By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-850573.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Mortgage foreclosures in Dallas and Fort Worth are at an all time high. Law enforcement experts say it's an environment that breeds scam artists. Tonight at 8:00 pm KERA television and radio will air an hour-long special, "Facing the Mortgage Crisis." Experts will talk about avoiding foreclosure; coping with unemployment; recognizing fraud. KERA's Bill Zeeble takes a look at several fraudulent schemes you'll hear more about in the special.
Attorney Kervyn Altaffer, with Legal Aid of North West Texas, says he's been seeing 2 main types of mortgage scams, Both involve people who search public records for troubled properties. Then they go to those homes.
Kervyn B. Altaffer, Jr. Legal Aid of NW Texas: Say you're 6 months behind and you're 6 thousand dollars in your mortgage behind. Some people will knock on the door and say "Look. Just pay me $1000 and I'll save your house from foreclosure."
Altaffer says the home owner might actually have a thousand dollars, just not the 6 thousand he owes, which the lender is demanding. Desperate, confused, and worried, some owners pay up.
Altaffer: When someone knocks on your door like that, you need to be wary always. They're looking for a way to make money easy. Any time your house is up for foreclosure & someone says give me an up front payment? You need to be careful.
Altaffer knows of yet another kind of scam. He says watch out if you have a lot of equity in your home - if most of it's paid off and you just owe a small amount. Say it's a hundred thousand dollar house, with only 10 thousand left to pay, and you get in financial trouble. Again, someone rings the doorbell.
Altaffer: They're not looking for an upfront payment but equity in the home. Sell us your home now and we'll sell it back to you when you get back on your feet. But when you get back on your feet then you say "Sell it back to me." and they say "Ok give me a hundred thousand dollars. When you sold it them for 10,000".
In essence, the scammer now has a property worth ten times what he paid for it. Altaffer's also seeing another kind of flim flam. The schemer has printed out a deed to your house. He shows up at the door, says he'll fix your foreclosure problems, and has you sign papers, including that one. When its too late, you learn you just signed your house over to the flim flam artist. Altaffer warns don't sign a thing. He also says lenders almost always want to work with home owners so they can stay in their homes.
Dana Dillard, a mortgage professional, agrees. The Senior Vice President with GMAC Mortgage says unlike the scammers, there are legitimate 3rd party helpers.
Dana Dillard, Senior Vice President, GMAC Mortgage: There's HUD counselors out there, they can go to HUD.gov, and get a list of counselors in their area. Go to someone you don't have to pay for, who is your advocate.
Dillard says some lenders allow homeowners facing foreclosure to pay lower monthly amounts, stretch out those payments, or make other arrangements. The bottom line for sniffing out mortgage scammers: beware of unsolicited help at your door, and those wanting money fast and upfront.
You can learn more about mortgage scams and foreclosure assistance by tuning into KERA's "Facing the Mortgage Crisis," a special program tonight at 8:00 on KERA 13 and public radio 90.1. The program also include important information about the North Texas job market. For additional resources and information check out our new website kera.org/economy.