Protect yourself from foreclosure scams
Foreclosures are happening at such an alarming rate that scammers are now conning people faced with foreclosure, and scams are happening all the time. Home owners facing foreclosure are already in a panicked state of mind and these scammers take advantage of that. One of the most common scams is to make these frightened and helpless home owners believe that the scammer’s company can be the borrower’s rescuer.
The truth is that the money borrowers give to this company in the hopes of a rescue is lost, because this is just a huge scam designed to take advantage of people’s desperation to get help and translate it into immorally and illegally earned money for scammers. All over
America, foreclosure rescue missions have ended in many people who have reported that they have been scammed.
Ohio, Colorado and Georgia have the most foreclosures happening, so a lot of scammers operate in these regions, taking advantage of the high rate of foreclosures.
Oregon and Idaho are also targeted by scammers.
All over the states, it seems that the same old story is being used to cheat borrowers out of money by these so called rescue companies. Either borrowers find these scams on the Internet or are contacted directly by these companies. These companies tell the borrowers that they will step in renegotiate the mortgage terms and stop the foreclosure from happening or that the borrowers will get money back for themselves. Already in a fearful and panicked state of mind, these debtors are easily convinced by the scammers and pay up to one thousand and three hundred dollars to the companies, which do little or no work to help them with the foreclosure situation.
Most of the conned people never got their money back and lost their homes in the bargain – making a traumatic experience even more distressing when they realize that they have been conned. People faced with disclosure should check the reliability of the company they are considering by getting a Reliability Report from the BBB, free of charge. They can also go to www.bbb.org to request the report. Don’t pay any so called rescue company until you verify that it is genuine and will not cheat you out of your money.
People facing foreclosure should remember that people offering them refinancing or mortgage solutions need to be licensed by the department of finance of the state in which they are in. If you are in Idaho, the Idaho department of finance needs to license them. The Real Estate Commission needs to back those who offer to sell or buy real estate. Also, some of these scammers will approach you in a very personal and non professional manner – they might leave a hand written letter in your mailbox.
You should ideally talk to your lender or mortgage company with regard to the restructuring of your loan repayments or refinancing. If someone puts you under pressure to sign any contracts or other documents, especially those which will take your property away from you, do not do it. Any papers that you are asked to sign should be checked out first by a trustworthy and knowledgeable third party.
Amen! I’m in Florida which has been ranking in the top 5 states with the highest # of foreclosures - I was working with people facing foreclosure before it became trendy - I wish homeowners would just remember “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true” - always, always, always seek PROFESSIONAL advice - someone with training, experience…and a LICENSE!