Homeowners are left to scramble to find ways to stop foreclosure and save their home. Psychologically people are in a vulnerable state. It’s in this frame of mind that they become very susceptible to scam artists. The people running these scams are masters of deception and prey on people’s desperation who is reaching out for the first lifeline they can grab. The scam artists know this and work very hard to identify homeowners recently in default so they can approach them first with their offer. Their philosophy is to hit the homeowner hard and fast where it hurts the most … losing their home if they don’t take action right away. You do not have to be a victim to these predators, and you do owe it to yourself to do your own due diligence and find a reputable company that will intercede on your behalf.

Knowing what types of scams are being run is the first step to prevent being a victim. This understanding will allow you to ask screening questions that will help you to quickly determine whether you are speaking with someone who wants to suck every penny out of you and leave you hanging in the wind, or companies with a track record of helping homeowners stop foreclosure and keep their home.A few of the foreclosure scams currently being used are listed below:

·         Pay us a fee, sign over your home to us and we’ll save your credit. They claim the foreclosure will then be recorded against them and not you. The fact of the matter is the foreclosure will go against the borrower on the note, the homeowner, and no one else. They take your fee, and you take it in the shorts.

·         Let us buy the property, lease it back to you, and you have the option to buy it back at a later date. What is wrong with this scenario? To do this you are going to have to get a bigger loan at a higher rate than you had before. Subsequently you are going to have payments much higher than you did before your mortgage went into default. One way to use this to your advantage, since you have to have some equity in the home to make this work, is to consider selling the home on the open market.

·         We can make all these problems go away by getting you a new loan. Scam artists like to use this one as it seems harmless enough until they manage to strip every bit of equity out of your home and leave you holding the bag, saddled with higher payments than you can afford and in worse condition than you were when you started. In and of itself this is a viable option as long you carefully consider the effects of a new loan on your new payment and the equity in the home. Carefully consider the total loan amount. Scam artists make money off the fees in the loan. Question everything.

·         File for bankruptcy to stop foreclosure. If you hear these words come out of anybody’s mouth I suggest you run, don’t walk, as fast and as far away as you can. YOU CANNOT [tag-tec]PREVENT FORECLOSURE[/tag-tec] BY FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY.  Allow that to burn into your brain. There are no exceptions. Bankruptcy simply puts a hold on the foreclosure to allow you time to reorganize your finances. Only unsecured credit may be eliminated by bankruptcy, and you have to prove extreme hardship and the inability to pay back the debt.

These are but a few of the scams currently in circulation. There are many variations of these being used. I cannot stress enough the need to educate yourself as much as possible before you decide which option you are going to use to stop home foreclosure. For more help the Housing And Urban Development (HUD) website offers the following help to avoid scam:

1. Don’t sign any papers you don’t fully understand.
2. Make sure you get all “promises� in writing.
3. Beware of any contract of sale or loan assumption where you are not formally released from liability for your mortgage debt.
4. Check with a lawyer or your mortgage company before entering into any deal involving your home.
5. If you’re selling the house yourself to avoid foreclosure, check to see if there are any complaints against the prospective buyer by contacting the state’s Attorney General, State Real Estate Commission or the local District Attorney.

Scam artists are not going to go away. Even when some are discovered and brought to justice others just take their place, and the worst part is the damage has already been done. Whomever you deal with, get some references. Certainly try to work with someone who is a reputable and can back it up. Do this whether dealing with a foreclosure prevention service, an investor or real estate agent. There are contenders and pretenders in every profession.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what the heck is a Squidoo?

It’s a website used to share information, and I just wrote my first Squidoo on How To Stop Foreclosure.  Do me a favor and click on the link and then rank my squidoo.

I’m going to be writing more detailed “Lens” (a Squidoo term) about more specific foreclosure prevention strategies, and what various solutions you can use to stop foreclosure.

Remember, please check out my squidoo and rank it!

Thanks,

I found it absolutely fascinating.  In fact, I strongly urge everyone reading this blog to stop what you’re doing right now and check out this film ASAP.

I saw it on LINK TV, which is on Directv channel 375 or Dish network channel 9410.  I believe that it’s still playing in some theaters, and obviously you can rent the DVD as well.

