Law Offices of Matthew R. Wildermuth

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/08/27) */
Contemporaneous with and following the client's initiation of the instant complaint, we have met and otherwise communicated with the client about the services provided and yet to be provided by my law firmAs a result of those discussions,
the client has developed a more complete understanding of the options still remaining and how we can work collaboratively to pursue the best option for the client at each stage under the circumstancesThe client has instructed my firm to continue representing his interests and believe he will concur with this description of eventsPlease contact me if you have any questions or require any additional information
Best regards,
Matt ***
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/08/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

I acknowledge that Ms*** retained my firm in July, under an agreement specifying a flat fee for representation no longer how long her case might take to resolve Ms*** home already was in foreclosure as of May 6, (prior to her retaining us). I also acknowledge that
Ms*** paid the initial retainer fee of $1,to my firm in full on 7/22/Prior to receiving the complete retainer fee, however, on July 15, 2016, we filed an appearance in the foreclosure action already pending against her to prevent the lender from taking action against her without notice to my firmThis required my firm to front the $fee to the court clerk on her behalf Thereafter we actively engaged the lender in negotiations in an effort to procure a more favorable loan restructure for Ms*** from late July right up until the date she filed this complaint.Ms*** refers in her complaint to an invoice I prepared at her request to document the individual tasks my team and I performed on her behalf and the relative value of same when converting that time to an equivalent hourly fee (rather than the flat fee specified in the retainer agreement). Before preparing the invoice she requested, I sought to resolve her concerns regarding the fees by authorizing one of my managers, *** ***, to offer Ms*** a $credit against her total fees and, when that was rejected, to offer a $invoice credit. Ms*** rejected the $credit and demanded that we prepare an invoice breaking down the fees we claimed to have earned, which invoice we provided to her by email on or about December 20, 2016. Ms*** reviewed the invoice and voiced some questions and criticisms about the invoice. I requested an opportunity to meet with Ms*** to discuss the invoice and the manner in which we calculated the total hours and rates for each individual identified on the spreadsheet. Ms*** did not respond to our requests to meet about the invoice. She then filed the complaint to which this statement responds. More recently, we talked with Ms*** and agreed to refund to her $of the $3,in total fees of she paid to us over the preceding months. If Ms*** would like to discuss these matters further with us, please have her call the office so we can set up an appointment with her to do soLikewise, we would be happy to answer any questions you may have about her concernsThank you

This client was scheduled to come to my office this morning to discuss her concerns and to reach consensus on how to proceed forward. We have had several detailed conversations with this client in the past several months regarding her objectives for our representation and we are very
disappointed that she has elected to initiate this complaint process without having a face to face meeting with us to go over her file in person. We will nonetheless continue trying to reach this client and work with her to address her concerns. I will supplement this response once we have reached the client directly. Thank you

The instant "complaint" arose out of a misunderstanding between the client and one of my staff members.  We have communicated with the client and reached a consensus on how the matter will be handled going forward.  The client wishes to have my firm continue to represent her in this matter...

and authorized me to report to you that this matter is resolved to her satisfaction.  Thank you.

This responds to the complaint submitted my former client Sharon Williams (“Ms. W--------s”) regarding my representation for the period between on or about May 31, 2016 and December 20, 2017. Ms. W-------s retained my firm to represent her regarding her delinquent mortgage payments to her lender...

