While unfortunate, these scams are avoidable. Detecting and avoiding loan modification scams is a relatively simple task if a person knows what to look for and where to find it. By combining that knowledge with a little time to conduct some due diligence, a homeowner can virtually eliminate the possibility of being scammed. The first priority is to insist on working with an attorney to execute the loan modification. Getting some background information is an easy task. Get the attorney’s State Bar number. Ask whether the attorney will be representing you or the law office. Find out how long the office has been doing loan modifications and how many have been successfully executed.

Behind the scenes, many of the companies scamming their customers are also running smear campaigns against reputable, licensed firms with long lists of successful loan modifications. Steven Feldman of The Feldman Law Center was recently a target just such an attack. He stated in a recent interview, "When we started helping home owners avoid foreclosure with loan modifications there were just a few attorneys in the entire country providing this service. Now I think there are more loan mod companies and newbie attorneys doing loan mod’s than there are McDonald’s across the country.” Commenting on the attempted character assassinations on some of the sites being used as tools of lesser companies he said, “It's amusing to me that these people even exist. It wasn't until the Feldman Law Center assisted in shutting down these companies doing loan modification scams that these unfounded allegations hit the internet. I have been an attorney for 30 years and just can't believe what I read these days.”

One thing is for certain. ShortRefiNow.com will not be the last loan modification company to be shut down for nonperformance. There are certainly others out there that will operate in the same fashion and eventually get shut down. The key is to avoid them in the first place. It can be easily done by taking some time to look behind the curtain to find out whether the firm being considered is honest, reputable, and will get the job done.