The housing market has been through a lot of ups and down in most countries. As a result, there have been a lot of reports about unscrupulous mortgage broker Sydney trying to rip off potential home buyers and homeowners alike. Most of these scammers are very good at what they do and will always tell you what you want to hear. Even people who may be suspicious at first may end up being ripped off their hard-earned cash or signing wrong documents out of desperation. To ensure that you are safe, here is a quick guide on how to avoid loan modification and foreclosure related mortgage scams.
Loan Modification
Never pay any upfront fee for any kind of loan modification. There are several stories of homeowners getting scammed thousands of dollars for loan modifications that didn’t happen in the first place. The scammers cheat buyers that there are no charges for the services but the fees are for preparing the documents. Some will also use official sounding government programs such as HARP and HAMP to fool homeowners or potential buyers.
Foreclosure relief
People who are faced with financial difficulties and get behind on their mortgage payments are often desperate to save their homes. This is where scammers, with access to pre-foreclosure home records swoop in with lucrative offers to take advantage of the homeowners vulnerabilities. Some will claim that they can help you save your home and reduce the mortgage payments—but at some upfront fee. Before you know it, they will have left you in a worse financial shape.
There are also fraudsters who claim that they are affiliated to certain government agencies or housing assistance programs and end up swindling homeowners thousands of dollars in fees.
To avoid foreclosure related scams, you should always enlist the help of a HUD-accredited counselor so that you can see the options that you have. You can then include the counselor in a three-way call to your lender to find out the best possible solution. You should note that most scammers will tell you not to talk to your lender because they will take care of everything. That’s a huge red flag. They know very well that you will find it hard to speak to your lender because you are in imminent default or because you are afraid that it will speed up losing your home.
Like any other country, you need to be careful when working with any mortgage broker Sydney has offer. No matter how down your luck might be, it is advisable to stay on your toes when it comes to any form of mortgage deal.