When you are facing foreclosure, you may be feeling vulnerable and searching for ways to save your home. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation warns that if you are struggling to pay your loan, you may find yourself targeted by mortgage relief scams that hinder your ability to defend your home and credit. We guide Tennessee homeowners through the maze of foreclosure.
Mortgage relief scams can take a variety of forms. In some schemes, you pay fees for financial counseling services that promise foreclosure relief, but the promises never materialize. In other cases, scammers may mislead you into thinking that you are refinancing your home, but they use your personal information to steal your identity or trick you into making loan payments to a fake company. Others may ask you to sign “loan documents” that are really deed documents that transfer title to your house.
Certain red flags may signal that scammers are targeting you. These schemers may ask you to take unusual steps designed to steal your money or home:
- Require that you pay up-front fees for loan modification or foreclosure relief assistance.
- Ask you to “temporarily” transfer your house.
- Direct you to make loan payments to someone other than your lender or loan servicer.
- Expect you to rely on verbal assurances.
- Insist that you sign documents without the opportunity to read them. These documents may have blanks or spaces.
- Request personal financial information or money over the phone or internet with the promise of a low-interest loan to refinance your mortgage.
You need to understand how to protect your home and financial future if you receive a notice of foreclosure from your lender. Our foreclosure page can provide you with more information on this topic.