When you are in foreclosure, there are plenty of people chasing you to get from you the last of your money.
Here are some of the main scams that are used on people in foreclosure:
"Bankruptcy can stop your foreclosure."
The truth is that If you file bankruptcy as a response to being served with a foreclosure case, then the bankruptcy will likely make you lose your home more quickly.
Typically, people in foreclosure file chapter 7 bankruptcy, since they normally have no equity in their home.
The filing of the bankruptcy stops people from trying to collect money from you.
It also stops the foreclosure temporarily.
The problem is the temporary nature of the "automatic stay" that the bankruptcy provides.
In earlier years, banks would take up to eight months to go to the bankruptcy court to get permission to go forward with the foreclosure case.
Now, with so many foreclosure and bankruptcy cases being filed, banks get into the bankruptcy court and get permission to proceed with the foreclosure, in less than two months!
After people give their money to their bankruptcy lawyer, and the bank is still taking their home, they call us and want us to stop the foreclosure case.
It is very difficult for us to help in that case, because the mortgage bank will not stop the foreclosure case if the homeowner does not have a discharge in their bankruptcy.
We normally stop the foreclosure of your home for at least a year, without the filing of a bankruptcy case, and for only a fraction of the cost of a bankruptcy case. You get more free time in you home with our service than you do with any other service that we have seen.
"I want to buy your home."
This is what the home-flippers advertise. Their typical plan is to offer you a small percentage of your homes value, so that you are selling it to them in a short-sale.
Your "buyer" is actually an investor looking to cash in on a quick re-sale of your home.
You sign the contract, provide all of your financial documents which get forwarded to your lender, and you wait to see if your lender will approve the short sale.
Then, while you are waiting for the approval of your short sale, the investor puts your home on the market, and tries to sell it to someone else for a higher price than you are selling it for.
The plan is to close the short-sale of your home to the investor while the investor sells it to someone else at the same time, and makes tens of thousands of dollars.
The way you get scammed is that your lender sends out one or more appraisers to check the value of your home, before your lender will approve the sale.
If your home is worth more than what the investor is paying, then your lender does not approve your short sale.
You CAN NOT sell your home, because the investor got you to sign papers which tie up your home, preventing you from selling it to anyone but the investor.
The investor usually keeps trying to modify the buying and re-selling price right up until the time your home goes to sheriff sale.
You get essentially no private time in your home, since the investor is always looking for a better person to re-sell to, right from the start.
You lose a lot of free and private time in your home, any you get a foreclosure judgment against you.
"Your home is about to be sold at Sheriff's sale" (a date within a month from now is usually given.)
This is usually an outright lie, but it is effective in getting you to call.
The person who answers the phone is usually just an "answering service", but can make arrangements to put you in touch with someone who "Knows" what is going on.
Once you get through to the person who supposedly knows what is going on, they announce that they can stop the sheriff sale (which was never going forward in the first place) or else they apologize about the mistake in the advertised sheriff sale date.
They make various arrangements to get money out of you. We don't know of anyone who benefited from working with one of these services who started off by telling a lie about the approaching sheriff sale date.
"I can help you sell your home and avoid the foreclosure."
Realtors usually make their money when your sale closes.
So most realtors want to sell your home right away, and get you out on the street as soon as possible.
A typical realtor gets no benefit from letting you stay in your home for a long time before selling it, and so will not help you to stay in your home.
But we live by one fundamental rule of real estate - "Don't be greedy."
If you are trusting us, and using us to help with your foreclosure situation, then we pay you back by helping you to stay in your home for as long as possible, without paying taxes, and without making mortgage payments.
"I can modify your mortgage."
Don't pay money for a mortgage modification. There are wonderful FREE services that can get you a mortgage modification.
We arrange for you to get in contact with the free service that is right for you.
If for some reason you get denied a mortgage modification using a free service, then we are available to take over and work toward getting your mortgage modified.
We charge for mortgage modifications, but we refer you to the free, approved mortgage modification services first, to help you save money and get a free modification if it is at all possible.
Anyone who says anything bad about what we do for people.
Our clients are always thrilled with what we do for them.
They see their friends, relatives, and neighbors leaving their homes shortly after entering foreclosure.
Our clients however are taking vacations, saving to buy a home for cash, upgrading their cars, and enjoying life in the land of the free.
NO mortgage payments, NO property tax payments. Free time in your home. No complaints so far from our clients. Not one. Anyone who says anything bad about what we do is likely someone who wants to make money off of you, and won't be able to do so if you are working with us.