going to the large banks and major corporations.

Heck, you may even be thinking about not reading this entire web page because it looks too long and you do not believe I can help you. The truth is I KNOW I can help you, but you have to meet me half way by hearing what I have to say.

If you have heard that before, hang in there with me and just keep an open mind to the powerful (and sometimes shocking) information I am about to disclose to you. I promise to reveal very effective techniques that can help you with your foreclosure problem even if you decide working with me is not the right fit.

I will also reveal disturbing dirty secrets about foreclosures that “they” are desperately hoping you NEVER find out about. If you thought the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme was outrageous, you “ain’t seen nothin’ yet”!

If you are like me, you are probably feeling angry, depressed, confused, guilty and helpless about being behind on your mortgage payments.

This is normal and I felt this way, too, when my first property went into foreclosure. Yes, I have personally lost more than one house to foreclosure. (In fact, a lot more. I will share details on that later.)

Being behind on bills is never a fun experience to go through, but it is even more stressful when you are behind on a major obligation like your house payment. Bill collector harassment combined with your personal financial challenges (job loss, illness, divorce, etc.) have probably made you feel like everything is your fault when nothing could be further from the truth.

While I am not saying that you should avoid taking responsibility for things that happen in life, I am saying that much larger forces beyond your or my control have seriously damaged the real estate and banking industries. Now the economy at large has been crippled to the point where a number of the largest corporations in the country are facing bankruptcy or are in the process of being taken over by the government.

Through no fault of their own, homeowners have lost significant value in their properties since 2007 and those who are in a “must sell” situation are now caught between a rock and a hard place. Even worse, many homeowners were tricked into signing an adjustable rate mortgage (which paid higher commissions to the brokers) and now have mortgage payments that go up on a regular basis.

Even though chances are good that you got behind on your mortgage due to some financial challenge in your life like a job loss or a divorce, you probably would have been able to sell your home had this same event happened just a few years ago. Now the economy has changed for the worse.

Clearly our economy is in serious trouble due in large part to the real estate collapse.
Here are the facts:

• Real estate values continue to plummet nationwide with certain areas worse than others - national average property value loss is 18.6% as of July, 2009 (RealtyTrac)
• Foreclosures are at the highest level since the Great Depression (Business Week, Wall Street Journal)
• A second wave of foreclosures that just started in 2009 will be WORSE than the subprime mortgage collapse and will last through the end of 2011 (60 Minutes - see video below)
• Banks have made it almost impossible for everyday people to get a mortgage (Inman News)
• Companies are closing left and right (Time, Newsweek, etc.)
• Current trends show 1 out of 4 retail stores will be closed by the end of 2009 (CNBC)
• People are losing their jobs
• The economy is failing and has been put on life support by the government and the Federal Reserve
• In reality only the biggest corporations are being rescued while the average Joe is barely able to feed his family
• Wall Street has failed us
• Corporate America has failed us
• The banking system has failed us
• Now the government is failing us and our children and their children by spending money we do not have to bail out companies that should be forced to face reality like the rest of us

In a single word: greed.

After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, people around the globe became spooked about investing in the stock market. Investors in the US and around the world wanted “safer” investments and chose real estate.

Unfortunately, there was NOWHERE NEAR enough real estate available to invest in considering the sheer volume of money that was being taken out of the stock markets in the major countries.

So Wall Street had a BIG problem: there were hoards of US and international investors with tons of cash but Wall Street did not have enough investment products (i.e. real estate) to sell them.

Wall Street’s solution was to create more investment “products” based on residential real estate. But where would these new real estate investments come from? There was only one possible solution: create lots and lots of new mortgages.

Wall Street came up with all kinds of fancy names for these new real estate based investments like Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), Mortgage Backed Securities (MBSs) and many others.

To basically BRIBE more people to buy houses (solely for the purpose of creating more “product” for Wall Street and NOT for the pretended purpose of trying to help people attain home ownership), Wall Street told the government and the banking system to change the rules on mortgage loans. Naturally, Washington DC and the banks cheerfully complied.

But in order to shove anybody and everybody into a house, significant and reckless changes had to be made to the mortgage qualification process.

