5 Ways to Avoid Being Scammed

If you are in trouble, the last thing you need to worry about, is whether the foreclosure prevention service you just found, is actually trying to help you, or just get some of the hard earned money, you can not afford to spend!

1. Contact your Local City or Town Council First!

   Many local leaders have recognized the scams that are growing faster than you or I could imagine, and they are starting to take action by holding local foreclosure prevention workshops, geared to inform homeowners of what you can do on your own, versus paying a fee to have it done for you! Open Google and search for foreclosure prevention workshops in your area!

2. Know ALL Fee’s Before You Sign Anything!

   It can be very tempting when one of the new Foreclosure Prevention Service companies tells you that for a flat fee of $749, they will help you get your mortgage reduced by hundreds of dollars every month! What they may not have mentioned yet however, is that they are simple there to help you complete the paperwork, before it needs to be submitted to an Attorney for actual filing, which results in an additional fee, usually much higher than theirs! Know ALL fees up front!

3. Calculate the Cost Versus Savings First!

   Many of the new Foreclosure Prevention Services out there, charge a fee that often range from $750-$1200 to review your individual situation and help you apply for a loan modification. Once you add in theirs and the Attorney fees, the initial cost may be much more than you could ever save!

   In many cases, your loan is only going to be modified for 2-3 years, so if you are only saving $100 / month on your home mortgage, yet paying $3000 or more in preparation and filing fees, you will end up losing money in the longrun! This does not even include any additional costs that can be applied by the lender!

4. Research the Business and Its Previous Customers!

   As mentioned above, these new Foreclosure Prevention Services are springing up in scores every day! Make sure you ask them how long they have been in business and if its only a short time, ask them what type of background they have in the foreclosure prevention industry! In many cases, the same people who contributed to the failure of the mortgage industry, have changed gears and are now claiming to be specialists in helping your prevent foreclosure on the same loans they serviced originally!

5. Do it Yourself Foreclosure Prevention!

   Just like taxes and legal representation, you CAN handle the entire foreclosure prevention process yourself! Start by calling your lender and see what they need from you first! You may just find that with a few hours of your own time, you can get it done yourself! Unlike legal representation and taxes, there are not hundreds of loopholes and intricate details to deal with in negotiating a new mortgage! If your lender is not cooperative with you, continue bugging them EVERY DAY, until they comply!

The bottom line to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a foreclosure prevention scam, is to be informed and know your options!

Post from: Obama's ForeClosure Plan Website

5 Ways to Avoid Getting Scammed by Foreclosure Prevention Services

Anyhow – We got to talking about the foreclosure plan and one of the guys mentioned that his home is financed through Citifinancial, and they actually sent HIM a letter out of nowhere, telling him he may qualify for assistance under the new plan! He actually got 2 letters, so he gave me one of them to take a look at…In BIG BOLD LETTERS it said:

You May Qualify for Foreclosure Prevention Assistance!

As you can imagine, it even made me read the entire content in the letter… hell, if he could qualify, I might be able to also right?!

I asked my friend about his financial situation and here were his details:

• Single Homeowner
• Father of 1 – he pays child support and shares custody
• Gross pay of $38,000 +/-
• Mortgage payment of $1397 per month (!Gack!)
• Very little credit card debt.
• He has not made an on time mortgage payment in 6 months, and is usually 1-2 weeks late every month, but has never been more than 15-20 days late at most!

After hearing about his finances… I was not only shocked that he is living for his house, but wondered how the hell he could afford to play poker with us, let alone buy food and pay utilities!

Just a little basic math on my cell phone had me jumping at him, encouraging him to complete the foreclosure prevention form and send it in… Immediately! You see… his house note costs him more than the 31% qualifier in the foreclosure plan, as a matter of fact… his note costs 44%!

Filling out the Enclosed Form from Citibank

The form Citi sent was very straightforward and all on one page – which is friggin shocking for anything to do with a mortgage, but that’s another post!!

Basic info like employment history, paystubs, tax returns… the normal stuff you would expect to need on any application for credit, was completed in less than 10 minutes between poker hands, and he sent it in on Friday!

Have you received any forms from Citi? If so, share the results of the process with others here!

Post from: Obama's ForeClosure Plan Website

You Might Qualify for Help – Even if you Aren’t in Trouble!