Foreclosures Help Information

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Foreclosure Help Scams

Foreclosures are increasing nationwide. Homeowners desperate to stop foreclosure are falling victims to scams that promise to "rescue " homeowners from foreclosure. what these scams do is take your money, ruin your credit record, and wipe out any equity you have in your home.

Your mortgage lender or any legitimate financial counselor can help you find real options to avoid foreclosure. If someone offers to negotiate with your lender and offers to arrange to stop or delay foreclosure for a fee, carefully check his or her credentials, reputation, and experience. Lease-Back or Repurchase Scams. Be very suspicious if someone offers to pay your mortgage and rent your home back to you. Signing over the deed gives the con artist the power to evict you, raise your rent, sell the house, or steal the equity you have in your home. You will still be responsible for your mortgage, so if the con artist stops paying it, your lender would have the right to foreclose on your home, and the foreclosure and any other problems would go on your credit record.

Refinance Fraud - Look out for people posing as mortgage brokers or lenders and offering to refinance your loan so you can afford the payments. Con artists may trick you into signing over the ownership of your home by saying that you are signing documents for a new loan. Signing over the deed to your home exposes you to the dangers described above. Even if you are a victim of fraud, you could still lose your home.

Bankruptcy Schemes - Several scams attempt to abuse the bankruptcy laws. For example, a con artist may ask you to give a partial interest in your home to one or more persons. Each holder of a partial interest can then file bankruptcy, one after another. The bankruptcy court will issue a "stay "order each time to stop foreclosure temporarily. However, the stay does not excuse you from making payments or from repaying the full amount of your loan. In another kind of scam, a con artist may offer to obtain refinancing or negotiate a payment plan with your lender. If you may make payments to the con artist, he or she may keep the money rather than pay the lender on your behalf. The con artist may even file a bankruptcy case in your name, as a part of the scam. Bankruptcy laws provide important protections to consumers. Scams can only temporarily delay foreclosure. Signing over ownership of your home, or even partial ownership, can result in serious financial harm.

How do you protect yourself? Know what you are signing. Read every document you sign. If a document is too confusing, pay the extra money to seek advice from a lawyer or an approved, trusted financial counselor. Never sign documents with blank spaces that can be filled in later. Never sign a document that contains errors or false statements, even if someone promises to correct them later. That is the oldest trick in the book, these people count on gain your confidence to defraud you.

Get promises in writing . Never count on oral promises and agreements relating to your home, as they are not legally binding in court. Written documents protect your right and allow an avenue to break the contract. Keep copies of all contracts you sign.

Make your mortgage payments directly to your lender or the mortgage servicer . Do not trust anyone else to make mortgage payments for you. Be very careful about signing over your deed. Foreclosure scams often require you to sign over ownership of your home to a con artist or another third party. Never sign over your deed without getting trusted advice from a lawyer, trusted financial advisor. By signing over your deed, you lose your rights to your home and any equity built up in the home.

Contact your mortgage lender or mortgage servicer as soon as you think you are unable to make your mortgage payment. Lenders are often in the best position to help, especially if you are current on your loan or not seriously late on your payments. Your mortgage lender or mortgage servicer may be able to identify options to help you bring the loan current or to modify your loan. You need to find counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

About the Author:

Stopping Foreclosure is possible for Homeowners. Find what you need to do first to start getting you home back and protecting your credit from being damaged for many years to come. Go here for the Foreclosure Survival Guide to Save Your Home
http://www.stopbankforeclosurestips.com/Website/sales.html

Source - The 3 Most Common Foreclosure Rescue Scams Homeowners Face When Looking for Help

Foreclosure Help Scams: Mortgage Modification too

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Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Between March and June 2008, 406 people have been charged with mortgage fraud through 'Operation Malicious Mortgage'. The foreclosure crisis has caused some kinds of fraud to skyrocket and the Justice Department has taken notice. There are three main scams that OMM is targeting: lending fraud, foreclosure rescue scams and mortgage bankruptcy scams.

Lending fraud:

There are several types of lending fraud, but we're going to look at one that is responsible for a lot of foreclosures. This is perpetrated on low-income and vulnerable demographics, such as seniors and families trying to get ahead. The person buying the home is offered an exceptionally good rate on interest, but is then hit with exorbitantly high fees and bogus taxes. What started out as a great deal becomes crushing debt. One nasty note on this kind of fraud is that about half of the people fleeced by these people could have gotten a regular loan through a reputable lending institution. They just didn't check to see what their options were.

Foreclosure rescue scams:

Say you're in a foreclosure situation, but someone steps in and says, "Hey, we can help you! Just sell your house to us for a nominal sum, we'll keep it for you and you can rent-to-own it back until you get on your feet!" You say, "Where do I sign?" The problem is, the 'kindly stranger' ends up selling your house out from under you, at a huge profit. After all, you legally transferred ownership. Too bad that your family has nowhere to live and that you're out thousands of dollars. This scam is often perpetrated against the elderly, leaving seniors without their homes or money to live.

Mortgage bankruptcy scams:

"Hey, I see you're in trouble. Let me help you with that. Just pay what you're paying to me and I'll see you straightened out!" Instead of "straightening you out", the scamster instead goes and pockets all of your payments. Sometimes a bankruptcy will be filed in your name without your knowledge. It stops foreclosure proceedings, but not for long. What a surprise you'll get when you realize that your home has been foreclosed after all! By the time many home owners realize what has happened, they are months behind on the mortgage, the scammer is gone, along with thousands of the home owner's dollars, and the bank is knocking on the door.

The key to avoiding all of these scams is to read anything you sign carefully and get a real estate lawyer to check that what you're signing doesn't make you a target for unscrupulous fees or added interest. If you already have a mortgage and are in trouble (or heading there), bypass "foreclosure services" and go directly to your lender or mortgage broker. Do not pass GO and do not collect $200 (you'll probably need it for the insurance).

About the Author:

Search for La Veta real estate in Southern Colorado at LaVetaForSale.com. Check out the handy La Veta real estate blog to learn about all things La Veta.

Source - Operation Malicious Mortgage Attacks!

Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scams - Documentary Video

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Mortgage Foreclosure Scams

Question: How do I find a not for profit organization to help stop a fore closure?

We have been getting letters from "foreclosure savers" but they have been scams and they want us to pay 1300.00 for there service if we had that much we would have paid the mortgage. We can pay now but not all the back money.
We are looking for anyway to save my God Sons credit please any help is good, we are also willing to sell but don't know how to go about it.
The property is in Rochester NY we live in Georgia thank you for your help I am going to follow up on every answer

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Answer: you can not stop foreclosure. you went about buying an investment the wrong way. and this unfortunately is the outcome.
you need to talk to the bank and file the hard ship paperwork.

talk to acorn people, h.u.d. sponsors that non profit program. they can give you counseling.
only b of a and citi bank deal with acorn loans.
i would go with citi bank.
google acorn loan program they're nonprofit across the u.s.

good luck

Protect Yourself From Mortgage Fraud

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