[redacted] Group ([redacted]).  Shortly after Ms. W-------s retained us, [redacted] initiated foreclosure proceedings against Ms. W-------s.  We promptly filed our appearance on her behalf and represented her throughout the proceeding until December 20, 2017, on which date she terminated our representation and instructed a different attorney to file bankruptcy on her behalf.  During the time we represented her in the foreclosure, we prepared for and participated in multiple individual court events, including preparing and filing an answer to [redacted]’s Complaint, preparing and filing a brief in opposition to [redacted]’s Motion for Summary Judgment and a successful Emergency Motion to Stay the Sale of Ms. W-------s’ property while we sought to finalize a workout plan for her property. The Order granting the Stay of the foreclosure sale on December 19, 2017 made it completely unnecessary (and ill-advised) for Ms. W-------s initiate bankruptcy proceedings that same day. To the extent Ms. W-------s contends otherwise, she is mistaken. Ms. W-------s’ description of our efforts to obtain a workout for her delinquent loan likewise is inaccurate.  As the contemporaneous notes reflect, we regularly communicated with Ms. W-------s and with [redacted] and its counsel to qualify Ms. W-------s for various loan restructuring options. From the period between July 2016 and November 2017, we transmitted at least six distinct loan workout applications and supporting documentation to [redacted] on Ms. W-------s’ behalf and maintained contact with [redacted] representatives every two weeks, on average.  During that period, [redacted] repeatedly declined to approve Ms. W-------s for loss mitigation options because, pursuant to its guidelines, [redacted] considered Ms. W-------s to have income sufficient to pay her regular mortgage payment and still have funds available to meet all other ordinary living expenses.  After the first few denials, we began discussing potentially viable alternatives with Ms. W-------s regarding her delinquent loan balance, including a short sale or a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy petition. In or about January of 2017, Ms. W-------s disclosed to us that she recently had been diagnosed with lupus, an auto-immune disease, the symptoms of which eventually would prevent her from working full time.  Ms. W-------s was adamant that she alone control the timing of when she applied for disability benefits, as she wanted to continue earning her full salary for as long as she could manage.  We followed her direction to defer disclosing her impending disability and its corresponding effect on her annual income to [redacted] for another eight (8) months.  During those eight months, we resubmitted Ms. W-------s’ application for workout relief to [redacted] based on her full (non-disability) income, which submissions [redacted] predictably rejected. During those eight months, we also continued to advise Ms. W-------s of other potentially viable non-foreclosure outcomes including a short sale, deed in lieu and bankruptcy. [redacted] issued its denial of loss mitigation for Ms. W-------s based on her full income on or about August 31, 2017.  On or about September 6, 2017, we discussed this denial with Ms. W-------s at length and advised her that it was in her best interest to apply for disability benefits because [redacted] refused to consider any additional submissions based on her full income.  Ms. W-------s agreed to initiate her application for disability benefits and to provide us all the documentation needed to support [redacted]’s consideration of disability income.  On or about September 27, 2017, we appeared in court on Ms. W-------s’ behalf and argued in opposition (based on our written brief) to [redacted]’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale.  Despite our best efforts, the court overruled our objections to [redacted]’s Motions and the court entered a judgment of foreclosure and sale authorizing [redacted] to proceed with an auction of Ms. W-------s’ property in approximately 90 days if Ms. W-------s did not achieve some other non-foreclosure resolution with [redacted] in the meantime.  We contacted Ms. W-------s promptly after that date to apprise her of the outcome of the hearing, the significance of the court’s orders and the 90-day deadline for reaching a firm agreement with [redacted] to restructure the loan or to take other action to protect her interests.  As a result, it was imperative that we provide [redacted] proof of Ms. W-------s’ disability and reduction in income as soon as possible. Ms. W-------s told us that her application for disability would not be adjudicated for at least another thirty (30) days.  We elected at that point to transmit to [redacted] a “placeholder: submission based on Ms. W-------s’ anticipated disability benefits with the expectation that we would supplement that submission with additional documentation once she was formally approved for benefits.  Predictably, on or about October 11, 2017, [redacted] sought further details regarding Ms. W------s’ disability status, requesting, among other things, a copy of the disability award letter from her employer.  We promptly advised Ms. W-------s that [redacted] was seeking confirmation of the amount and frequency of payment under the disability award.  Ms. W-------s told us that the Disability Committee at her employer had put her claim on the agenda for adjudication at its November 2, 2017 hearing date. Thereafter, On October 26, 2017, Ms. W-------s told us she received a letter from the Disability Committee confirming that her application was complaint and that the Committee would decide her application on November 2, 2017.  As a result, we could not transmit the confirmatory documentation [redacted] sought regarding Ms. W-------s’ disability benefits until Ms. W-------s obtained her award letter from the Disability Committee.  