Don't Lose Your Home to Foreclosure "Rescue" Scammers

   As record numbers of homeowners are defaulting on mortgages and are at risk of foreclosure, foreclosure "rescue" scammers are coming out of the woodwork in droves. These people and companies pretend to help homeowners facing foreclosure, but instead steal homes, equity, and money -- leaving the former homeowner in a more desperate financial state than before. Don't become the latest victim of these scams. Learn how the scams work, what the scammers are like, and how to protect yourself.

How Do The Scams Work?  The methods scammers use to rip off homeowners are extremely varied. But most of them fit into three broad categories.

1. Sale-Leaseback Scams   In these schemes, foreclosure scammers prey upon the overarching desire of many homeowners -- to stay in their home. The foreclosure scammer tells the victim that the scammer will buy the house so that the mortgage is up to date and the homeowner can rent the home and then buy the home back from the scammer. Unfortunately, the rent payments and buyback provisions are usually so onerous that homeowners can never buy the home back.

2. Charging High Fees for Little or No Services  Some foreclosure scammers pretend they are legitimate foreclosure consultants and then exploit the homeowner's trust by:

3. Stealing the Home Without the Homeowner's Knowledge  In these schemes, the foreclosure scammer gets the homeowner to unwittingly surrender ownership of the home. Often, the foreclosure consultant promises that he will bring the mortgage up to date and allow the homeowner to stay in the home, setting up a payment plan for the homeowner to pay him back. The victim doesn't realize that the home has actually been sold to the scammer (usually at a ridiculously low price) and ends up paying extremely high rent to stay in the home.                                                                                                     Sometimes, the homeowner believes he is signing new loan documents to bring the mortgage current, but instead is signing title over to the scammer. Or the scammer may simply forge the homeowners' signature on documents.

So please all you homeowners out there, please be very very careful.