These changes included:

● Rapidly slashing interest rates to their lowest levels in over 40 years
● Drastically reducing credit score requirements; and
● COMPLETELY ELIMINATING down payments!

Virtually anyone with a 580 credit score (i.e. bad credit) and a heart beat could buy a house with no money down. Can you say, “train wreck waiting to happen”?

It got so bad that lenders literally INVENTED extremely risky new loan programs including one that even the brokers themselves called the “liar’s loan”.

Some Mortgage brokers actually recommended and encouraged borrowers to lie about their income, job history and assets because the brokers promised the borrowers that the lender WOULD NOT VERIFY their information. A broker came forward and actually admitted this on the 60 Minutes news clip below.

This means that a broke AND unemployed janitor who had NO ASSETS to his name could (and did) get a loan for a house with NO MONEY DOWN.

You have heard the term given to borrowers who did not qualify for a home loan but were given one anyway: SUBPRIME.

In reality, this is just a politically-correct code word that simply means BAD CREDIT.

(By the way, anytime you hear or see the word “subprime” used by the media, just replace it with the words “bad credit” and the news story will make more sense.)

By the end of 2006, subprime loans totaled an astronomical $1 TRILLION (Trillion with a “T”) worth of mortgages. The rapid default rate of these loans is what fueled the banking collapse in June, 2007.

The good news is this wave of bad subprime mortgages has just about run its course.

The bad news is that a second wave of foreclosures just started at the beginning of 2009 and will not run its course until the end of 2011.

These loans were called “Alternative-A” and “Option Arm” mortgages. They were given to borrowers with reasonable credit but who had a hard time proving their income, like the self-employed and commission-based sales people.

Unfortunately, small business owners and commissioned sales people are being hit extra hard financially as the economy gets worse.

The problem with Alt-A and Option Arm loans is that their low introductory interest rates started going up automatically in the first quarter of 2009 and they will continue to go up for the next three years.

This means that every month from now through 2011 an ever-increasing number of borrowers will have a higher mortgage payment than they can afford and most will ultimately end up in foreclosure.

The scary part is that the total amount of these second-wave loans is $1.5 trillion, or 50% MORE than the subprime market... YIKES!

But then I saw this 60 Minutes news story on December, 18, 2008 and was SHOCKED at what I heard. The segment is short (less than 13 minutes), so watch it now. Once you see the video, you will understand why our program is so powerful.

Now that you have watched the 60 Minutes clip, I am sure you are as stunned as I was to find out what REALLY happened behind the scenes with the mortgage industry. You also know the trouble we are now facing with the second wave of foreclosures and why things are going to get worse before they get better.

Amazingly, it was only a few short years ago that the real estate industry seemed like it could do no wrong. Here are just a few examples why consumers “fell in love” with real estate:

● Real estate was being praised on the cover of national magazines in almost every category

● Books about real estate investing topped the business best seller lists for months

● New TV shows came out showing how easy it was to get rich “flipping” properties (buy low, fix up, sell high)

● People were buying pre-construction houses in ‘hot’ areas like Florida, Arizona and California and then selling them 30 days later at huge profits EVEN BEFORE THEY WERE BUILT!

● Everybody was buying houses and seemed to be getting rich in real estate

● Most media and news coverage of real estate was extremely positive

● It was party time and real estate was the Guest of Honor

In 2009 real estate is still making headlines. But the stories are now about plummeting property values, sky-rocketing foreclosures, bankruptcies, TRILLION-dollar bail outs and government takeovers.

Real estate is still a hot topic with the media but the news is always bad. It seems like the party is over and the hangover has begun.

If you are one of the millions of people who got burned in the current foreclosure crisis, it is NOT YOUR FAULT and now you know why.

I started my real estate investing business in 2002 and I had a small but growing company. We were not breaking any records, but there was food on the table and a few dollars in the bank. My goal was not to “get rich quick” like you see on TV, but to build a stable business for my family by investing in real estate for the long term. By 2004 I had acquired several million dollars in real estate and the future looked bright.

The financial collapse of the summer of 2007 hit and froze up the banking system. Banks would not lend money to ANYONE, even to each other, and the financial system ground to a halt.

