DEARBORN — With the potential for as many as ten million American people facing home foreclosure in the next 3-5 years, it’s no wonder that tons of organizations are popping up in an attempt to help.

LoanMod.com co-founder and CEO Moose Scheib started his company in Dearborn in 2006 to help save homeowners from the ravages of foreclosure. His company’s efforts have been featured in both the national and local press. PHOTO: Courtesy of LoanMod.com

But Dearborn is home to a pioneering business in the fight to keep people in their homes: LoanMod.com, a company started in 2006 that prides itself as the first loan modification company in America. The process of loan modifying is performed by the company to reduce monthly payments to rates families can afford in order to save their homes.
The company’s chairman, CEO, & co-founder, Moose Scheib, said that people should be careful when picking a company to help them fight the banks.

“People need to make sure they’re dealing with a reputable company; it’s a complex process and not everyone can do it,” he said.

Scheib’s company certainly fits that bill, as it has helped keep more than 5,000 families in their homes and has been featured in “Forbes Magazine,” on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” a Fox News TV show, and on WXYZ-TV Channel 7 in Detroit and in the Detroit Free Press.

The idea for the company began when Scheib’s uncle lost his house and Scheib, a lawyer who graduated from Albion College’s honors program with an economics and management degree and later graduated from Columbia Law School, negotiated with the bank to help save his house.

Schieb said that banks are willing to negotiate but added that it’s important for a company to go into the process with a strong background in law so they can explore all options for reducing payments and perhaps finding problems with original mortgages that may allow homeowners to gain the upper hand in the negotiation process.

Scheib talked about the growth and success of his company and the emerging problem of foreclosures.

“Half of it was luck and half was preparation. I don’t think anyone could have foreseen how big it was going to be; I saw how easy people were getting these bad loans but I never thought it would be this big of a problem.”

Now the company is focused on doing their best to help people navigate tough waters.

“We’re trying to reach out to let people know about services and how we can help, especially with the record number of foreclosures, of which Dearborn already has a lot of,” said Hassan Cheaib, Moose Scheib’s brother and general manager of LoadMod.com.

“It’s very rewarding helping the community out knowing at the end of the day you helped several families to sleep better at night.”

Cheaib explained how LoanMod.com helps most families to stay in their homes.

“What we do is help families avoid foreclosure by negotiating loans or interest rates with lenders or banks and if they’re behind on payments, we go ahead and negotiate loans for them on their behalf to get them back on track on a payment plan that fits their budget,” he said.

Cheaib believes that communities, especially Dearborn and the Arab community, should bind together and support each other to prevent the blight and property value reductions that come with the proliferation of foreclosed homes.

“We’re starting to see a lot more Arab clientele and people having a hard time paying bills,” he said. “Many people can’t pay because of the reductions in income, medical bills, and things like that; this is the highest we’ve ever seen it.”

Cheaib said that LoanMod.com has negotiated interest rate reductions from 7-8 percent all the way down to 2 percent in some cases, and a case chronicled on a WXYZ-TV news report saw homeowner Maria Williams of Dearborn’s rates cut from 13.% to 5.5% through negotiations, allowing her to save her house by cutting monthly payments in half.

Moose Scheib said that staying positive and calm are the keys to keeping things together in times of adversity for homeowners affected by the foreclosure crisis.

“People should know they have a lot of options, they shouldn’t panic because the loans don’t impact your credit and there are a lot of ways to go about getting one,” he said.

He urges people looking for help to shop around but trusts his staff’s ability to get the job done.

“We’ve seen a lot of cases and we’ve been on the front lines for a long time and helped thousands,” he said. “We’re the company that’s kind of looked at as an example of how to do it the right way.”