12/17/2010 8:26 AM (PST)

James, first of all, did you succeed in getting some sort of workout with your mortgage (you mentioned that you "almost lost your home"). Premier Legal Advocates racked up a lot of complaints in 2010 and now appears to be out of business.

If your mortgage situation isn't settled, it would be a good idea to talk to a
HUD-approved non-profit housing counselor. Call 888-995-4673 to speak with one of these asap. Many lenders and Freddie MAC are observing foreclosure moratoriums during the holidays. They can evaluate your housing options, open lines of communication with mortgage lenders, negotiate a loan modification, and help you with household budgeting, all at no cost.

Take a look at this website – www.preventloanscams.org

This website was launched in March 2010 and they’ve got an online complaint form for referring loan mod scams to law enforcement agencies. However, if you call the nat'l housing counseling hotline I gave you above (888-995-4673) you can have your complaint against Premier Legal Advocates entered into the national loan mod complaint database at the same time (so a duplicate effort on your part is not needed). Be sure to mention that you want to do this.

Special assistance programs are launching in mid-January for distressed homeowners.
Please go to our main "Notes" tab on our Facebook page for more info on these and on loan mods in general:

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=117568537756

Good luck, we feel for your situation.