National Public Radio Report On Foreclosure Scams

A recent report on National Public  Radio focused on a scam wherein people at risk of foreclosure on their home inadvertently give away their home to scam artists.

These scam artists, holding themselves out as providing Foreclosure Rescue, prey upon people who are about to lose their homes.

Under these scams the owner is lead to believe that  he is signing over the deed to the house to the foreclosure rescuer for one year while it helps to repair the owners credit.

The homeowner is told that they can continue to live in their house mortgage-free, and then buy back his house after a year. What the owner is not told is that the scam artist, working with a straw buyers  (an individual that lends his identity and good credit to the operation in return for a fee) takes out a bigger mortgage that essentially cashes out any equity in the
house.

The entire report can be heard at http://m.npr.org/news.jsp?key=393236&rc=bu.

The old saying is true:  "If it seems too good to believe, it probably is."  Before signing any document regarding your home, consult an attorney.