About

MIZNA, the parent company of LoanMod.com was founded in 2005 by Moose M. Scheib, an entrepreneur, corporate lawyer, and Columbia Law graduate, and Sonny Mandouh, a real estate and mortgage professional. While working at a major law firm in New York City, Moose got a call from his uncle who was heading into foreclosure and needed help. Moose called childhood friend and mortgage expert, Sonny, who was living in San Diego at the time, to inquire about potential solutions. After exploring several options without success, Moose decided to call the lender directly to work out a deal so that his uncle could keep his home—a house that had been in the family for 26 years. After several months of negotiations, the bank finally agreed to modify the terms of the existing mortgage. A loan modification was born.

Forecasting a national foreclosure crisis and a mortgage meltdown, the founding partners set out on a journey to save the American Dream. The first stop in that journey began in Detroit, Michigan, where Moose and Sonny grew up, and where many of their friends and family members were being laid off from their automotive and manufacturing jobs. Recognizing that Michigan’s crumbling economy was fueling a local housing crisis and foreclosure epicenter, the partners incorporated in Michigan in May of 2006 and set up shop in Dearborn, Michigan, hometown of Henry Ford, near Ford world headquarters. For the owners of the first loan modification company in America and founders of a new service offering, Michigan provided the perfect testing ground in perfecting the loan modification process.

When the partners sat down to decide on a name for the new venture, they wanted a symbolic name matching the intensity of their cause—a name that would provide shelter and hope to homeowners and lenders. They chose mizna, an old, rarely used, Aramaic and Arabic word meaning desert cloud.

In ancient times, the weary desert traveler would pray for a mizna to shield and protect him from the burning rays of the sun and provide him with nourishing rain. And that, in so few words is what MIZNA sets out to do—protect homeowners and lenders from the disastrous social and economic impact of widespread foreclosures.