Lynnette Phillips Real Estate Consultant

Aiding in the foreclosure crisis is dependent on consumer education. Too many homeowners are still reluctant to seek help...too many don't believe help is available or even for real!

A HUD approved non-profit counseling agency is offering a FREE workshop for homeowners in Ontario on October 4. For more details & to register go to...

Housing counselors, mortgage counselors and attorneys will be on site to share valuable information to assist homeowners in making an informed decisions.

**Please help spread the word**

(This post is a requested follow-up to my post Homeowners Also Responsible for Mortgage Fraud.)

Lenders are finally on to this particular scam & are responding with even further tightening of the lending requirements (The Wall Street Journal). They even have the ability to sue the borrower if fraud can be shown.

How Does a ‘Buy and Bail’ Scheme Work?

A borrower qualifies for a loan on a second home by asserting that the first residence will be rented out to help cover the mortgage payments for the second home. Once they are approved for the new loan they walk away from the previous loan not renting out the home or making any further payments.

Are These Professionals?

Possibly most unsettling are real estate agents who believe this is nothing more than a financial strategy and provide ‘tutoring’ for this practice.

Related Posts: Reverse Mortgage Repair Scams
Don't They Realize Where They'll Be Soon?
No Cost "HOPE NOW" Helps Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure But Cautions...

There are so many mortgage & real estate scams to look out for, and they've probably always existed, but the current housing and mortgage crisis seems to be bringing out the unethical and immoral with new vigor. Each of these scams seems to be more dastardly than the next but to be honest it just depends on which one you have read about most recently.

One of the predatory stings seems to involve someone representing himself as a contractor who is hired to make the necessary repairs required before a reverse mortgage can go through.Reverse mortgages have more built-in borrower safeguards than most types of loans. Still, when unfortunate situations like this occur, it shows that no amount of safeguards or regulations can completely insulate the borrower from predators.

Share these tips with someone you care about:

1: Be wary of ANYONE pushing the “idea” of a reverse mortgage on you. Do your own research and make sure a reverse mortgage makes sense for you. It is your money at stake! Be especially wary of anyone who tells you that they’re your only hope for getting a reverse mortgage.

2: Use reverse mortgage counseling to your advantage. Talk with the counselor about the need for repairs and the best way to get the repairs done.

3: If repairs are needed to qualify for a reverse mortgage, get quotes from several contractors and always check references.

PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY

4: Never sign any document that has blanks to be filled in later.

Refer to the HUD's informational website to find more valuable reverse mortgage information.

For more tips on How to Avoid Getting Scammed by a Contractor check out the post by Irina Natchaev

"To speed up the disposition of the 54,000 foreclosed properties it owns, Fannie Mae is opening offices in California and Florida and is considering selling those properties in bulk to investors. "I do not think this is a time to be holding onto (foreclosed properties) hoping for a better day," CEO Daniel Mudd said last week.

...President Bush last month [July 2008] signed sweeping housing legislation that aims to prevent foreclosures by allowing homeowners to swap their mortgages for more affordable loans, but only if their lender agrees to take a loss on the initial loan"

Keep Reading - Foreclosure Filings Up 55%

Related Post

"borrowers should be wary of sources that offer help but require a fee"

When homeowners find themselves facing foreclosure proceedings reaching out to their lender is vital however, the largest comment by homeowners entails the nonresponsiveness of lenders.

There has been a change in lender attitudes though and with the help of HOPE NOW there is more hope of reaching the right person in the Loss Mitigation department.

Call the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline: 1.888.995.HOPE

Hotline Services Include

• Outreach to Homeowners
• Counseling Homeowners
• Assisting Homeowners

2 Million Troubled Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure

"The Hope Now coalition reports that it completed a record number of mortgage workouts in July - but that was outpaced by the increasing rate of foreclosures"

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hope Now has helped more than 2 million at-risk borrowers stay in their homes during the past 13 months, according to numbers released by the coalition on Wednesday. The alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors assembled to combat foreclosures fixed more than 192,000 problem loans during July, a one-month record that represents a 6% increase over June. Despite this progress, foreclosures continue to climb; 91,752 families lost their homes in July. That represents an increase of 14% from June and more than double the number of July 2007, when only 42,043 homes went to foreclosure.

"The treadmill is still going a little faster than [Hope Now] can keep up with," said Nicholas Retsinas, Director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. "Foreclosures have outpaced the efforts to combat them."

So, Hope Now is stepping up its efforts to reach out to troubled borrowers to let them know help is available, according to Faith Schwartz, the alliance's executive director. The group has promoted its program through advertising, public announcements, as well as letters to at-risk borrowers and large foreclosure prevention events that it's holding around the country.

Reluctant to seek help...read the rest of the article

Related Article: U.S. Foreclosure Filings Up 55% From Last Year