Learn to Dodge Mortgage Modification Scams with These Tips
Posted by : Admin
The mortgage business offers big money, and there are some unsavory characters who try making a quick buck by scamming people. Homeowners who have fallen on hard times and are behind with their mortgage payments need to be especially careful. Attempting to find a way to stay out of foreclosure can lead some folks straight into a scam if they aren’t vigilant.
Avoid falling for a mortgage modification scam by knowing about the most popular ones up front and watching for red flags.
Internet Scams
You may get emails or see online ads that offer to help get your home refinanced. Be careful. Some of them are run by criminals wanting to harvest your personal information and use it to open other lines of credit. Falling for an internet scam can leave you in foreclosure and make you a victim of identity theft (which is time-consuming to untangle).
Phone Scams
Beware of phone calls out of the blue from “mortgage companies” offering help for your foreclosure issues. Like the internet scams, these fraudsters are attempting to gain access to your social security number and other personal details to use or sell.
Repurchase Scams
This scam starts by a “company” offering to temporarily purchase your home from you with the promise to let you rent it, and then sell it back to you when your financial situation improves. However, once they take ownership of your home, they can evict you, sell it, and pocket the money.
Refinance Scams
You sign over part of the interest in your home to the scammer, who is posing as a refinance company. They agree to rescue you from foreclosure and require you to sign some documents. By signing them, you’re really signing ownership of your property to the scammers. It may be months before you find out you no longer own the property, when they hit you with an eviction notice.
Red Flags Signaling Scams
- The smell test: The adage “if it seems too good to be true, it is” holds up here. If anyone’s selling a way to get out of foreclosure easily, chances are good it’s a scam.
- Large, upfront fees: Real mortgage companies and organizations that offer foreclosure assistance won’t ask you to pay before services are rendered.
- Bad advice: If the person or company tells you to stop talking to your mortgage company, or to stop paying your mortgage payments, don’t listen to them. Doing either of these things gets you in deeper financial trouble.
- Ownership requests: Be leery of anyone trying to “help you” avoid foreclosure by asking for a piece or all of your property to be transferred to them. There’s no legitimate reason to ever do this.
If you’re looking for a bad credit mortgage or a mortgage modification, trust the professionals at MIG. Our experience makes us the perfect partner to help you get and keep your dream home.
