|
|
Home Loans and Mortgages - Beware of New "Mortgage Elimination" Scam
The booming real estate market has allowed many Americans to become "equity rich." They may not have a lot of cash on hand, but they might have equity in their homes worth several hundred thousand dollars or more. Unfortunately, this increase in home wealth has spawned an equally booming business in equity theft, as more and more thieves find increasingly clever ways to con homeowners out of their equity, their homes, or both. One clever new scam involves companies that promise to completely "eliminate" a homeowner's mortgage. For a fee of a few thousand dollars, these companies claim that a homeowner can have a free and clear title to their home without paying off the remaining debt. How does this scam work?
This scam is a bit more complicated than other scams that often use simple forgery of identity theft. In this "mortgage elimination" scam, the homeowner places his home in a trust with the mortgage elimination company as the trustee. The trustee files a long, tedious, frivolous, letter of complaint with the mortgage company, giving them a mere ten days to respond. Should the mortgage company not respond within ten days, and they frequently do not, the trust claims that they are then free of the mortgage obligation. Using a questionable power of attorney procedure, the trust then files with the local register of deeds for a release of the home's title. This makes it appear that the home is now owned without a lien.
The legalities of this range from murky and questionable to outright fraud. It gets even worse when the trustee, claiming clear title to the home, takes out a home equity loan, cashes the check, and promptly disappears. The resulting mess often leaves the original homeowner with a pile of lawsuits, numerous visits from the police and the obligation to pay two mortgages. This scam is currently going on only in certain parts of the country, and isn't yet widespread. Homeowners can easily avoid being taken by this scam by simply recognizing one simple truth - you cannot simply waive a mortgage obligation away without paying off the loan. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on home equity loans.
- Work From Home Scams
The advertisements are all over the internet, in your local paper, and even in the back of your favorite magazines. However, knowing how to spot work from home scams will save you a lot of grief and money....
- Offline Gambling Scams
What You Don't Know May Hurt You: Avoid Offline Gambling ScamsWith commodities escalating to greater heights, more and more people are continuously are getting poorer each day. Here, there, and everywhere,...
- Income Tax Season
The tax season for most all individual tax payers falls during January, February, and March each year. It's the time of year that most citizens look forward to receiving a refund or they dread because...
- AVOID ONLINE MONEY MAKING SCAMS
I'm sure that if you are reading this than you are interested in making money online. you are probabally wondering how much money you can make, what is the fastest way to do it, and how fast con you start...
- Beware Of Get Rich Quick Scam
Everyone wants to be rich. Hey, abundance is good. When you live abundantly, you will be satisfied, some say. That is why a lot of people tout the next get-rich-quick scheme. And that is why this business...
- 5 Reasons Why You Should NOT Get A Big Tax Refund
I will never forget the day one of my tax clients came to pick up his personal income tax return. "How's it look?" he asked."Well," I said, "You're getting a refund.""Great! How much?""Oh, it's a big one,"...
- 10 Tips to Protect Yourself From Charity Scams
Charity scammers are very clever -- they know exactly what heartstrings to tug and how to make you think the scam is real. Here are 10 tips to help spot charity scams:1. Ask for the name, address, and...
|
|
| | |
