Foreclosures are increasing nationwide. Homeowners desperate to stop foreclosure are falling victims to scams that promise to "rescue " homeowners from foreclosure. what these scams do is take your money, ruin your credit record, and wipe out any equity you have in your home.

Your mortgage lender or any legitimate financial counselor can help you find real options to avoid foreclosure. If someone offers to negotiate with your lender and offers to arrange to stop or delay foreclosure for a fee, carefully check his or her credentials, reputation, and experience. Lease-Back or Repurchase Scams. Be very suspicious if someone offers to pay your mortgage and rent your home back to you. Signing over the deed gives the con artist the power to evict you, raise your rent, sell the house, or steal the equity you have in your home. You will still be responsible for your mortgage, so if the con artist stops paying it, your lender would have the right to foreclose on your home, and the foreclosure and any other problems would go on your credit record.

Refinance Fraud - Look out for people posing as mortgage brokers or lenders and offering to refinance your loan so you can afford the payments. Con artists may trick you into signing over the ownership of your home by saying that you are signing documents for a new loan. Signing over the deed to your home exposes you to the dangers described above. Even if you are a victim of fraud, you could still lose your home.

Bankruptcy Schemes - Several scams attempt to abuse the bankruptcy laws. For example, a con artist may ask you to give a partial interest in your home to one or more persons. Each holder of a partial interest can then file bankruptcy, one after another. The bankruptcy court will issue a "stay "order each time to stop foreclosure temporarily. However, the stay does not excuse you from making payments or from repaying the full amount of your loan. In another kind of scam, a con artist may offer to obtain refinancing or negotiate a payment plan with your lender. If you may make payments to the con artist, he or she may keep the money rather than pay the lender on your behalf. The con artist may even file a bankruptcy case in your name, as a part of the scam. Bankruptcy laws provide important protections to consumers. Scams can only temporarily delay foreclosure. Signing over ownership of your home, or even partial ownership, can result in serious financial harm.

How do you protect yourself? Know what you are signing. Read every document you sign. If a document is too confusing, pay the extra money to seek advice from a lawyer or an approved, trusted financial counselor. Never sign documents with blank spaces that can be filled in later. Never sign a document that contains errors or false statements, even if someone promises to correct them later. That is the oldest trick in the book, these people count on gain your confidence to defraud you.

Get promises in writing . Never count on oral promises and agreements relating to your home, as they are not legally binding in court. Written documents protect your right and allow an avenue to break the contract. Keep copies of all contracts you sign.

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