Scammers are targeting people having trouble paying their mortgages. Some claim to be able to \u201crescue\u201d homeowners from foreclosures, while others promise to modify your loan \u2013 for a fee. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation\u2019s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to avoid scams that could make your housing situation go from bad to worse.<\/p>\n
Signs of a Foreclosure Rescue Scam<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are in danger of foreclosure, AVOID any individual or company that:<\/p>\n Requires a fee in advance<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t pay any business, organization, or person who promises to prevent foreclosure or guarantees you a new mortgage. So-called \u201cforeclosure rescue companies\u201d claim they can help save your home, but they can\u2019t really do that. They\u2019re just out to make a fast buck. Some may ask for hefty fees in advance \u2013 and then, once you pay, stop returning your calls. Others may string you along before disclosing their charges. Cut off all dealings if someone insists on a fee in advance.<\/p>\n Promises to find mistakes in your loan documents that will force your lender to cancel or modify your loan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Cancelling your loan won\u2019t allow you to stay in your home, and in most cases, lenders are not required to modify your loan to make it more affordable simply because of mistakes in your loan documents.<\/p>\n Guarantees to stop a foreclosure<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t do business with anyone who offers an \u201ceasy out\u201d of foreclosure. These kinds of claims are the tell-tale signs of a foreclosure rip-off:<\/p>\n \u201cWe can stop your foreclosure!\u201d \u201c97% success rate!\u201d \u201cGuaranteed to save your home!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Advises you to stop paying your mortgage company or stop talking to your mortgage company<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Some scammers offer to handle financial arrangements for you, and then pocket your payment instead of sending it to your mortgage company. Send your mortgage payments ONLY to your mortgage company. Scammers may advise you not to communicate with your mortgage company. That\u2019s a bad idea because you may not find out until it\u2019s too late that the scammer has done nothing for you, that your mortgage company was willing to modify your loan, or even that foreclosure is just days away!<\/p>\n Help is Available<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Contact your mortgage company\u00a0as soon as possible if you\u2019re having trouble paying your mortgage or if you get a foreclosure notice. Keeping the lines of communication with your mortgage company open is critical.\u00a0Call 1-888-995-HOPE\u00a0for free personalized advice from housing counseling agencies certified by the\u00a0U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\u00a0<\/span><\/a>(HUD). This national hotline \u2013 open 24\/7 \u2013 is operated by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit member of the HOPE NOW Alliance of mortgage industry members and HUD-certified counseling agencies. Contact a HUD Certified Housing Counselor at Debt Management Credit Counseling Corp. www.dmcconline.org or at 866-724-3328 or edcuation@dmcconline.org.<\/p>\n DMCC is a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization committed to educating consumers on financial issues and providing personal assistance to consumers who have become overextended with debt.\u00a0 Education is provided free of charge to consumers, as well as personal counseling to identify the best options for the repayment of their debt. To speak to a certified credit counselor, call toll-free 866-618-3328 or email\u00a0<\/em>contact@dmcconline.org<\/em><\/a>.DMCC is located at 1330 SE 4th Ave, Suite F, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scammers are targeting people having trouble paying their mortgages. Some claim to be able to \u201crescue\u201d homeowners from foreclosures, while others promise to modify your loan \u2013 for a fee. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation\u2019s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to avoid scams that could make your housing situation go from … Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-housing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5shu1-2s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1982,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/1982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmcccorp.org\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}