Scammers Don't Learn Their Lessons

In our foreclosure ebook, Theft of the American Home, we detail an incident in which our affiliate company helped a homeowner who had been scammed get nearly $700.00, refunded to her from the foreclosure scam company. A small portion is reproduced here:

This company sent a devious letter to Maria and her family with the intention of tricking them into believing the letter was sent directly by Maria’s original lender. A copy of the letter is shown here in Fig. 1.1 (not pictured here, see foreclosure ebook ). As you can see, the company does not give their name or phone number until the very end of the letter, but mentions the client’s lender several times. The body of the letter is designed to deceive the reader into thinking that the “Loan Recovery Program” is being offered by Intervale Mortgage Corp., Maria’s original mortgage company. A fictional “Loan Recovery Department” is even listed, along with hours of operation and a phone number to call.

Unfortunately, this homeowner was tricked into sending Scam Company No. 1 a check for $675.00. Once they received her money, they did absolutely nothing that their letter stated. A special forbearance was not structured, and Maria’s payments were not placed on the back of the loan. The owner of the property never received any proof that the company even attempted to contact the lender, and the scammers stopped answering Maria’s calls shortly after they received payment.

When the client contacted Adama about obtaining a refund, Adama immediately began researching the company, recognizing it to be a scam. A search through the Better Business Bureau online database revealed the location of Scam Company No. 1, phone and fax numbers, and the owner’s name and email address. Also, a history of complaints was discovered, with a number of former clients apparently requesting refunds when no work was done on their case.

The next step for Adama was to research every consumer advocacy group and regulatory agency that the client could submit her complaint to. These entities included the BBB, attorneys general, departments of real estate, the Federal Trade Commission, and the NAACP. The president of the scam company was then called and Adama verbally requested a refund on behalf of Maria, the owner of the property. The president responded by saying a refund would not be sent to the client and proceeded to hang up on the manager from Adama. A letter was then written, giving Scam Company No. 1 a deadline for refunding the payment, and the letter was sent to the president of the company. If no refund was received by Maria and her family by the end of the deadline, the numerous complaint letters would be mailed out. (A customizable version of this letter is included in Appendix B of the book Theft of the American Home.)

After this exchange, the company refunded the $675.00 in full. The owners now had an additional $675.00 to fight foreclosure that they thought they had lost to a company that turned out to be nothing but a scam.

Apparently, another homeowner in foreclosure has been victimized by Foreclosure Assistance Services. A Denver affiliate of ABC, The Denver Channel, reports the story of Debbie Grace, who was mailed a brochure from Foreclosure Assistance Services.

Unfortunately, this report illustrates the consequences of trusting a company who tells you that they will take care of everything for you. As The Denver Channel story states, “Foreclosure Assistance told her to stay out of the way. She said they told her not to call lawyers or the mortgage lenders and that they were going to do all the work. ‘They were going talk to the mortgage company and talk to the lawyer ... but the girl couldn't tell me (what they would say.) She said we've got to get this paperwork filled out and then we can go from there,’ Grace said.” No one should ever trust any company to deal directly with their lender or their attorneys.

When the homeowner gave FAS all of her trust, she allowed them to take advantage of her. When they told her not to contact her lender or their attorneys, they knew they were going to do nothing for her, and that’s exactly what they did. According to Grace, FAS said “we'll help you save your house and that's what I was trying to do. They wanted $1,000.” Not surprisingly, though, the company did nothing for Debbie and she lost her house.

Thankfully, there was a somewhat happier ending than there could have been, as Foreclosure Assistance Services refunded Grace’s payment, after she complained to the bank her credit card is with.

However, never trust anyone to be the sole negotiator between you and the mortgage company. Unless you hire an attorney, no one has the authority to make any serious decisions about your loan besides yourself and the lender, or their attorneys. Also, as we have warned over and over again, be very careful about sending money up front to anyone until you know exactly what you are paying for.