The Real Story…
News and commentary about the real estate market and related topics.
Dave Parrish, ABR ®, CRSA, CSP, GRI, ePRO ®, REALTOR ®, RealtySouth
The opinions expressed here are my own and don’t necessarily represent those of HomeServices South.
Credit Repair and Mortgage Fraud Scams…
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Seems that there’s always someone out there lurking in the shadows waiting to take advantage of the unsuspecting, the vulnerable, those among us who are struggling to survive and do the right thing. |
Joni and I were recently working with a young couple who were working earnestly to repair (improve) their credit and lower their debt to income ratio through the use of a credit repair service to whom they were making a fairly large monthly payment that was allegedly being used by the “agency” to pay off his debt in a manner that would get his debt paid down while improving his scores “quickly” for a future home purchase. But all was not as it seemed… the actions of this “agency” had actually resulted in a decline in their credit rating… which would have originally been good enough to qualify them for a purchase… With his “improved” rating he probably has a six month period to get back to where they were before the credit “repair!”
Perhaps you saw the local news about t
wo weeks ago (June 17th) about the 10 member Birmingham-area mortgage fraud ring caught as the result of the Department of Justice’s (Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force) “Operation Stolen Dreams?” These 10 persons and two others from the Birmingham area were a part of 485 arrests made in the sweep that began this past March to seek out fraud and prosecute their perpetrators.
While it is distressing to know that these activities are taking place, it is encouraging to know that the government is moving in a multi-faceted and swift fashion to uncover such schemes, arrest and punish the perpetrators of these schemes to defraud our friends and neighbors and yes even us.
Similarly, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, launched PreventLoanScams.org a tool to help homeowners avoid scammers.
Homeowners at risk of foreclosure can be easy prey for home loan modification scammers. Often, dishonest individuals lure vulnerable homeowners into foreclosure rescue scams by making false promises. Scammers frequently claim they can lower mortgage payments or stop the foreclosure process. Troubled homeowners lose time and money when they are tricked by con artists who promise to help but never do.
John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity sates that: “This initiative combines the collective energies of public and private enterprises to strengthen the ability of law enforcement to prosecute scammers and protect homeowners.”
The Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, a national coalition of public and private enterprises, is led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Assisting the Lawyers’ Committee in leading the coalition’s fight against loan modification scams are: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, and NeighborWorks America.
The Network developed PreventLoanScams.org to provide home-owners with a single destination to report alleged scammers. Complaints filed online are added to a national complaint database and forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for review. The Network estimates that the website will assist approximately 50,000 homeowners affected by scams. Additionally, HUD has directed its local fair housing and housing counseling grantees to begin reporting alleged loan modification scams via the website.
The creation of a national complaint database is a major step in the fight against loan modification scams. Prior to the launch of PreventLoanScams.org, federal, state, and local government agencies could not share complaint data with non-profit organizations. The new system allows for better analysis of trends across jurisdictional lines and will likely lead to an increase in private enforcement action filings.
As always: If it sounds too good to be true… it probably is! Use local, knowledgeable professionals in all your financial dealings and take advantage of these FREE government sponsored programs to research or report possible scams.
But please be careful out there… Scammers frequently use official sounding sites and titles to lure you. Be sure to check out any organization offering help and wanting you to pay up front, pay them directly, ask for your social security or credit card number, are willing to falsify information to make a loan application work for you, have must act today programs or otherwise offer you a deal that nobody else can!
For additional resources, visit: http://DavidParrishRealtor.com/DontBeScammed (case sensitive).
Hope your summer is grand and that you got to the beach before the oil!
May the market be with you.