As a result of the banking collapse and the severe damage to the real estate industry, my company was devastated. Many of our tenants lost their jobs and could not pay the rent. And it was impossible to fill the houses quickly enough to stop the mounting losses.

As a result, I lost a lot of properties to foreclosure.

If you are facing foreclosure, I know how you feel because I went through it myself. Actually, I went through it many times.

Obviously I was not the only casualty of the financial meltdown. Today, millions of homeowners are in foreclosure and millions MORE are behind on their mortgage payments and will be in foreclosure soon.

As tough as the past couple of years has been, I consider myself very lucky. Although I lost a large portion of my properties, I learned a lot going through the process.

In fact, you could almost say I became a foreclosure expert through the process of losing my own properties!

The good news is I figured out how the courts and the legal system really work in the foreclosure process.

The bad news is that it cost me tens of thousands of dollars in expenses and legal fees, two years of my life studying the law and court rules and procedures, and several MILLIONS of dollars in lost real estate for this education. Ouch!

However, I was able to save enough of my properties to keep my business alive. Now my company is growing faster than we were before the real estate melt-down.

Because I know first hand how painful, embarrassing and humiliating the foreclosure process is, I decided to reach out to homeowners who are facing the same financial difficulties I experienced.

Until I created Ohio Foreclosure Assistance, there had not been anyone out there who truly understood from first-hand knowledge what people in foreclosure were going through, let alone who were willing and able to help.

But like I said before, I was one of the lucky ones because I had enough money and resources to fight the battles and eventually dig myself out. As captain of the ship, I took a huge loss by throwing a lot of valuable “cargo” overboard; but I made it back to sail another day.

Unfortunately, many people who are behind on their payments or are already in foreclosure simply cannot save their sinking ship if they have no equity. It is even worse if they are upside down and owe more than their house is worth.

Whether due to a job loss, divorce, illness or medical problems, job transfer, making payments on two houses or even bankruptcy, countless thousands of people have no other options for saving their house and simply need to abandon ship.

These “hopeless” situations are the homeowners I want to help because no one else out there can. This is why Realtors, mortgage brokers, bankruptcy attorneys and even credit counselors refer their clients to me for a fast solution when there is no way for their clients to refinance or sell their houses the traditional way.

I will explain how I can help in just a moment. But first, I need to briefly discuss the four phases of the foreclosure process. Please keep in mind that this explanation is only intended to cover the foreclosure process in Ohio. The foreclosure process may be different in other states.

Now that you know a little bit more about how the foreclosure process works, let’s talk about what to do if you are behind on your mortgage or if you are already in foreclosure.

If you are currently delinquent on your mortgage payment, determine which of these categories best describes your situation.

If no category is a perfect match, choose the one that is the closest.

A) Your financial situation is temporary or correctable and

● You can once again afford to make the normal monthly payments

● You want to keep the house

● You simply need some assistance from the lender to catch up the back payments

B) Your financial situation has changed for the worse for the foreseeable future and

● You can no longer afford the payments

● You have decided to move

● You have enough equity in the house or money in the bank or a retirement account to afford Realtor commissions, buyer discounts, closing costs, fees, inspections, taxes and your personal moving expenses even if you have to sell the house at a loss

C) Your financial situation has changed for the worse for the foreseeable future and

● You can no longer afford the payments

● You have decided to move

● You have little or no equity or you owe more than the house is worth

● Your credit is already damaged but you want to try to sell the house with a Realtor to hopefully avoid a foreclosure on your credit and to avoid a likely deficiency balance for which the lender may come after you

● You have enough money in the bank or a retirement account to cover moving expenses

D) Your financial situation has changed for the worse for the foreseeable future and

● You can no longer afford the payments

● You have decided to move

● You have little or no equity or you owe more than the house is worth

● You cannot sell the house because you cannot afford Realtor commissions, seller discounts, closing costs, fees and taxes

● Your credit is already damaged but not a primary concern at this point

● You would gladly move within the next 30 days if you had the money for moving expenses

If you choose category A, B or C, unfortunately I cannot help with your situation at this time. However, there are many good organizations who specialize in working with clients in your circumstances. I will make some recommendations below.

Good news: you are in a rare but fortunate category. The first thing you should do if you have not already done so is call your lender directly and explain the situation. They are in the best position to help you and they have payment plans and options to help you bring your account current.

