Foreclosure Scams Means Betrayal By The Best Friend

Misfortune never seems to come in singles – they come in doubles. If foreclosure is not bad enough for the homemakers facing the harsh reality of eviction, scammers are creeping in to pick the crumbs off the table of misfortune called Badluck. The law courts are overflowing with the new menace of foreclosure rescue scams.

When your body is weak after a big illness it is usual for secondary infections to set in. That is exactly what has happened to victims of the primary foreclosure viral infection. They have become easy targets for the scammers. The borrowers were first rushed, cajoled, tricked and seduced into a shady mortgage. The scammers are playing an extension of the same game. At the root is the bad mortgage. Had it been solid these parasites would not have popped up and thrived.

Even the most wary are caught unawares. The Rodriguez family is one such victim. Initially they had shut the door to many so-called helpers but one firm with an impressive nametag like Real Financial Solutions looked like innocent churchgoers. The family was hypnotized considering their state of trauma and worry. When scammers send out invitations to Thanksgiving dinner the victim feels safe and secure – finds a shoulder to cry on. The offer is straight – they will take over charge of outstanding debts using the equity of the property. Monthly payments will be made to stop the foreclosure. Unwittingly by signing through heaps of paper the owners sign off the title deed to an unknown person. Cheques are issued to an intermediate firm who just pocket the cash while mortgage dues continue to multiply. Rodriguez found to her surprise that the house for which she had paid $169,000 was listed at more than $4000,000!

The state has enacted a law – Home Equity Theft Prevention Act, hoping to prevent further such scam abuses. But those already in the soup continue to boil. The Attorney Generals in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Texas have arrested many and or frozen assets of such dubious firms operating in their respective states. In Queens about 130 to 150 houses per week are entering the foreclosure zone. In the previous year the number was at the most 60 or 70. It is disturbing, to say the least and more so because nobody can predict when the wave is going to subside.