Foreclosure Scams Can Be Complex Enough To Fool Most
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Foreclosure scammers have a wide variety of modes of operation
and no limit to the kinds of people they target. Particular favorites are the
elderly and non-English speaking populations, but given the complexities of
mortgage lending and foreclosure laws, almost anyone can find himself a victim.
Probably the simplest scam is pulled by the company that claims to be able
to save a house but demands an upfront fee; perhaps one month's
mortgage payment. Once the fee is paid, the company vanishes, content with its
quick and easy if small profit.
A variation on this is to insist that the homeowner make all mortgage payments
to the rescuer while he "negotiates" with the mortgage company to
resolve the delinquency. He, of course, is doing no such thing and if he is
lucky, might collect three or four months worth of payments before the homeowner
spots the auctioneer on his front lawn.
Scammers can make a much greater profit by equity
stripping; i.e. helping themselves to any home value above and beyond that
owed to the mortgage company. One of the oldest versions of equity stripping
is hard money lending which, if done correctly is not illegal
but isn't real helpful to the homeowner. The lender is more interested in the
equity in the property, (he usually looks for less than 50 percent loan to value)
than in the owner's ability to repay the loan. The lender pays off the delinquent
loan and puts his mortgage in place at close to a usurious rate. The homeowner
is now confronting much larger payments than those he was previously unable
to meet and he finds his home again in foreclosure.
A variation on this is for the lender to repeatedly bail out the homeowner,
each time with a higher loan to cover the lender's "fees and costs"
until the homeowner has no equity remaining in the property. The lender can
now foreclose without fearing he will have to return any excess proceeds of
the sale to the homeowner.
Other schemes are much more complex. The National
Consumer Law Center issued a report two years ago entitled "Dreams Foreclosed:
The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-Stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue'
Scams" that looked at rip-offs in every state in the union. We culled some examples
from that report.
The rescuer approaches a homeowner who may be only hours away from a foreclosure
sale and offers a loan. The homeowner assumes he is borrowing money when in
fact the documents he signs are an agreement to sell the property and rent it
back for a period of time before repurchasing the home, usually well above market
value. However, the existing mortgage is not paid off and the rents are used
to service the mortgage on a house the victim no longer owns. The rescuer makes
it nearly impossible for the victim to exercise his right to repurchase, rents
escalate, and the former homeowner, once he misses rent payments, is evicted,
leaving the rescuer free to sell the house on the open market.
In California a borrower has 90 days to cure a default and
21 days to stop the foreclosure sale. The approach used by some scammers is
to promise a refinancing in order to cure the default but then they fritter
away most of that time before informing the homeowner that he does not qualify
for a new loan. At that point the solution proposed by the rescuer is to sign
over the house so that any foreclosure "will be against the rescuer" rather
than the homeowner and, with time and choices dwindling, the homeowner often
accepts.
Scammers frequently use "affinity" marketing to lure homeowners
- sending African-Americans into Black communities, Spanish speakers to talk
with Hispanics, elderly persons to approach the elderly. The idea is that being
approached by someone who looks like them or speaks like them will make troubled
homeowners more comfortable and trusting.
Another technique is to seal the homeowner off from legitimate help or legal
relief. He is advised not to talk with the mortgage company, not to file for
bankruptcy, not to seek out recommended credit counseling companies. The rescuer
will, he assures the homeowner, handle those details. When it is too late for
the homeowner to actually avail himself of real help he has little choice but
to let the rescuer cut a deal on his own terms.
In the current economy homeowners have to smarten up. There are some common-sense
ways to protect your home and there are some legitimate investors out there
who can help out if you absolutely cannot afford to stay in your home. We will
talk more about this later in the week.
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