WARNING: Beware of companies offering loan modification and foreclosure rescue services. Many of these outfits are scams and this process is something you can easily do yourself. If you are uncomfortable calling your lender directly, contact your local consumer credit counseling service and they can help you for free or at low cost. Your local County Auditor may also have free resources.

Contact a Realtor ASAP and get your property listed immediately. Time is money and houses do not sell overnight. Unfortunately it is a buyer’s market and you are competing with many other houses, including below- market-priced foreclosure houses owned by the bank. Price your house on the low side to attract attention and do not be afraid to lower it several times to sell as quickly as possible.

Read choice “B” above first. When you start looking for a Realtor, make sure you choose one who has experience doing short sales. In a short sale, the lender accepts a price less than what is owed on the property but more than they would likely get after deducting all the legal costs and expenses of going through the foreclosure process. Even with a short sale you may still have financial and/or legal liability, so make sure your Realtor thoroughly explains the risks to you.

You are a homeowner in one of the toughest foreclosure situations and you are the one I want to help. Since money is probably tighter than a drum, you just need enough money to do the right thing and vacate the property.

I created Ohio Foreclosure Assistance in an effort to help homeowners who have no other options to be able to move on with their lives.

Our program is primarily for homeowners with zero or negative equity and no way to keep their house. To participate, the homeowners must:

● Be at least one payment behind (or soon to be behind)

● Have no other options to keep the house

● Have no desire to keep the house

● Not be concerned about a lower credit rating

● Be willing and able to move within 30 days of transferring ownership

● Be willing to accept any risk associated with a foreclosure

However, please keep in mind that if you are behind on your mortgage payments, you are already facing these risks whether or not you join our program. In other words, you face no additional risks in our program than if you just moved out of the property and let it go to foreclosure.

Due to the specific nature of our program, we CANNOT help homeowners who:

● Want to keep the house

● Want to work with the lender on a payment plan

● Want to protect their credit (if the mortgage is current right now)

● Have equity and need more money than moving costs

● Want to remain in the house longer than approximately 30 days

Many agencies exist to help homeowners who want to keep their homes. Contact your local credit counseling agency, County Auditor or local Bar Association

In exchange for help with moving costs, my company takes over ownership of no-equity properties that are behind in payments. Many variables affect the Grant amount, but they range from a minimum of $1000 up to $1500.

A good rule of thumb is to use one-half of one per cent (0.5%) of the value of the house to determine the value of the Grant. However, we may have some flexibility depending on the situation.

We will take the house as-is and we will handle any repairs. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAINT OR FIX ANYTHING for us to take over the property. All we ask is that you leave the premises in a clean, broom-swept condition when you move out. If you do, we will pay you an additional $250 cleaning bonus.

Once the ownership has been transferred to us, we then deal with the lender and fight the foreclosure suit in court as a co-defendant in the case.

But since we are named as a co-defendant, our desired outcome, generally speaking, will benefit your situation at the same time.

As we start fighting the foreclosure case, we simultaneously look for a buyer for the house who may not qualify for a loan today but will likely be qualified before the legal proceedings end within the next one to two years.

Our goal is to settle the foreclosure or negotiate a reasonable discount with the lender to sell the property to our buyer before the end of the proceedings. When you fight a foreclosure in court, the legal process takes time (good news) but it costs a lot of money (bad news).

If you do not fight the foreclosure (by hiring an attorney, for example), the lender will almost always accelerate the case and win by default in a much shorter time. This can happen in as little as 30 to 60 days.

Please remember that we pay for our own legal expenses and WE WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR ONE PENNY for legal costs.

To fund our ongoing legal expenses, we collect monthly rental payments generated by our buyers.

Because our buyers cannot qualify for a loan at the time they contract to buy the house, we sell the property on a hybrid rental-ownership contract. This is like a rent-to-own program where the buyer can live in the house before they qualify for a mortgage.

Even though they are technically tenants, they have an agreement that gives them the right to purchase the house in the future. But our program is much better for the tenant than just renting because they are building equity in their home from the very first payment. Just like a mortgage, a portion of their rent reduces the balance of the amount they owe month after month.

