Foreclosure Scams Increasing With Foreclosure Numbers
The agencies claiming to help are failing while the scammers are making hay. In 2007 the country saw an increase of 65% in foreclosures as compared to 2006.
Mave Elise Brown speaking for Housing and Economic Rights Advocates in California opines that ignorance and desperation are the twin causes for house owners failing to grapple with the foreclosure problem. Rescue scammers sneak in with suggestions of negotiation and title transfer which glistens for that time – but is not real gold.
The con artists say that for a fee they will save the house by talking with the lender. Clutching at any straw the house owner squeezes out few hundred or thousand dollars without ever seeing the scammer again. The money vanishes along with the house. Transfer of title is a little more sophisticated. The scammers manage to obtain the signature of the owner that gives them the title deed. The ex-owner is made to believe that he can continue to stay on as a renter but will get back the ultimately. In reality this never happens and one fine day the renter-cum-owner finds the open sky the roof above the head.
Brown warns the gullible to be cautious about those who come knocking unsolicited, contact over the Internet or force an introduction en route to church or work. The Federal Trade Commission reports that scams are on the rise. Brown repeatedly emphasizes that nobody should be trusted. The scammers usually come from the same community as the borrowers taking advantage of common language and appearances. It is like the blacks preying on the blacks and the Latinos on their brothers and sisters. The best is to turn to government sponsored non-profit agencies for help.
The foreclosure crisis triggered by the sub-prime predatory lending peddling teaser rates has created a crisis that has spilled over from the playing court of the lenders and borrowers to all sections of the country creating a grim socio-economic crisis. The lenders are now weighed down with more house ownerships than they can digest. No mortgages means no money rolling in. Empty houses means more criminals and less money for the police force and fire fighters. Less house transactions means less tax collection for the government. Disgruntled evicted persons roaming for shelter spells alarm for vote seekers. Wall Street is shivering with a cold while the world stock exchanges have caught a cold.
