Gerald Theodore Engel

Mr. Engel charges what appears to be reasonable prices . . . That is until you find out that he is not to be trusted when you need things done right. I chose his practice to help me go through what appeared to be a simple divorce. I had been separated from my ex-wife for a couple of years, my son wa...s already working away from home and providing for himself, I was able to keep a good relationship with my ex (I was the offended part) and I was willing to give up my rights to the property we owned together and for which we had a common Mortgage. So I paid this lawyer for his knowledge to get everything done, basically because nobody can learn everything and he was supposed to know what he was doing after years of practice. I explained him that it is a simple divorce and he agrees, he asks me if I want to short sale the property and I replied I did not want to get my ex out of the apartment because she had just refinanced and gotten a pretty good monthly payment (half of what it would cost her to rent something similar) and I just wanted to yield her the rights so she could stay there and I could get off the loan so there would be nothing linking me to her anymore and I could leave that chapter of my life behind. What did this lawyer do? He proposed to do a Quick Claim Deed which basically gave my ex full ownership of the property but still kept me as responsible for the loan. So at this moment I can't sale the property because I have no rights on it, I can't refinance, I can't get any part of the sale if it is sold and if my ex decides to stop the payments I am supposed to take over. I am responsible financially for a property which is not mine! I called Mr. Engel and he said: “that is the way it is” and hung up on me. No apologies, no feelings, no mention as to why he neglected to do what a lawyer is supposed to do: provide legal advise for which you are dearly paying. I went to the bank issuing the mortgage and they said the only way out of the mortgage is for my ex to refinance it and let me go since I have no right over the apartment, and to do it fast because if she stopped paying they will ask me to cover the payments. I can't purchase a new home because this loan brings down the liquid amount of money I can spend every month on a mortgage, and the loan will be there for the next 22 years of my life. There are many good lawyers out there, don't go with this one or you will regret it! I did and still do.