To me, the most interesting part of the film was about how basically the big creditors in America are making absolutely obscene profits.  It then showed what some “lenders”, namely check cashing places and car title loan operations are making on their loans: some the APRs worked out to annual rate of over 300%.

THAT IS NOT A TYPO.

It’s a shame that big business in America is really taking advantage of the uneducated folks in this country.  The movie is mostly about unsecured credit (ie credit cards), but it does address mortgages, foreclosure, and the subprime lending industry.  When you watch the film, you really get a feeling for how criminal some of these creditors are towards their clientel.  The profits that they earn are almost evil.

Many of these mortgages were underwritten to set these homeowners up for failure.  It’s time that people started educating themselves about the credit process.  Let’s face it, when I went to school, no one educated me about personal finance: how paying bills late killed your credit score, or how important your credit score actually is.

I encourage everyone to see this film.  I’m also looking into how we can help our clients by providing them with an outlet to view the movie.

For more information about improving your credit, or getting help to stop foreclosure, please visit our main web site at www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.com

The feature will be airing in June, but you can watch it now on our homepage.  To learn more, please visit our recent press release. 

While they might have heard about it, many investors aren’t experienced in dealing with short sales and often can’t help the seller stop foreclosure.

This article details some of the challanges of short sales in today’s foreclosure environment.  If you think that you might want be a candidate for a short sale, or if you’re interested in discussing your options to stop foreclosure, please feel free to visit us at www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.com

As pointed out in this article in the Buffalo News, this couldn’t be further from the truth:

Banks and other lenders insist they don’t want to be landlords and homeowners, and that they foreclose only as a last resort. Contrary to popular belief, they say, lenders routinely lose money on foreclosures. That factors in not only the legal fees that often run about $3,500, but also the cost of maintaining, marketing and selling the home later, they say, and the likelihood they won’t recoup the loan amount.

“We’re not in the business of trying to take properties and reselling them,� said Douglas J. Grobe, assistant vice president of mortgage default at First Niagara. “Any time we go to foreclosure, we take the risk that we can’t sell it.�

According to mortgage financier Freddie Mac, the typical foreclosure cost is nearly $60,000. And officials at HSBC North America, parent of HSBC Bank USA, HSBC Mortgage Corp. and HSBC Finance Corp., say their average loss on sale at foreclosure is 20 percent to 25 percent of the loan’s value.

So what are your options if you need to stop foreclosure on your home? Remember that often times, contacting your lender’s Loss Mitigation department is a great start. However, if you don’t have experience dealing with your lender, and working with banks and negotiating a repayment, it can often be difficult:

However, the programs have detractors. Some consumers and consumer advocates say they’ve had very mixed experiences with loss mitigation programs. They recite tales of frustration in calling an 800 number and trying unsuccessfully to reach a live person who can help them consistently. They say the paperwork is confusing, so consumers fill it out wrong.

“I can’t think of a single client who was able to benefit from the loss mitigation department when they contacted the bank by themselves,� said Carol Brent, staff attorney at Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of Western New York, which is teaming up with Legal Aid Bureau to start a foreclosure prevention program for low-income consumers. “It’s very frustrating.�

At www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.com we work with our clients together, helping them renegotiate a payment plan that they can manage. While you can take on this task yourself, sometimes it’s better to work with a company that has had experience negotiating many plans with many different lenders. You don’t have to tackle this all on your own. If you’re interested in how www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.com you can visit the website, or call 1-888-472-8380

It’s actually very disturbing when I hear about how a client has spent money on an appraisal  (or appraisals) and that the refinance never closed, but they were out a few hundred dollars to pay for the appraisal.

Please visit our most recent press release to learn about refinancing to stop foreclosure, and whether or not it’s a good option for you.

You may have noticed that we haven’t posted in a while, mainly because we have been busy helping homeowners stop foreclosure on their homes, along with getting the infrastructure of the new blog set up.

We trust that you’ll find the blog, hosted within our site, much easier to navigate and user friendly.

If you like what you’ve read in our blogs thus far, please forward to a friend.