SCAMS
BEWARE!!!
There are many scams out there to look out for. It's sad but many so called "investors" will try to take advantage of peoples financial difficulty. Here are some often used scams to look out for.
- Equity Skimming
- A "buyer" approaches you offering to buy your home and possibly give you cash back following the sale. The "buyer" then may suggest that you should deed the property to him or her. The "buyer" will then rent out the property, to you or someone else, collecting payments but doesn't pay anything on the original mortgage loan. Consequently the lender forecloses on the loan. Signing over your deed to someone else doesn't relieve you of your loan obligation
- Phony Counseling Agencies
- Some groups calling themselves "counseling agencies" will charge you a fee for services you can easily do yourself. Such as negotiating with your lender for a new payment plan. Or finding an investor to buy your home in pre-foreclosure
- Bait & Switch
- The Contract "bait & switch" is basically a breach of trust between the buyer and seller. The buyer comes to a verbal agreement with the seller on the purchase of a home. The buyer then presents a contract as just a legal version of our verbal agreement. The seller signs without really reading into the contract. By the time the seller realizes that the contract has little resemblance to the initial verbal agreement. The seller is stuck with a bad deal or he/she has to spend the next year in court fighting a legal battle.
Tips to avoid a SCAM
- Do not sign anything you don't fully understand
- Get all "agreements" in writing
- Check for any complaints on the prospective buyer.
You can contact your state's Attorney General, the State Real Estate Commission, or the local District Attorney's Consumer Fraud Unit for this type of information. - Be willing to walk away
