Fraud Alert for Homeowners

With foreclosure filings increasing every month there are plenty of people out there promising homeowner's solutions that sound too good to be true. You may have already been approached by one of these "Foreclosure Rescue" scammers. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of unscrupulous con artists eager to take advantage of desperate homeowners. They will try to take your home and/or money from you by promising you the world but delivering nothing. As more and more people are faced with foreclosure the scams are only going to get worse. I advise you to research the references of anyone who approaches you about a short sale. Here are just a few articles on the major "short sale scams" being perpetrated on homeowners.

There are many legitimate ways to stop or delay a foreclosure action brought against you by your lender. However there are many companies out there that are preying on people during this crisis and taking advantage of their vulnerability and fears. These companies will promise to solve all of your foreclosure problems and seem like saviors from the heavens. So how can you tell the good guys from the bad? Most of the foreclosure rescue scams circulating the country today follow one of the following patterns. If you are offered one of these solutions, more often than not it is someone who is trying to scam you out of either your house or money or both.

The most common scam involves signing over the deed to your property to someone else who promises to make everything ok. There are hundreds of variations of this scam. They promise to pay off your lender in full while you make your payments directly to them. They will promise to redeem any tax liens on your property and re-deed the house back to you after you make a series of monthly affordable payments to them. They promise to lease the property back to you for a period of several years while you regain your financial footing and then re-deed the property back to you when you can afford it. The list goes on and on. The scam artists will show up with dozens of very official looking forms and documents and explain them to you in great detail, all to make you feel comfortable with the transaction and put your mind at ease. The bottom line is these people are not interested in you or your financial situation. All they want is to get legal possession of your home. Once they have the deed to your property they have legal title to you home which allows them to take out loans or sell it right out from under you. Do not EVER sign over the deed to your home to anyone unless you have been advised to do so by a competent real estate attorney that you have hired to protect your interests.

Another variation of the deed scam is the Power of Attorney scam. Basically the same type of people approach you and tell you they will negotiate with your lenders and creditors to get you out of your current situation but to do so they need you to give them Power of Attorney to speak for you on your behalf. You sign over Power of Attorney to them and might even write them a check as well to pay for the service they are going to provide to you. The next thing you know, your house has been sold or refinanced out from under you and you are being told to leave immediately! What makes this scam so powerful is it is based on a half-truth. Mortgage and short sale negotiators will need you to sign a form in order to negotiate with your lenders but it is NOT a Power of Attorney. It is called a Mortgage Authorization Form and all it does is allow a third party to talk to your lender on your behalf. A Power of Attorney on the other hand gives that person the right to act as if they were you. This means they can sign loan documents, deeds, etc and actually sell your house right out from under you. Once again, do not EVER sign a Power of Attorney to anyone unless you have been advised to do so by a competent real estate attorney you have hired to protect your interests.

Here is what we will NOT do for you:

• We will never ask you for any money up front or at any time during the short sale process for negotiating with your Banks.
• We will never ask you to deed your property to our company or anyone else before a short sale is completed.
• We will never ask you to give our company or anyone else Power of Attorney to act or sign documents on your behalf.
• We will never promise you that you can stay in your home after the short sale is completed.
• We will never offer to "take over" your current mortgage payments and let you stay in your house.
• We will never promise you a short sale offer is definitely going to be accepted by your Banks.
• We will never tell you to make your mortgage payments directly to our company from now on so you can stay in your home.
• We will never tell you to take out a new loan to get yourself out of debt.
• We will never pressure you to go forward with any arrangement or sale which makes you uncomfortable.
• We will never advise you to avoid hiring an attorney to protect your rights.

Here is what We WILL do for you:

• We will treat you fairly, honestly and with respect throughout the short sale process.
• We will answer any and all of your questions, day or night until you are completely satisfied.
• We will work together with any attorney or other professional you hire to get your short sale approved.
• We will help you find a new place to live through our vast network of Real Estate professionals.
• We will tell you exactly what needs to be done, step-by-step, to make sure your short sale offer is approved.
• We will put our over 17 years experience in all aspects of real estate finance to work for you.
• We will help you with your remaining options if the Banks do not accept the short sale offer.
• We will keep you updated and informed through every stage of the short sale process.
• We will submit a professionally organized and structured short sale offer to your Banks which will have the absolute highest probability of acceptance.

It is unfortunate that during times of crisis the lowest levels of society arise to feed on those most vulnerable. But I have also found that it is during these times that good people rally together to protect each other and look out for each others interests. It is my sincere goal in providing the information on this website to do just that for as many people as I can reach.