Although we are “fighting” the lender in the foreclosure suit, our goal is to work out a fair and just arrangement with them to ultimately create a win- win solution for all parties involved.

WIN #1: First and foremost, we want you to win by giving you a Relocation Grant so you can put your unwanted property behind you and move on with life.

WIN #2: Second, we want the lender to win by negotiating with us for a reasonable discount so we can sell the property to our buyer as soon as feasibly possible. This will result in the lender getting the property off their books while minimizing their losses, both of which are the lenders’ ultimate goals.

WIN #3: Third, we want our buyer to win by being able to live TODAY in the house they want to eventually own; by building equity with every monthly payment instead of throwing their rent down the drain; and by receiving our assistance to make their dream of home ownership a reality in today’s difficult economic times.

WIN #4: Fourth, we win by helping individuals and families through a difficult part of their lives and by earning a living for seeing this process through to completion.

The first thing we need to know is if a foreclosure suit has already been filed in court by the lender. If so, we can still help unless the case has been closed and the property is scheduled for Sheriff’s sale. Once the case is closed, the opportunity to “have our day in court” has passed.

If you aren’t sure if your case is closed, you can check your county’s Court of Common Pleas web site or call us at 614-299-3400 and we will check it for you for free.

After we determine the legal status of the property, we will then decide if we can take it over. While we try to help as many homeowners as possible, there are simply too many foreclosures to be able to help everyone.

Once we take over ownership of the property, we then begin dealing with the legal process.

Please understand that we are NOT paying off the mortgage and we are NOT making any payments. Therefore, the foreclosure process will continue and the lender will most likely report the non-payments to the credit bureau which will affect your credit score.

1. We buy your house for $1 and take over your delinquent property.

2. We give you a Relocation Grant (up to $1500) when you give us the keys to the house. The Grant is a gift that NEVER has to be paid back.

3. There is no fee or cost to participate in this program.

4. You do not have to perform any maintenance or repairs.

5. We ask that the house be left in a clean, broom swept condition for an additional $250 cleaning bonus.

6. We become a co-defendant in the foreclosure law suit.

7. We are not attorneys but we represent our own interests in court.

8. Because we are not attorneys, we are prohibited from representing anyone else’s interest except our own.

9. We will defend the lawsuit and exercise all our legal rights under the law. Depending upon what is revealed as a result of a forensic audit of the mortgage and loan paperwork, we may attempt to get the foreclosure dismissed by the court or even have the liability discharged altogether. Since each case is unique, no specific results can be predicted or guaranteed.

10. We locate a potential buyer and immediately put them under a rental- ownership agreement to buy the house.

11. We fully disclose to them the fact that the property is in foreclosure and explain what we are doing.

12. The buyer accepts these risks in exchange for a steep discount on the price of the house.

13. Rental revenue is collected to fund legal expenses of the foreclosure case.

14. We refer our buyer to the appropriate companies to get a loan.

15. We DO NOT EVER make any mortgage payments.

16. We DO NOT GUARANTEE that the loan will be paid off before the foreclosure becomes final.

17. We CANNOT GUARANTEE we will ultimately win in court.

18. We CANNOT GUARANTEE the lender will write off any deficiency balance.

19. We reserve the right to discontinue the Relocation Grant program at any time.

FAQ #1: How much does your program cost?

A: There are no fees or charges for our program. If you are accepted into the program, we pay YOU a Relocation Grant to help pay your moving expenses through our Relocation Grant program. This Grant is a gift and never has to be paid back.

FAQ #2: How fast can I get my Relocation Grant money?

A: As quickly as you can pack up your belongings into a moving truck! Well, ALMOST that quickly! From the time you first contact us until the time we hand you a check is normally about 30 days. However, we could do it within five business days if necessary.

After you contact us and are accepted into our program, here is what happens:

1. We come out to inspect the property and pick up copies (or we can make copies) of the correspondence from the lender and any foreclosure paperwork you may have received in the mail. We also need copies of the original paperwork you signed when you purchased the house.

2. We schedule a time for you to complete the paperwork at our office and to get all the necessary documents authorized.

3. We conduct a title inspection, property tax records check and other real estate closing tasks.

4. The final step is to meet you at the house on moving day AFTER the moving truck is packed and the house is cleaned up and broom swept. We will do a quick walk through and that’s it. You hand us the keys, we hand you a check and you move on with life.

