Beware The Vultures!

With well over a million homes already in foreclosure, and many more on the brink of foreclosure, the incidence of fraudulent "Home Rescue" companies has also increased drastically.

It is an unfortunate fact that wherever there's suffering, vultures will appear. These con artists are aware that people are deperate and therefore vulnerable and they don't hesitate to take advantage of this fact.

Beware of Foreclosure Rescue Scams:

These can take several different forms, but certain terms should immediately trigger your internal "scamster alarm".

These vultures often refer to themselves as Foreclosure Consultants, Foreclosure Rescue Agency or any similiar official-sounding terms. They may even claim to have been referred to you by your bank. ALWAYS CONFIRM SUCH CLAIMS with your bank/ mortgage company, before committing to anything!

Some of the Forms that these scams take are:

1) Purchase & Lease-Back Scheme: As the name implies, the scamster will ask you to sign the deed of your property over to him/her, promising to make the payments & then renting your home back to you at a very reasonable rental.

Of course, as the landlord, this con-person will then have the power to evict you, while the mortgage holder will still hold you responsible for your motgage payment. The ramifications are obvious and dire.

2) Refinancing: Similiar to the above, with the main difference being that you will be signing over your deed, thinking that you're signing a refinancing agreement.

3) Bankruptcy Scam: This one can take on several guises.

The scamster could try to abuse the Bankruptcy Laws - which are designed to protect you - by having you sign over partial ownership of your home to several accomplices. The premise being, that these individuals will then file a series bankruptcies, which will stall the foreclosure process.
Of course, this may well stall the process, but your liability to the mortgage holder remains unchanged!

Another variation of this scam, would see the scammer claiming to have come to an arrangement with your bank/ mortgage company and that you should then pay him/her (a lower amount of course). Of course, none of these funds will ever make it to your bank account!

The scammer may even file a bankruptcy on your behalf, without your knowledge...

By getting involved in any of these kinds of fraudulent activities, you severely damage any chances of your finding legal ways of dealing with your problems.

Don't forget. Ignorance is not an excuse before the Law...

As the old saying goes: CAVEAT EMPTOR! (Buyer Beware ) Of course, in this case, it's more a case of Seller Beware)