I've just been made aware of an ugly scam that is affecting a lot of people in Southern California and other places. This is an insidious scam that takes advantage of the turbulent finance environment.

Consumer advocates and Mortgage Brokers (the reputible ones) are warning of this fraud where someone, under a false company or individual comes along and claims to be the new servicer of a borrowers loan. The new party will collect as many payments as possible before being discovered and then move on. Borrowers can loose a lot of money to this scam while at the same time, may face foreclosure because their 'real' payments aren't being made.

Its easy to fall for this scam because as we all know, its not uncommon to have a loan change hands several times, over the life of a loan. The way to fight this menace is to call your current lender, using the number on your mortgage coupon or older paperwork, and ask if your loan was sold.

Legally, the old and new lender must notify you in writing when your loan is sold. Verify any documents you receive about a new servicer, and don't trust any contact details is those documents. Use your own resources to contact your lender. If you just start sending payments without checking, you'll likely end up regretting it.

Contact your local law enforcement agency if you become a victim of this scam. 

 Regards,

John Wall