Millions of American home owners have faced or will face default or foreclosure on their home loans during this recession. Motivational speakers love to quote "find a need and fill it" and that is exactly what some scam artists have been up to for several months.
With the equity bleeding out of American housing, increasing numbers of jobless home owners and Federal bank bailouts not working according to plan it is the perfect storm for raiders of hope.
The Federal Trade Commission, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with state's attorney generals have not been blind to deceptive practices employed by slick talking predators who know how to use fear and often false credentials to gain the trust of home owners facing foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Appearing real
Perhaps the most dangerous form of loss mitigation predation comes in the form of a sealed letter being delivered by the post office to the home owner's home address. These solicitations can appear convincingly as though they originated from a government agency including having a Washington D.C. address as a return. The Treasury Department has been monitoring solicitations for loss mitigation, loan modification and foreclosure rescue services for several months and are also joined by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission in ongoing investigations.
Recognizing a scam is easier than identifying legitimate companies because the scammers emulate legitimate companies and cite current changes in laws designed to help struggling home owners. Posted on the Treasury Department's website for nearly two years has been an article addressing the different types of scams and tips on how to identify and avoid them.
Good advice
Advice from HUD on the Making Home Affordable website includes "Do not sign over the deed to your property to any organization or individual unless you are working directly with your mortgage company to forgive your debt. Never make a mortgage payment to anyone other than your mortgage company without their approval."
Additional information is available from the Federal Trade Commission listing names of companies involved in their investigations and the author's blog at Active Rain.
Comments