Beware of Rescue Scams   

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Help is free. You should never pay for a modification.

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You should never be charged a fee to help you submit documentation or obtain information from your mortgage company. While some fee-based attorneys are legitimate, generally the work that is done can be executed at no charge. Know that free assistance is available and may be most suitable for you. 

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Beware of anyone who says that you don't need a real estate professional or title company when selling your home.

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You should always have a Real Estate professional, Attorney and Title company assist you with any sale or transaction involving your home. Investors that claim to want to help you, will give you a much lower offer than the true value. In these horrible situations, the scammer will keep all of the money that you, the borrower have been working so hard to earn by making your Mortgage payments for all of the many years. Always contact an attorney or a Real Estate professional before you sign anything.  

 

Beware of anyone who promises you can “save” your home by signing or transferring over the deed to your house.

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We have had many clients describe scammers that call themselves "investors" door knocking with a very good sales pitch. The Homeowner thinks they have no other options, and are receiving a good cash offer for their home with no closing costs. Most often, the offer will be at least $100,000 less than what the home is worth. The scammer doesn't give the Homeonwer a copy of the paperwork, and there's usually fine print that allows the investor to reduce the price. It is very important that you know what you are signing. Do not sign a purchase contract without an attorney reviewing it, or the help of a licensed Real Estate Agent. You may also be signing over the deed to your property. Or, the scammer could use your signature to create fake documents. Sometimes these scammers will claim they work with Real Estate Agents. The truth is, Real Estate Agents have specific ethical duties and usually don't engage in home sales far under value. 

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Be very careful of Refinance letters or other letters in the mail that appear they are from your mortgage company.

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By the time you have missed more than 1 payment, your credit will usually prevent you from being able to refinance. There are many letters that scammers send to homeowners that will have your mortgage company's name on it. These companies are almost often scams and are very intricate. They may have very well spoken people you speak with on the phone and they may sound as though the scammer is in the office. They will have you fill out paperwork, and maybe even talk to a manager. Lastly, in order to complete your refinance, you will be asked to wire money or send it to an address such as a P.O Box, and then they quickly disappear afterwards. 

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Don't sign anything in exchange for someone else paying off your mortgage.

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Signing a Quit Claim Deed does not remove your responsibility of the debt, rather it gives away your rights to title. If you sign a Quit Claim Deed, you are giving them the interest in the property, they can now sell the property without you involved, yet you are still responsible for the debt to the loan. ALWAYS be sure to read and understand all paperwork before signing to ensure that you are not unknowingly giving someone else ownership and the rights to any equity (monetary value) of your home. If the scammer were to then sell the home, they would keep the profit.

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Never submit your mortgage payments to anyone other than your mortgage company without your mortgage company's approval.

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This is one of the oldest foreclosure rescue scams. A scammer asks you to make your payments to them and promise to pay the mortgage company. The scammer then pockets your payments instead of sending them to the mortgage company.

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Know the person you do business with.

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Do some research, ask for ID and a business card, then match their ID. Look for the person or business entity online such as State Licensing, Department of Revenue, social media accounts, etc. Ask for references. If the offer is too good to be true, it probably is.

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