Beware of Foreclosure Scams
May 17th, 2010 categories: Economic Recovery, For Homeowners, Foreclosures, Housing Market
It’s easy to panic when you’re falling behind on your mortgage payments. No one wants to lose a home to foreclosure. It’s a frightening thought.
But don’t let your fears of foreclosure override your common sense: If an outside company calls you and promises that it can rescue you from foreclosure, hang up the phone. The odds are good it’s either a scammer or a company that will charge you a significant amount of money for something that you can do on your own for free.
The Web site of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® recently posted a story from the Better Business Bureau branch that serves Chicago and Northern Illinois warning homeowners of a growing number of foreclosure-related scam artists. Foreclosure information is accessible to the public. This has led to big business among companies claiming to offer foreclosure-prevention services.
The scam works like this: An individual or company contacts homeowners whose homes are facing foreclosure. They’ll promise to either negotiate a mortgage loan modification or stop the foreclosure. Of course, they’ll require a hefty fee for their service.
Some of these callers will take the money from desperate homeowners and then do absolutely nothing. Even those companies that do perform foreclosure-prevention services don’t actually do anything that homeowners can’t do on their own for free.
If you’re facing foreclosure, or even if you’re worried that you might fall behind on your mortgage payments, you should always call your mortgage lender directly. Don’t work with an outside company. Call your lender, explain your financial situation and ask for help.
Remember, mortgage lenders and banks don’t want your home to fall into foreclosure. They don’t want to try to sell your residence. That’s not their business. The odds are good that your lender will try to work something out to prevent you from losing your home.
If you work with an outside foreclosure-prevention company? You’ll just be throwing more money away.
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