FAQ #3: How much Grant money can I receive to help with moving costs?

A: It varies, but the amount ranges from a minimum of $1000 up to $1500. A good rule of thumb is to take 1/2% of the value of the house to determine the Grant amount. Houses valued above $300,000 are reviewed on a case- by-case basis and may qualify for a Grant exceeding $1500, but this is not guaranteed. You can also earn a $250 cleaning bonus for leaving the premises clean when you move. Please call us for details at 614-299-3400.

FAQ #4: I have a $200,000 house but I need more than $1000 to move all my stuff. Can I get more Grant money?

A: Possibly, depending on your circumstances; but call us for more details. For example, if you can move within 14 days instead of 30 days, we may be able to increase the Grant amount if we already have a tenant lined up and ready to move. If we can put a sign in the yard and show the house while you are still living there, we can most likely increase the Grant amount.

Incidentally, we may be interested in purchasing something like this if we feel that it would help us lease the house more quickly. Any item would have to be in very good to excellent condition, however, and we could only pay a small percentage of what it may be worth. But we will consider buying big ticket items if you prefer to not have the hassle of showing merchandise to strangers while you are trying to move.

FAQ #5: My house is only worth $90,000. Can I get more than $450 in Relocation Grant money?

A: Yes. All homeowners that are accepted into our program are guaranteed a Relocation Grant of at least $1000 regardless of the value of the house.

FAQ #6: I want to take my kitchen appliances with me. Is that okay?

A: Generally speaking, no. Although we will take care of repairs and maintenance, we require all major kitchen appliances (refrigerator, stove and dishwasher) to be left with the property.

If you must take your current appliances with you (i.e. they were a wedding gift), then it would be acceptable with us for you to replace them with clean, comparably sized used appliances in very good operating and cosmetic condition. Another option would be for us to deduct the replacement cost of used appliances from your Relocation Grant, but we would prefer to have appliances in the house when we take it over.

We do not require that you leave a clothes washer and dryer if you have them, but you may if they are in excellent operating and cosmetic condition.

FAQ #7: Is there anyway you can help me keep my house?

A: No. Many government and not-for-profit organizations exist to help homeowners keep their houses. But their programs only work if the homeowner has the financial ability to make mortgage payments.

Our company focuses on the growing number of people who own homes with no equity or who owe more than the house is worth and CANNOT AFFORD their mortgage payments anymore. We give them the money to move and we take over the house.

FAQ #8: I heard that if I file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy this will stop my foreclosure and I can keep my house. Is this true?

A: No. This is a common misconception caused by questionable (and in some cases deceptive) advertising practices in the marketplace. While a Chapter 7 bankruptcy technically stops the foreclosure process, this is only TEMPORARY.

Although the lender generally cannot come after you for any money once you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must understand that often times the lender WILL ultimately get permission from the court to resume the foreclosure TO REPOSSESS THE HOUSE. In reality, bankruptcy only delays the lender for a very short time.

The good news is that you will not have to pay the bank; but the bad news is that you will still lose your house, you will be forced to move and you will also have severely damaged credit for a number of years.

FAQ #9: I am so far in debt that I have decided to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Can I still participate in your program to get a Relocation Grant to help with moving costs?

A: Generally speaking, yes. As I mentioned above, the Chapter 7 bankruptcy will likely eliminate your financial responsibility to most or all of your creditors, including the mortgage lender. But you will obviously still have moving costs. Call our office for more details at 614-299-3400 if you have already filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or if you are considering it. We cannot give you legal advice, but we can listen to your situation and probably get you into our program if the foreclosure case is still open and your lender has not yet been awarded judgment.

FAQ #10: If you take over my house, can I lease it back from you?

A: No. We do not do “lease-back” arrangements with homeowners under any circumstances. This is because we are not attorneys and the court may think we are representing you if you remain in the house while we are fighting the foreclosure.

FAQ #11: Since I have no equity (or I am upside down) and I am planning to walk away from my house anyway, do I face any additional risk if I let you take ownership of the house instead of just abandoning the property?

