With the rise of homes that are going into foreclosure into today’s real estate
market, more and more scam artist are preying on uneducated home owners
with empty promises to save their homes from foreclosure.
Most information nowadays are accessible by lead companies, so when you are
late on your mortgage payment, your lender reports your late payments to the
credit bureau’s and they turn around and sell that information to companies such
as Foreclosure Rescue Firms and once the foreclosure process starts then this
information becomes public record which is free information for these con artist.
These Foreclosure Rescue Firms prey on individuals in foreclosure as they know
they are very vulnerable. So they compile a list and then start contacting home
owners the following ways: Door knocking and approach home owners in
person, send letters or post cards via mail, email and some even hire
telemarketers in India to contact home owners via phone. Usually they will use
sales teams that can sell ice to an Eskimo and will tell the home owner just what
they want to hear, whether it’s true or false.
Here is a list of some of the more common scam type Schemes:
- Lease-To-Own – They will ask you to sign over your title to their company
and in return they will catch up the mortgage payments or refinance the
property with better financing terms, which will allow the home owner to
stay in the home as a renter and they will give you the option to buy back
the property normally in a 1 – 2 year period. The intentions of most of
these companies are just to get your home, as they know you wont be
able to afford the new payments as they are normally higher than you
were paying before, or they know you wont be able to qualify for financing
within a year or 2.
- Bankruptcy – It’s important to understand that bankruptcy does not stop
foreclosure, it only temporarily delays it. Over 66% of people that file
bankruptcy don’t complete the plan, which places them back into
foreclosure. Not to mention that bankruptcy will negatively impact your
credit from years to come.
- Government Imposter Programs – There are a lot of companies that
market themselves to appear as government affiliates and may use similar
names that sound like actual government agencies. If you do qualify for a
government program you lender will know, so contact them.
It’s important to understand that your mortgage lender has many options
available to help you avoid foreclosure. A lot of home owners stop
communication with there lender once they start falling behind to avoid the
collection calls and never get to find out about the options that are available to
them to save their home.
If you are going to hire a company to get you out of foreclosure and they are
requesting an upfront fee, you will need to proceed with caution. You will need to do some due diligence and thoroughly research this companies back ground and credentials. Ask for references and don’t just go by testimonials that are written on their websites, as anyone can write these testimonials.
Both your lender and other government agencies can provide similar services at
no charge to the home owner. The first step is to contact you lender and they
can refer you to a government agency in your area.
