Foreclosure Rescue Scams On Rise

Posted on August 27th, 2007 by hinson

In the crisis of foreclosure, a large number of foreclosure companies are coming to the rescue of the homeowners found at default, thereby giving rise to the foreclosure scams. Jennifer Falke from Columbus lived at her home in Ohio for a long period of about 12 years. In the year 2006, there was a tough time in the life of Falke and she lost her job. Unable to pay the mortgage on home, her house was declared at default.

During the critical situation, Falke received numerous letters and mails at her doorsteps from several foreclosure rescue companies who promised to help her come out of the dire situation by acting as an intermediary between her and the lender of the loan. She then contacted a foreclosure company called Foreclosure Assistance Solutions (FAS). She paid them a considerable amount as fees to get her rid of this problem of foreclosure. But, she said that the company only made false promises and did nothing to help her.

All the company did was to defer the time of foreclosure, thereby making it harder for her to pay back the further increasing loan amount. Falke also told that the rescue company had asked her not to contact her mortgage company otherwise she will have to bear the brunt of the higher fee. She paid an amount of $1,200 to her foreclosure rescue company as fee. At the end of the day, she lost some more money that could have been used to sort out this problem in an amicable manner.

Falke said that whenever she collected adequate money to pay her outstanding amount on loan, she came to know that the amount has increased. She got an income tax refund which she had thought of using for paying her loan amount. But, FAS told her that her mortgage company has said that it is not sufficient to pay back the loan amount. She told to the media persons that at a later stage she kept trying the number of the foreclosure rescue company and also left a couple of messages but did not get any answer. Finally, a day came when someone picked up the phone and said that they are leaving her case and hung up the phone.

Falke then gave up and finally contacted her lender and got to know that the total amount payable was $2,600 which was much less than what the fraudulent company had told her. Thereafter, she discovered from the bank that there are many cases of this kind, in which the poor vulnerable homeowners fall prey to the unscrupulous foreclosure rescue companies.

Via