Foreclosure Scams "Spreading like Wildfire"

(CBS)  Scam artists preying on families about to lose their homes.

And the number of vulnerable homeowners keeps rising.

In this year's first quarter, the foreclosure rate surged 35 percent, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

No surprise, then, that crooks are all too ready to try to take advantage, says CBS News Business and Economics Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis.

On average, she says, consumers lose $3,000 if they're victimized by such fraud, but you could lose your entire home. The state of Nevada alone has received complaints against 167 companies supposedly involved in foreclosure "relief" efforts, sometimes getting hundreds of complaints about a particular company.

TYPES OF SCAMS

Phantom Help: The "rescuer" charges outrageous fees for light-duty phone calls or paperwork that the homeowner could easily handle on his or her own, none of which results in saving the home. This predatory scam gives homeowners a false sense of hope and prevents them from seeking qualified help.

Bailout - or "Rent-to-Own": The homeowner is deceived into signing over the deed, in the belief he or she will be able to stay in the house as a renter and eventually buy it back over time. The terms of these scams are so onerous that the buy-back may be impossible, the homeowner loses possession and the "rescuer" walks off with most or all of the equity.

Bait and Switch: In this scam, the homeowner thinks he or she is signing documents to bring the mortgage current, but instead actually surrender ownership. Homeowners usually don't even know they've been scammed until they're evicted.

RED FLAGS TO BE AWARE OF

If the "rescuer" does any of the following, the "rescuer" could really be a thief at work:

- Calls itself "mortgage consultants"
- Advertises with flyers or solicits door-to-door
- Asks for upfront payment
- Tells you to make payments to them
- Tells You to transfer your deed to them

IF YOU THINK YOU'VE BEEN HAD

- Fill out a police report
- Contact your state's attorney general's office
- Notify your lender

[sdh26234]

So, this is America the example supposedely to the world, she/it constantly claims, as her guns are and have been for many decades circled the globe shooting and threatening to shoot to pieces any nation that does not bow low quickly and says: Heil to America, the greatest World Empire ever, as the Emperor leads out as all previous Empires but with greater power than ever. Yes, America is now self-destructing like previous Empires. Yes, Socialism/Communism and the most inhumane ever militaristic imperialism is to America what in true life termites are to a wooden structure. No wonder most Americans are and have for years begun to distrust the USA Federal Government. Yes, crooks are wild everywhere praying on the innocent ones, and in really right there in the place called: Congress of the this Unitedt States of America. Of course Wall Street right along. The USA National Debt is now a monster with a life of itself. In closing let's just for a moment see what the Founding Fathers have to say: "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable". By George Washington. He, George Washington, also still has this to say: "Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty". America, you are not listening, as you are on the road of self-dectruction, while the Founding Fathers weep in their graves.

[tsigili]

Well.......we can be fairly certain, that the government is doing little to stop it.

[pragmatist1]

Why is it that the homeowner isn't taking any responsibility for their own destiny and instead preferring others to resolve their problems and then when they occur, they complain? There is plenty of information available for them to seek out and protect themselves from these scams. Scam artists prey on the ignorant and there's no excuse for anyone being ignorant. Maybe a homeowner wouldn't be in foreclosure if they would have taken the time to be responsible for their own destiny and fully understand the ins and outs of mortgage contracts and home ownership?

[ianlou]

Now we know what all those layed off sleezy sub-prime mortgage brokers are up to nowadays.

[infantryman1968]

Poll: Most Americans Don't Trust Government
In New Pew Survey, 80 Percent Say They Don't Trust Washington; Nearly Half See Negative Impact in Daily Lives

LOL!

Translation: 4 out of 5 Americans dont trust Obama or his followers.

[tsigili]

As usual.....what is actually getting done to stop the fraud????? Probably not much. The crooks way outnumber the decent people, today, to begin with.

[ianlou]

Deja Vu Grapes of Wrath