I can’t tell you enough how true the following advice is– don’t pay some one to save your home.
I have personally talked to numerous people, many Asian Americans, who have thrown their money down the drain trying to save their home from foreclosure.
Each time I pleaded with them not to do it. I warned them they were about to get scammed. But they were so desperate, so determined to save their home they wouldn’t listen.
Not a single one who forked over good hard earned mortgage money to a perfect stranger to dig themselves out from foreclosure was successful at doing it.
A recent article in the Inquirer talked to a Filipino American family who learned the hard way.
The husband had fallen into bad health. Their income had dropped significantly. They couldn’t keep up with their mortgage. An ad on television and a flyer dropped on their door step promised to renegotiate their loan for them, reduce their principle and decrease their monthly mortgage payment.
They paid someone $2,400 for an empty promise. As soon as they forked over the money, the scammer was never heard from again.
“I say do not trust individual attorneys who say they will help you modify your loan,” says Maeve Elise Brown of the non-profit Housing and Economic Rights Advocates of Oakland. “I’m sorry to say that some of my colleagues in the law profession cannot be trusted on this.”
Another housing advocate echoed that sentiment.
“You shouldn’t be paying for loan modification assistance,” says Leah Simon-Weisberg, legal director of Tenants Together. “If you’re asked to pay, stay away,”
There are government certified housing counselors who will assist you for free. They may not be able to help you, but they also won’t give you an empty promise. They won’t ask you for money on the hope that your home might be saved. If these people can’t save their home, no lawyer, no scammer, no fraudster can either–no matter how nice their smile, how sincere they are, they are out to take your money. Don’t do it.
You can find an approved list of HUD Certified Housing Counselors here. Their services are free.
