Federal and Local Authorities in the Quest to Protect the Homeowners

Posted on December 11th, 2009 by Samanta Parks

Authorities are fighting to help owners and avoid scams

For homeowners all across the country, the fear of foreclosed homes increase as they have to face the problems and consequences of the current financial crisis. As their fear rises, they are more likely to fall prey of different scammers and as this happens, authorities both federal and local try to protect them.

There are many stories similar, naturally, the players have changed and will constantly change but the event is the same. The homeowner realizes that he has not enough financial sustenance to provide for his family and keep the mortgage payments. As he realizes that the danger of foreclosure is closing in on him and the home that he has provided for his family, he seeks the assistance of a real estate agent that claims he can help make the foreclosure ghost go away.

In the end, the homeowner will have lost the money that the real estate agent required AND he will be deeper in debt, since there was no help and no magical solution, so he had to borrow from wherever he could to keep the payments done. In the end, homeowners who are trying their best to keep their homes are becoming easy prey for scammers who state that they can stop or even “delete” the borrower’s account.

During 2009, FBI experts state that they have been following at least 174 thousand reports from borrowers about suspicious actions in mortgage situations such as these one. Such cipher represents a 276% increase from the previous year.

State governments are following presidential directives and making their own effort to prevent and reduce the amount of homeless families and homeowners who have been scammed; one example is the state of Michigan. In this state, residents that have been scammed are being refunded the amounts that they lost; another example is the state of Delaware where upfront payments in mortgage modification activities are banned.

Of course, these actions will not suffice in the long run, a family that is desperate to keep and protect their home are still an easy prey for scammers and other criminals, including real estate agents that do mean well but are definitely not prepared for the task.

Because of the desperation, they fall prey and end up getting into bigger and deeper problems, thus causing that even the strongest of the presidential directives of assistance fails. Therefore, from November 17 on, President Obama issued a decree where a federal task force for investigation and prosecution on mortgage frauds and scams was created, alongside this creation, there is a bill yet to be passed where homeowners and prospective buyers would be protected from scammers.

In this bill, there is also a reference point where state governments would receive an estimate of $200 million dollar to fiercely combat scams. Most homeowners find themselves too worried about their homes to take it easy, as it turns out most of them will indeed seek help in legal and registered companies, which is where corrupted employees might divert their information to potential scam artists.

Consequently, they will be contacted and persuaded to affiliate to additional or outside groups with the promise that their problem will be solved; therefore, it is of the utmost importance for everyone involved to provide them with the right guidance and protection against scammers.

Sadly, while most states are trying to set up directives that will protect homeowners, there is still a lot of wiggling room for scammers to work around the law.