Franklin Credit Management (not First Franklin)...

[Joel Fraser]

Has anyone out there had *ANY* dealings with _Frankin Credit Management Corp_.? (This is not First Franklin, which is a much bigger bank - this is Franklin Credit Management Corporation, and they are a smaller company, directly out of NewYork) A little background... they are our 2nd mortgage holder. Our first mortgage holder, Countrywide, has agreed to do a really good loan modification. Franklin has been a *nightmare* from the very start. They bought out our second mortgage from Litton Loan Service, within 6 months of us moving in to our new home in 2006. To make a long story short, we were up to our eyeballs in debt, my husband's work hours declined, and we were in a new home we couldn't afford (and should have NEVER qualified for - can we say, "predatory lending?" - but that's another story...). We've had this home on the market _three_ times since we purchased it in 6/2006, with no buyers. We finally had to put it up for a short sale in 01/2008 - and got an offer within two weeks time. Fast forward to the end of May, 2008. Countrywide had completely screwed up the timeline for the short sale, and our buyers finally walked. Ultimately, Franklin decided that they wanted 3K at signing to release the lien (after the buyer had already walked) *AND* (this is important) a $50,000 "side note" at 1% interest from us for *30 YEARS*!!! When we didn't receive the "approval letter" concerning the impending short sale of our home that they supposedly sent to us AND the title company - they wanted an additional $1K at closing to extend the approval (saying that they had already sent the approval letter to everyone - although nobody has any record of an approval letter - now they wanted $4K up front and $50K over 30 years now) - let me be VERY clear in this: neither us nor the title company received anything in the way of an "approval letter" from Franklin (I believe this part to be actually against the law...) To which we said, "no thank you," and we pulled it off the market (because with any buyer, we would have faced the same scenario with Franklin). In any case, the buyer had walked at that point, and no one was looking to buy the house. Fast foward to now: Countrywide has come up with a _*really good*_ loan modification program for us - Franklin says they "don't do loan modifications," and will only do a "deferment," - here's the catch: _they won't begin the deferment paperwork until they receive one months payment_. This house is scheduled for auction, and in foreclosue at this point, coming up this September, 2008. I told the Franklin rep today that either they try and work with us, or they will get next to nothing, because the house will go in foreclosure, will sell at auction (eventually), and we will claim bankruptcy. The Franklin customer representative doesn't care, one way or the other. The deal from them is only the deferment. Has anyone else had *ANY* success dealing with Franklin Credit Management Corp.??? I would be sooo interested in hearing your story - good or bad. Thanks, Danielle