Home Loans and Mortgages ? Beware of Deed Theft Scam

Home
>
Mortgage Refinance
>
Home Loans and Mortgages ? Beware of Deed Theft Scam

Home Loans and Mortgages ? Beware of Deed Theft Scam

The average home in the United States has a value of $206,000, a record amount. Real estate prices have been rising throughout the country during the last five years, and homeowners have seen the value of their property skyrocket. In California alone, the equity in private homes has increased by more than one trillion dollars in the last five years alone. Many homeowners do not even realize that their home may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they know. Unfortunately for them, a new breed of thieves is well aware of the value of home equity, and a scam known as "deed theft" has allowed them to steal homes from thousands of people.

Deed theft is simple in principle. The perpetrators of deed theft post flyers around town offering "foreclosure help." They seek homeowners with mortgages who may be experiencing some temporary financial setback that threatens them with foreclosure. It's not uncommon for people who have been living in their homes for years to have a sudden financial emergency that prevents them from making their house payments. Perhaps a job loss or illness is to blame. The economic downturn of the last five years has left a lot of people struggling to pay their bills, and these are the people that the deed thieves seek. Their flyers promise to help those in danger of having their homes taken through foreclosure. The thieves meet with the homeowners and ask to have the title to the home transferred to them. In exchange, the "rescuer" will promise to pay the delinquent bills and rent the home to the victim for a year or so at a fair price. During this time, they say, the homeowner can save their money or pay off other bills. At the end of that year, the victim can buy the house back from the "rescuer."

This seems like a friendly gesture, except that the "rescuer" has no intention of selling the home back to the victim. Once the title is signed over to them, they legally own the home. They may evict the victim, sell the home, or borrow against it, and there is little recourse for the victim, who is now nothing more than a squatter. Many of these victims fail to realize that they may have had hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity in their home or that their mortgage company may have been willing to either refinance their home or assist them in some other way with making their payments.

This scam is currently popular across the country and homeowners could easily avoid being victimized by simply calling their mortgage company at the first sign of financial struggle. Mortgage companies aren't really interested in foreclosure; they'd much rather get paid if at all possible. Before accepting the "help" of strangers who post signs on streetcorners, homeowners should start by asking help from those with whom they are already doing business. Doing so could not only save the homeowner money, it could save the homeowner's house.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on home equity loans.

In The News:

King of How To News
No Drop in Refinancing Expected
NASDAQ
Overall mortgage lending is expected to increase slightly this year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is predicting, thanks to declining rates that are supporting continued demand for refinancing. The MBA today upped its mortgage lending estimate ...
Mortgage Refinance in Today's Real Estate MarketKing of How To News
Refinance Applications Increase in U.S. for Third Consecutive Week, Driven by ...World Property Channel
Today's Mortgage Rates: Bank of America, Wells Fargo and PNC Bank Refinance ...Eastern Morning Herald
The Republic -Community Voice -MortgageLoan.com
all 59 news articles »

eCreditDaily.com
Time to Refinance While Mortgage Rates are So Low
FreeRateUpdate.com
After taking a look at these details, many borrowers are going to find that it is time to refinance while mortgage rates are so low even if they refinanced several years ago. For those with adjustable mortgage rates, it is the perfect time to switch to ...
Mortgage applications up on refi demand: MBAReuters
MBA Weekly Survey: Refinance Applications Increase Because of Record Low ...LoanSafe
The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed by Kansas and Missouri Mortgage ...SBWire (press release)
The Hill (blog) -eCreditDaily.com -MarketWatch (press release)
all 106 news articles »

e-wisdom.com
Realtors(R) Offer Support for Bill to Help Responsible Homeowners Refinance
MarketWatch (press release)
WASHINGTON, DC, May 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- A proposed bill to streamline and align the refinance processes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may soon make it easier for homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but who have been ...
Mortgage Rates: Low Mortgage Rates Remain in Place as Consumer Sentiment SoarsFreeRateUpdate.com
Freddie Mac: 30-year mortgage rate down a tick at 3.78%Los Angeles Times
Refinancing homeowners overwhelmingly choose fixed loanse-wisdom.com
International Business Times -KETK -BusinessWeek
all 315 news articles »

The Mortgage Reports (blog)
The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed by Georgia Mortgage Expert
SBWire (press release)
Atlanta, Georgia based Mortgage Broker Brad Hartman reveals mortgage refinancing secrets, offers free reports, a home buying guide and free mortgage calculators on his website, brad-hartman.com. The site is designed to give Georgia residents all the ...
Real estate industry pushes Senate on refi billMarketWatch
Push intensifies to pass home-loan refinancing billThe Hill (blog)
Q & A : Why Won't My Bank Do HARP Mortgages With PMI Or LPMI?The Mortgage Reports (blog)
FreeRateUpdate.com -Cleveland Jewish News -Seeking Alpha
all 13 news articles »

Mortgage rules prove too strict for some retirees
Washington Post
Jim Eberle of McLean found this out the hard way when he applied to refinance his mortgage. After spending much of his career working for banking industry trade associations in Washington, Eberle, 68, decided to take advantage of this spring's ...

and more »

Mortgage Origination Forecast Increased by Nearly $200 Billion by TSA
LoanSafe
MBA now expects that mortgage originations will reach $1.28 trillion in 2012, up from $1.26 trillion in 2011. Refinance originations are now expected to total $870 billion in 2012, an almost identical amount to 2011. MBA is slightly lowering its ...
2012 Originations Now Expected to Exceed 2011Mortgage Daily

all 2 news articles »

Obama's Disclosure Shows Mortgage Refinance Not High on Agenda
San Francisco Chronicle
Rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.46 percent last year, according to Bankrate.com data, hitting a low at the end of the year of 3.92 percent. In 2011, 4.3 million homeowners refinanced, according to data from the US Department of Housing ...

and more »

Politico
Obama to tout success of mortgage refinancing
Washington Post
In addition, he cited a program Obama announced in October 2011 designed to remove barriers to refinancing to homeowners with federally backed mortgages. Now, it is up to Congress, Donovan said, to expand such programs to homeowners with loans that are ...
Obama touts mortgage refinancing to help economic recoveryThe Hill (blog)
Obama Visits Reno, Urges Congress To Expand Mortgage Refinancing ProgramCarson Now
In Nevada, Obama touts his housing crisis effortsLos Angeles Times
Politico -CNN (blog)
all 599 news articles »

Chicago Tribune
Costco members can now shop for mortgages online
Chicago Tribune
Mortgages? Well, not exactly. The company is receiving a fair amount of publicity for the rollout on its website of a home purchase and refinancing mortgage product for members. But technically it's not Costco's program. It's an online mortgage ...

e-wisdom.com
Mortgage refinancing applications jump; rates fall: MBA
Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for US home mortgages surged last week, driven by increased demand for refinancing as interest rates hit fresh lows, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted ...
Mortgage refinancing surgesBizjournals.com
The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed by Pennsylvania Mortgage ExpertSBWire (press release)
Mortgage applications increase on jump in refinancingThe Hill (blog)
LoanSafe -LoanRateUpdate (press release)
all 120 news articles »

Google News