Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Housing Purchase

Unfortunately, I think you will be hard-pressed to find an attorney who will write an opinion letter such as the one you are requesting. First question is how old is the bankruptcy? If it is recent, or even still pending, then I would probably not agree to write that letter myself. If it is a discharged bankruptcy, that is a different story, but bear in mind that an opinion letter to a lender is basically the lender's way of covering their you-know-what in the event something goes bad with the loan. This opens the attorney up to potentially exponential liability compared to the fee s/he will earn writing the letter. The bankruptcy attorney may write it, perhaps not fully contemplating the potential liability associated with such an opinion, but I guess all you can do is ask.

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Re: Housing Purchase

For a substantial price, and only after full review of all facts and issues necessary.

Re: Housing Purchase

Providing opinion letters is one of the things attorneys do. It's part of the job, just as doctors may be called upon to prognosticate on the chances that an organ transplant is viable and worth the cost and pain.

However, don't expect just any old lawyer to dash off an opinion letter based upon somebody's say-so about the facts of the matter. No sane attorney will risk her or his license and malpractice insurability on taking a guess. Opinion letters are written after careful review of the entire file. Thousands of dollars in fees, to be sure.

After all of this, the lawyer's opinion letter may be negative or highly qualified. Opinion-letter writing is not white-collar prostitution where if you pay the price you can demand the result.