Tired of handling your mortgage payment problems all by yourself? Perhaps you’ve been desperately searching for a solution that doesn’t involve losing your home to foreclosure but don’t really know where to turn for help. Someone knocks on your door and introduces himself as a ‘foreclosure rescue counselor.’ You are astonished by the coincidence and are more than willing to hear him out. He presents you with professional-looking credentials and glowing testimonials from prior clients who’ve been rescued from similarly desperate circumstances thanks to his efforts. He tells you exactly what you want to hear-
“I’ll get you a second mortgage with lower monthly payments”
“We’ll buy your house as it is”
“I’ll save your credit”
“If you sell the house to my company, the foreclosure will not be recorded against you. It’ll go on our records”
He might seem like a godsend sent to bail you out of your distress. In all likelihood though, the person is probably an experienced scammer who is only out to steal your money, your home, or both. The ‘bail out’ foreclosure scam is one of the most popular scams that con artists pull on unwary homeowners. It’s extremely easy to trick a homeowner into signing away the deed of their house, simply because their offer sounds so reasonable.
The person might tell you to sell your house to them at a very cheap rate while reassuring you that it’s not a real sale. They are quick to point out that it’s only a temporary measure designed to buy you time until you get your finances in order. You are told that you’ll be able to stay in your own home as a renter until you’re ready to buy it back from the company, with a little interest at the end of a pre-determined time period. They say they’ll relieve you of your financial distress and help you save your home from foreclosure while making some profit in the process as a rescuer. You get to live in your own home, improve your credit and buy it back when your situation improves. Sounds like a win-win for all doesn’t it?
The truth is that it is possible to save your home this way if you do get help from an ethical legitimate company. A genuine company will charge a moderate fee or might negotiate for a portion of your home’s equity in exchange, or will include some interest in the buyback price for their role in the rescue. It’s a reasonable trade since the company is using their good credit to get a second mortgage that bails you out of your desperate situation and temporarily holds the deed for you. A person who knocks on your door though and makes such an offer is probably up to no good. You need to seek out a reputed company and do a thorough background check before agreeing to such an offer. You might end being ruined otherwise since its possible to lose your home, your home’s equity and still be liable for your mortgage payments simply because you unwittingly agreed to a fraudulent deal.
So seek out an ethical foreclosure rescue company. There are many resources that will help you find a legitimate outfit. The hallmarks of a fair deal include-
1) Complete written and verbal disclosure. The company will give you copies of all the documents.
2) The contract will specify favorable terms and conditions that you can actually meet.
3) A reasonable pre-determined fee for the rescuer.
You can buy your home back if you do strike a workable deal. Make sure to go through all the documents word by word and get it thoroughly checked out by your lawyer before you sign any contract.
Read more on Bail-Out Foreclosure Scams – How To Get Legitimate Stop Foreclosure Help?…
Filed under Scam Alert by on Nov 28th, 2009. 
Terrified of losing your home to foreclosure?
Perhaps you’ve been searching for information everywhere on what you can do to stop it. There’s a great deal of data online about how you can stop foreclosure and the alternatives available to you. Quite a few books and websites offer exhaustive information on the subject and can be a real help in walking you through various options.
Unfortunately, the sheer anonymity offered by the web has made it an ideal haunt for scam artists interested in siphoning off your money under the pretext of helping you rescue your home from foreclosure. There are quite a few websites that are little more than online storefronts for these scammers out to make a quick buck.
It’s easy to get sucked in by the promises they make since their sales pitch will usually contain photographs of ecstatic homeowners whose homes have been saved thanks to the foreclosure rescue specialist. These sites may offer audio clips of people describing their experience, in addition to the fake testimonials.
If something sounds too good to be true, the liklihood is it’s probably a scam. Your instincts are there for a reason — Pay attention to them. It’s easy for scammers to rip people off before anyone catches on to them and transfer their storefront to another domain name at the first sign of trouble. It can be almost impossible task for authorities to pinpoint and shut down these outfits. They’ve usually disappeared by the time anyone makes a complaint.
Pay attention to the following tips to avoid being scammed online:
1) Never surrender any information like your credit card details, social security numbers and other personal information to any website promising to rescue you from foreclosure. You might be asked to submit all this information for the foreclosure rescue company to review your situation and your credit history. Don’t submit this information at any cost.
2) Check to see whether complaints pop up against the business by doing a search on the company or individual’s name, along with search strings that include words such as scam, complaint, fraud etc.
The best way to avoid being scammed is not conduct any financial transaction online involving foreclosure rescue. Find an offline foreclosure rescue outfit that you can interact with face to face which has an actual office that you can go to and personnel or help-lines that you can interact with. This will give you an added layer of security as opposed to interacting with unknown people on a site or email address.
Filed under Scam Alert by on Nov 22nd, 2009.
Seniors are one of the top targets of ‘foreclosure rescue scams’ for a variety of reasons. If you are a senior, you’ve probably lived in your home for a long time and have built up a substantial amount of home equity in the process. Even a fraction of that amount is a very attractive sum for a scammer and they may attempt to scam you out of it in a variety of ways.
It’s probably not easy for you to get a loan from a lender of bank, if you are a senior facing the threat of foreclosure. It can be difficult to find somebody who will offer you a second loan on a fixed income or pension, without pledging any collateral. This is where a con artist steps in, offering to refinance your existing mortgage, typically replacing them with more expensive loans that you cannot afford to pay. When you eventually default on these payments the scammer might offer to find a buyer for you home and pocket any equity available as service fees. There are many variations of equity scams that thousands of homeowners fall prey to every year.
Another very popular scam that con artists pull on seniors features a ‘home improvement’ or ‘home repair’ hook. This type of con can even push an otherwise financially comfortable senior into foreclosure. The scammer appears disguised as a contractor and offers to make repairs on your home. They may recommend some very attractive financing options but the loans they will arrange will be out of your league or they may keep on increasing the amount you have to pay by quoting more problems they’ve uncovered in the course of their repairs. Defaulting on the loan or being unable to meet the rising cost of repairs can easily push you into foreclosure.
Unfortunately, seniors make very easy victims. They might not be sophisticated enough to handle complex legal issues and might be more than happy to have someone handle it for them. Many of them might be single or be widowers and may not be financially savvy. They might also be more trusting of people and more easily intimidated by fast-talking con artists. It’s also easy to befriend a lonely senior, scam them under the guise of providing friendly counsel and have them sign over the deed to their house. There have been many reported cases of even family members scamming their elderly relatives.
The only way to be safe is to not fall for any of these scams. Be extremely suspicious of anyone who knocks on your door offering to save you from foreclosure by taking out another loan or who offers to make home repairs uninvited. If you do plan to make repairs, it’s best to contact a legitimate contractor, check out competing bids and do a background check on the license of the contractor you decide to go with. Don’t sign over the deed of your house to a friend or family member without getting some legal counsel. If you fall into the low-income category you may qualify for free legal aid.
Contact a Consumer Credit Counseling Service office or your local legal aid center to get more information on the options available to you as a senior to avoid foreclosure.
Read more on Why Seniors Are Prime Targets Of Foreclosure Scammers?…
Filed under Scam Alert by on Nov 16th, 2009.
