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Red Flags Indicating Foreclosure Scams! My hat is off to the Ventura County Real Estate Fraud Team

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Gold Coast Realtors

April 11, 2008

The Foreclosure Consulting Law was designed to protect the public against such things as foreclosure scams.  There are important points that need to be followed to be under the protection of this law that dates back to the Depression.  l)There must be a written contract with the right to rescind.  So if someone approaches you without a contract with this provision consider it a warning sign that they may not be legitimate. 2)  The party approaching you for help cannot acquire an interest in the property.  3) There cannot be any money given until a service is performed.  So if you're asked for money up front to help you resolve your foreclosure woes then this can be another red flag that they're up to no good.  4) The seller of the possible foreclosure property must also reside in it as a full time residence.  In some cases a scammer can suggest that they take over the property to relieve the seller of his financial problems.  The scammers will suggest that the sellers sign over the grant deed or the title to the property and then rent the home out to the innocent public after collecting rent from them and pocketing the money.

I was also shocked to hear that 46% of the foreclosures in Oxnard and Port Hueneme involved lenders who also represented their clients as their real estate agent.  This an obvious conflict of interest and my hope is that we come up with a bill to outlaw this practice.  Thanks to all the volunteer time and effort put into these informative workshops by the Ventura County Real Estate Fraud Team!!