Ms. W-------s promised to provide us that documentation as soon as she received it. We followed up with Ms. W-------s on November 7, 2017, at which time Ms. W-------s told us that the Disability Committee had approved her application and promised to fax us a copy of the award letter.  We reiterated the significance of getting that information in [redacted]’s hands immediately, as [redacted] in the meantime had served notice of its intent to proceed with a foreclosure sale of Ms. W-------s’ property on December 20, 2017. Ms. W-------s first transmitted a copy of the disability award letter to us on November 14, 2017.  That same day we transmitted an updated application to [redacted] disclosing Ms. W-------s’ new average monthly income going forward and making the case for the proposition that the current structure of the mortgage made the payments unaffordable to Ms. W-------s.  [redacted] denied the application on the grounds that it was submitted less than 37 days prior to the scheduled sale date – November 14 being 36 days prior to the sale date.  All efforts to persuade [redacted] to waive the “37-day rule” (a standard applied relatively consistently by other lenders and servicers on loans identical or similar to Ms. W-------s’ loan), but to no avail.  We informed Ms. W-------s of [redacted]’s denial and the basis for its position, as well as our efforts to get [redacted] to yield on this condition. Over the ensuing 30 days, we had a series of communications with Ms. W-------s and her fiancé explaining the options potentially available to her under the circumstances.  Our primary focus was on filing an Emergency Motion to Stay the December 20, 2017 foreclosure sale of the property claiming [redacted] had arbitrarily denied Ms. W-------s’ application that contained irrefutable evidence of her changed [redacted] condition.  We have had tremendous success with this type of motion in Cook County and expected to prevail on this motion as well. The significance of extending the date of the sale by 45-60 days is that [redacted] could no longer employ the “37-day rule” against Ms. W-------s to decline review because the November 14, 2017 submission this would be deemed to have been received by [redacted] more than 37 days prior to the new sale date.  As a back-up plan, we set up an appointment for Ms. W-------s to meet with my associate specializing in bankruptcy so that, if the Emergency Motion failed, Ms. W-------s would still have time to file a bankruptcy petition on December 19 or 20 which would automatically prohibit [redacted] from proceeding with the December 20, 2017 sale.  My associate had already explained many of the procedures and processes regarding a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition during a meeting with Ms. W-------s and her fiancé in our offices on Saturday, May 13, 2017.  Ultimately Ms. W-------s directed us to proceed with the Emergency Motion to stay the sale with the fallback position of filing the bankruptcy petition if the court did not postpone the sale.  On December 19, 2017, we appeared before the presiding judge on our Emergency Motion to Stay Sale, which Motion the court granted and prohibited [redacted] from conducting the sale at any time prior to January 31, 2018.  As noted above, this outcome had the practical effect of making Ms. W-------s’ November 14, 2017 submission timely under the “37-day” rule and [redacted] would be required to provide a substantive response to the application consistent with its guidelines. We immediately called Ms. W-------s to share the good news.  She responded by telling us that she no longer required our services and requested us to send her a complete copy of her loan restructure and litigation files. We learned thereafter that Ms. W-------s had retained other counsel and had filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition shortly after we had obtained the successful result in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  Ms. W-------s told us on December 19 and again on December 20 that she did not want my firm to take any further action on her behalf.  We complied with Ms. W-------s’ request for a copy of her complete file on December 23, 2017 by overnight mail and confirmed by tracking number that she received same. With respect to Ms. W-------s’ claim that she is entitled to a refund of a portion of the fees she paid my firm, a quick calculation refutes the notion that she did not get the full benefit of her bargain.  The retainer agreement specified a flat fee arrangement totaling $6,195.00, which is the amount Ms. W-------s in fact paid.  Our records reflect that I or associate attorneys working at my direction incurred at least 16 total hours of time on Ms. W-------s’ matter. Applying a blended hourly rate of $250.00, the reasonable value of those services equals $4,000.00.  Legal assistants working at my direction and under my supervision spent an additional 45 hours of time on Ms. W-------s’ multiple submissions and communications directly with [redacted] and its counsel.  At a blended rate of $100 per hour, my legal assistants’ work yields a reasonable value of $4,500.00.  From the amounts Ms. W-------s paid my firm, we paid $228 to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County as the mandatory Appearance fee to represent Ms. W-------s in the foreclosure proceeding and we incurred an additional $76.00 in filing fees for the other pleadings we submitted to the court on Ms. W-------s’ behalf.  I am confident that any more detailed examination of the fees Ms. W-------s paid my firm under the factors set forth in Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 would disclose that Ms. W-------s came out ahead in this regard. Based on all the foregoing and the documentation provided herewith, I respectfully submit that we discharged all our professional obligations to Ms. W-------s at each stage of the representation.  Please contact me if you have any questions or require any additional information.  Thank you for your consideration.