Don't Be Victimized By Foreclosure "Rescue" Scam Artists
As I've discussed here before there are people out in your community right now looking to rip you off. They will stop at nothing to try to steal your home from you. And if you are in foreclosure you are vulnerable.
This week I was sent yet another article detailing the despicable things these predators will do to try to take your home from you. This one is from Orange County.
'Teri Allen and her mother, Jacquie, thought Edward Seung Ok would rescue them from losing their Anaheim Hills home after they'd gotten behind on their house payments. Instead, he transferred title to their house to a sham buyer, borrowed huge sums against it and pocketed the loan proceeds, the Allens would later allege in a fraud lawsuit.
On March 1, the mother and daughter lost the three-bedroom house they'd bought together, along with about $300,000 in equity they would have gained had they just sold the house outright. Last weekend, they moved into a rental and wondered if they would ever be homeowners again.
"We thought everything was going to be taken care of," Teri Allen, 38, said. "Then all of a sudden … we started getting notices of default in the mail."
The Allens are among at least 10 Orange County families who were victimized by so-called "foreclosure rescue" or "equity skimming" scams involving Ok and his associates, according to the FBI. A federal indictment charges Ok and four others with defrauding about 100 homeowners throughout Southern California out of about $12 million.'
Always have your guard up when approached by any stranger claiming they can help you out of your foreclosure. Ask for ID and references of other people they have 'helped.' Tell them up front you will be checking into their background and business record. And most importantly, never ever sign anything without having an attorney review the documents. With your home involved the stakes are much too high.
'"We will see more and more of that as foreclosures continue to rise," said Peter Norell, who leads an FBI white-collar crime unit in Santa Ana. "All kinds of scams come out of the foreclosure market."
In most cases, according to court files and experts, homeowners desperate to save their homes from the auction block are induced into signing deeds – or their names are forged on deeds – "temporarily" transferring ownership to sham buyers.
Because homes often are worth more than the mortgage amount, lenders are willing to increase that debt, sometimes up to the market value of the property. So perpetrators arrange a new loan at market value, pay off existing loans and pocket the excess cash.
Since the perpetrators have no intention of repaying the loans, the homes usually end up in foreclosure anyway, and the mortgage companies that issued the loans end up taking the house back and reselling it at a loss.'
Don't make the mistake of compounding an already difficult financial situation with the nightmare of losing your home to thieves.
-Bill Burniece
As I've discussed here before there are people out in your community right now looking to rip you off. They will stop at nothing to try to steal your home from you. And if you are in foreclosure you are vulnerable.
This week I was sent yet another article detailing the despicable things these predators will do to try to take your home from you. This one is from Orange County.
'Teri Allen and her mother, Jacquie, thought Edward Seung Ok would rescue them from losing their Anaheim Hills home after they'd gotten behind on their house payments. Instead, he transferred title to their house to a sham buyer, borrowed huge sums against it and pocketed the loan proceeds, the Allens would later allege in a fraud lawsuit.
On March 1, the mother and daughter lost the three-bedroom house they'd bought together, along with about $300,000 in equity they would have gained had they just sold the house outright. Last weekend, they moved into a rental and wondered if they would ever be homeowners again.
"We thought everything was going to be taken care of," Teri Allen, 38, said. "Then all of a sudden … we started getting notices of default in the mail."
The Allens are among at least 10 Orange County families who were victimized by so-called "foreclosure rescue" or "equity skimming" scams involving Ok and his associates, according to the FBI. A federal indictment charges Ok and four others with defrauding about 100 homeowners throughout Southern California out of about $12 million.'
Always have your guard up when approached by any stranger claiming they can help you out of your foreclosure. Ask for ID and references of other people they have 'helped.' Tell them up front you will be checking into their background and business record. And most importantly, never ever sign anything without having an attorney review the documents. With your home involved the stakes are much too high.
'"We will see more and more of that as foreclosures continue to rise," said Peter Norell, who leads an FBI white-collar crime unit in Santa Ana. "All kinds of scams come out of the foreclosure market."
In most cases, according to court files and experts, homeowners desperate to save their homes from the auction block are induced into signing deeds – or their names are forged on deeds – "temporarily" transferring ownership to sham buyers.
Because homes often are worth more than the mortgage amount, lenders are willing to increase that debt, sometimes up to the market value of the property. So perpetrators arrange a new loan at market value, pay off existing loans and pocket the excess cash.
Since the perpetrators have no intention of repaying the loans, the homes usually end up in foreclosure anyway, and the mortgage companies that issued the loans end up taking the house back and reselling it at a loss.'
Don't make the mistake of compounding an already difficult financial situation with the nightmare of losing your home to thieves.
-Bill Burniece
posted by Bill | 8:38 PM
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