A: No. You face no additional risks having us take over the property if you are planning on walking away anyhow and letting it go into foreclosure. In fact, you are much better off for the following reasons:

1. We will give you cash to move.

2. We will get involved with and start working on the foreclosure at our own expense.

3. The house will be inhabited and therefore protected from vandalism and the yard will be maintained so the neighborhood property values do not decline as a result of the property falling into disrepair.

4. We have a good chance of selling the house to our buyer and convincing the lender to write off any deficiency balance you may be liable for when we sell the house.

If you just walk away, you do not get these benefits.

FAQ #12: How can you afford the thousands of dollars in legal expenses work on the bank in court for an extended period?

A: After taking over control of the property, we become the legal owners. We then immediately sell the property on a hybrid rental-ownership agreement to a buyer who will be working on getting a mortgage while we fight the foreclosure. Our legal defense fund comes in part from the rent payment. This is how we can provide this service without charging a fee to sellers who are in foreclosure.

FAQ #13: Do your buyers know the property is in foreclosure?

A: Absolutely. The legal matters are disclosed to the buyers and they know we are defending the property in a foreclosure suit. The buyers also know there is a possibility we may lose the case before they are able to get approved for a mortgage. They are willing to accept this risk because we are giving them a steep discount on the price of the house. In the event the court rules in the lender’s favor, we have provisions in our agreements with the buyers that address this possibility.

FAQ #14: Am I still liable to the bank if you lose the case and the house goes through foreclosure and to the Sheriff’s Sale?

A: Yes. You remain liable because the mortgage is still in your name. But you are no more liable or less liable than you would have been had we never taken over the property and you just walked away or abandoned the house on your own.

FAQ #15: Is your company a law firm?

A: No. While we work with legal experts and represent our own interests, Ohio Foreclosure Assistance is a foreclosure assistance and real estate investment company that offers Relocation Grants to qualified homeowners who are behind in payments or in foreclosure and who decide to participate in our program. We do not offer legal advice and we do not legally represent homeowners in any way, shape or form.

FAQ #16: If you are not attorneys, how can you fight the foreclosure case in court?

A: As the new owners of the house, we have a legal interest in the property and have the right under Due Process and the Rules of Civil Procedure to defend our property against the foreclosure suit.

FAQ #17: I found out my foreclosure case is closed and my house is scheduled for Sheriff’s sale. Can you still help me?

A: Unfortunately, no. The opportunity to have our “day in court” has already passed.

FAQ #18: Can you help me if I have two properties in foreclosure?

A: Yes we can. Quite often people will buy a bigger home and keep their original home as a rental property. Other folks may have a vacation home or a cottage in addition to their primary residence. Due to many variables including location, property condition, tenants, etc., please call us at 614-299-3400 to discuss your situation.

Q: What if I have a Realtor?

A: No problem. We work with Realtors all the time and many of them refer their clients to us for assistance. Even mortgage brokers and bankruptcy attorneys send their clients to us when they have no options to refinance or sell their houses traditionally.

FAQ #19: I am a real estate investor or landlord and I have multiple properties in foreclosure and some (or all) of them have tenants. Can you help in this situation?

A: We can absolutely help your situation. In fact, this is the exact same scenario that happened to me. Needless to say, I can personally sympathize with your circumstances. We have created a special program for investors and landlords with multiple properties that are past due or in foreclosure. Make sure you indicate you have multiple investment properties on the Property Information Form below and we will have a senior consultant handle your situation. Or you may call us at 614-299-3400 to set up a time for a FREE, no obligation telephone consultation.

FAQ #20: What are the pros and cons of your program?

A: The biggest pros include:

1. We will give you money to help you move.

2. We “battle” with the lender in the foreclosure suit.

3. The property is taken care of and maintained instead of being left exposed to vandals and the elements (frozen pipes, mold, etc.)

4. We will negotiate with the lender in an attempt to get them to write off any deficiency balance that may exist when the case is ultimately closed.

The cons are that we cannot guarantee we will win the case, we will sell the house to our buyer or we will get the lender to agree to write off any deficiency balance down the road. But you already have these risks if you are vacating the house anyway.

Even if we fail completely, you are no worse off than if we never got involved. But at least you got cash for your keys instead of walking away from your house with nothing.

