Beating foreclosure scams
In October 2009, the foreclosure rates were still 18.9 percent higher than they were in October a year ago. In comparison to the previous months, the rate of foreclosure has dipped, but it’s still very high when compared to previous years. At such times of distress, homeowners are most vulnerable to dubious companies. Therefore, here are some methods in ensuring that you do not fall into sweet talking and smooth operating fraud companies.
One should take advice and information from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The counselors will advice you on a range of housing matters, including foreclosures. Also, the website of this department has a list of approved agencies state wide. Please remember that, for homeowners in financial distress, HUD counseling comes at a very low cost and is sometimes free. Refrain from working with an agency that asks for a fee before giving advice.
Any agency promising to stall the foreclosure once and for all and make it go away should not be trusted fully, since no one can give this guarantee. Any fee or service payments demanded by the agency, before the program goes into affect, should not be made unless clarified with the authorities. Before going to a local agency, check the credentials and listing at the HUD website. Ask for some customer names that have already availed the service; speak to them to learn about their experience.
During these times, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the consumer information on frauds, started back in 2008, still holds good. They mentioned that the agencies trying to perpetrate fraud get the information of distressed owners through notices on newspapers and online. These agencies then send personalized letters and offers to the individuals to see if they can get them to take the bait. Extrapolating from this it would be advisable to know how these agencies who contacted you got the information.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that, in the year 2008, the total mortgage fraud Suspicious Activity Reports were 63,173 cases, with a loss of $1.5 billion. Some of the most popular types of mortgage frauds that happen in America include equity skimming, property flipping and mortgage related identity theft. One should also be aware of predatory lending practices, which hurt the primary borrowers and usually result in defaults and delinquencies. These predatory practices target the elderly, distressed owners and defaulters.