What Are Property Analytics?

If this is your first visit to my website, welcome! My name is Christine Springer and I'm the founder of Desert Edge Legal Services and the author of the content on this site.

Disclaimer: I’m a paralegal, not an attorney and cannot give you legal advice. This is not meant to be legal advice, and there is no guarantee that the information in this post will work for your individual situation. Please consult with an attorney if you have questions about your individual situation.

Generally, property analytics are services that are useful in helping homeowners and their attorneys understand the weaknesses in a bank’s foreclosure case against a homeowner.

The information from the analysis is typically used to help the homeowner identify leverage against the bank and to use that to their advantage.

I’ve also seen it used successfully for challenging a proof of claim or filing an adversary proceeding in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

There are a about half a dozen services that fall under the term “property analytics.” In my own practice, I used to offer one big package but I have unbundled them and can charge separately for them, depending on the client’s situation. I used to call these services a loan audit, but I was never happy with that term. Analysis is a much better word for these services.

I use a process that I developed, tested and refined while working with hundreds of homeowners in the last fifteen years. I’m not certified by anyone, and I don’t know who would be qualified to certify me since I developed the process that I use.

I don’t know much about other people’s methods. I was approached numerous times about becoming a certified forensic loan auditor, but I was happy with my process and its results.

I don’t have all the details worked out on the services and prices but I expect to have that updated in the next week or so. A critical review of loan documents and correspondence usually takes about a week to ten days but can take up to two weeks.

If you are interested in the basics of my process, you can get my book called DIY Mortgage Review for Homeowners at my publishing site, Christine Springer Media.

Generally, the process to work with me includes a consultation to figure out what’s going on, whether I can help the client, if we are a good fit, and whether the client’s goals are realistic and reasonable. A critical review of your documents is very useful in many situations, but it won't overcome things like an expired statute of limitations or if you've already had a ruling in your case.

I’ve had more than my fair share of difficult clients and I will not accept every client who approaches me for help. There are frequently clients that I won’t be able to help for various reasons, and I’d rather find out during a consultation and before I begin reviewing documents. All prospective clients are required to have to have a consultation before we agree to proceed.

Next, if we agree to move forward, the client sends the documents, we sign a Client Agreement and payment is made. Very often, the client often continues to gather documents and follow up with additional issues. We check in after a couple of days to discuss anything that came up in my research/review and to discuss any issues that have come up on the client's end.

I finish up the investigation, write the report, send it to the client and we set up another phone conference to discuss the report and how the findings fit with the client’s goals and preferred outcome.

The other part of working together is that I frequently have to help clients deal with their emotional issues. I spend a significant amount of time coaching, reassuring, guiding and sometimes pushing people through the process.

Sort of related but kind of off topic tangent:

I love being a paralegal. LOVE IT. But I’ve come pretty close to losing my faith in my choice of profession over the last ten years. I did not expect anywhere near the amount of corruption and lies as I found in mortgages in the last foreclosure crisis.

I have often wondered if I was naïve. I saw a lot of awful things happen to lawyers as a result of what the banks were doing. I’ve seen banks lying to their own lawyers about their ownership of these loans, and lawyers getting disbarred over loan modifications.

I am thankful I was smart enough to avoid all of those traps, especially considering the naivety question…but I am also aware that my naivety and innocence probably kept me out of major trouble. I had absolutely zero motivation to scam people, unlike other people, and that probably protected me.

In many ways, I am still a lot like that naïve girl who founded my company. I still enjoy helping people with their legal problems, so there’s that.

There are a lot of exciting changes happening, such as Arizona’s new LLLP program for non-lawyers and the new rules that  will allow non-lawyers to own law firms. There is clearly a path opening up for people like me, who aren’t lawyers but still want to work in the legal field.

It’s very exciting, and it’s about time!

In the meantime, I am just going to keep writing and we’ll see what happens.