There is a debate about who may charge upfront fees for loan modification services in the state of California.

Here is a quick review.

1. To work on loan modfication related to real estate in the State of California, you must be an attorney licensed in California or perhaps at a minimum you must be licensed as a Real Estate Broker by the California Department of Real Estate.

2. To charge up front fees, you must be either an attorney licensed by the California State Bar or be a Real Estate broker licensed by the State of California and you must also be listed on the California Department of Real Estate Website as having been granted a no opinion letter for your retainer agreement.   Notice the "no opinion" language.

3. If a Notice of Default has been filed you may not charge an upfront fee, unless you are an attorney.  (if an NOD is filed while you are working for a client as a real estate broker you must return unearned fees.  In my legal opinion).

Now a few people have argued that attorneys are not licensed to do loan mods I believe that is an obvious misread of the langauage below.  I believe the language below is saying attorneys must be retained as attorneys - not some sort of "attorney backed" marketing operation.

"You must be very careful if you are asked to pay for any of these
services in advance, whether in cash, check or by charging your credit
card. First, California Civil Code Section 2945, which regulates
"foreclosure consultants", forbids anyone who falls under the
definition of a "foreclosure consultant", as well as a real estate
licensee, from collecting any advance fees for these types of services
if a Notice of Default has been recorded against your property. If
your lender has recorded a notice of default, do not pay an advance
fee to a real estate licensee, or to any person or entity. California
licensed lawyers when rendering services in the course of their legal
practice(s) are exempt from this prohibition. There are non-profit
agencies that can assist you without charging you a fee and real
estate licensees who can represent you for a fee to be paid after they
have completed their work. For information on non-profit housing
counseling services, use the following links:

   * Federal Housing Administration
   * Hope Alliance Web site

If a Notice of Default has not been recorded against your property, it
may be permissible for a real estate broker to assist you in working
out a loan modification or otherwise negotiate a possible resolution
to your problem with your lender or loan servicer and ask you for
payment in advance for their services. However, the broker must have
you sign an agreement that tells you what services will be performed,
when they will be performed and how much you must pay. The broker
cannot have you sign an agreement until it has been submitted to the
Department of Real Estate for review and the broker has received
permission to use it and collect the advance fee."


http://www.dre.ca.gov/mlb_adv_fees.html

For more information on loan modification

See if you Qualify for Negotiations First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone* Please List One Property at a time State of Subject Property* Zip Code of subject Property* Purchase Price* Amt of senior Loan approx* Amt of junior Loan approx* Amt of third Loan approx Do you live in property* yes no About when did you take out 1st Loan When did you take out 2nd When did you take out 3rd When did you purchase property Did you move in when purchased Which loans are at leaset 60 days past due 1st 2nd Both Have you suffered a loss in income* -- Please select --yes no Are you still earning income* -- Please select --yes no What type of Modification are you seeking 1-5 year payment reduction Permanent Payment Reduction Principle and Payment Reduction Monthly Gross Income* Monthly Net Income Monthly Debt payments (do include payments detailed above* Monthly Housing Payments - including Taxes, Insurance, Hoa's,* Monthly living expenses not detailed above Is your current first loan interest only* Yes No Is your current second loan interest Only* Yes No Question / Comments Enter the code:    Please wait...