FAQ #21: I want to save my house. Can you still help me?

A: Unfortunately, no. Homeowners who want to keep their houses are not a fit for our program. You should first contact your lender to see if a solution can be worked out with them. Other options are to contact a local consumer credit counseling service, local Bar Association or your County Auditor and ask for the foreclosure counseling department. Some churches also offer foreclosure counseling. Our program is for people who are DONE with their property, have no other options and want to move on with life.

FAQ #22: Is your Grant money a part of the government bail-out program I hear about on TV?

A: No. Our Grant money comes completely from private investors and our Grants are not funded in any way, shape or form by local, state or federal governments. This means we have complete control and discretion over how the funds are dispersed.

FAQ #23: I am a private lender and I may be interested in lending money to real estate investors that is secured by real estate. Do you borrow money from private lenders and what interest rate do you pay?

A: Yes. We work with private lenders all the time and we would be happy to talk with you. For more details, please call 614-299-3400 and ask for the private lending department.

FAQ #24: If I have decided to walk away from my house and I fit into Category D, am I guaranteed acceptance into your program?

A: No. There are many variables in regards to situations and the property itself that need to be evaluated. Additionally, all participants are handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to the sheer volume of foreclosures, we reserve the right to suspend or cancel the program at any time. Practically speaking, we only have so much manpower and we may need to temporarily halt new admissions into the program occasionally if we get overwhelmed with cases. We wish we could accept everyone but there are simply too many foreclosures in the current market.

In fact, several Realtors and attorneys have asked to team up with us and we may establish a partner-network as foreclosures increase through 2010 and 2011.

If you or someone you know may need a Relocation Grant, contact us IMMEDIATELY to reserve your spot before someone else takes it.

FAQ #25: This program is an answer to my prayers but it sounds too good to be true. What’s the catch?

A: Thanks for the kind words, but there is no catch. The bottom line is you never pay us a dime ; we give you money to move that you never have to pay back; and we fight a court battle that one day (we hope) will result in the sale of the house that will terminate your foreclosure. It’s that simple. Worse case scenario is that we lose the foreclosure fight before we sell the house. In that case, you are no worse off than you would have been had you just walked away and abandoned the house on your own.

FAQ #26: I have never heard of a company like Ohio Foreclosure Assistance. Where did you come from?

A: Our company is comprised of a network of seasoned real estate professionals and legal experts that have come together to help homeowners in what some authorities are calling the toughest economic times since the Great Depression. I have personally been in the same difficult and painful situation that you are in but there was no company like Ohio Foreclosure Assistance to help me when I really needed it. So I started one. Perhaps the idea will catch on in other cities and states so more homeowners who desperately need help can get it.

FAQ #27: I know other people who really need your help. Do you have a referral program?

A: Yes we do. If you refer someone to us who joins our program and we take over their house, we will pay you a $500 Good Samaritan referral fee for helping us spread the word. In fact, we will pay you $500 for each and every person you refer who is accepted into our program. And there is no limit to the number of referrals you can make!

All they have to do is mention your name and phone number on the Property Information Form (or when they call us) and we will contact you as soon as they join the program to find out where to send your check!

And to show them what a great friend you are, we will give them a certificate for a FREE moving truck rental of any size in addition to their Relocation Grant when they join our program! (Local rental only; gasoline, insurance, mileage fees, moving boxes and supplies, options and accessories not included.)

FAQ #28: This information has been very helpful. What is the best way to get started?

A: The quickest way is to fill out the Property Information Form and one of our Foreclosure Assistance Specialists will contact you. Or, you may call us right now at 614-299-3400 and we can take the information over the phone. Don’t forget that we only have a limited amount of Relocation Grant money available and this offer may be discontinued at any time. So contact us RIGHT NOW and get your share of this Grant money before it is GONE!

Even if you are not behind on your payments now but think you may be losing your job, getting divorced or going through some other financial hardship within the next 12 months, contact us NOW to join our VIP list.

This places you at the front of the line if you need to join our program in the future.

Thank you very much for your time. I hope you found the information helpful and I look forward to working with you or your friends and family that need my help.

Sincerely,

Brian Urbanski