Upfront Fee Foreclosure Rescue Scams

This post provides a list of a number of links to articles available on the Internet on foreclosure rescue scams involving the payment of upfront fees by the financially distressed homeowner to the foreclosure rescue operator.

.

Upfront Fee Foreclosure Rescue Operators

The "upfront fee" operators, often calling themselves "mortgage consultants", "mortgage workout specialists", and others who use self-styled titles, promise to provide "consulting services" to homeowners facing foreclosure in dealing with mortgage lenders in exchange for fees that are paid at the outset of the relationship.

See, for example:

1) Madigan, Lawmakers Take On Mortgage Foreclosure "Rescuers", (Illinois) which, among other things, describes one case where an operator charged financially distressed homeowners between $350 and $900 for services in negotiating with their mortgage lender.

2) Owner of “My House Saver” Ordered to Make Refunds at Attorney General Request (Indiana)

3) AG Cooper shuts down foreclosure fraudsters (North Carolina) Click here for WCNC-TV news report

4) Former appraiser convicted of defrauding 30 people (Utah)

5) Womans court appearance in Debt Consildation case (Pennsylvania)

6) Get Gephardt: Equity Skimming Crooks Sentenced (Utah) Click here for Channel 2 TV Report

7) $250,000 Fine Levied Against Fraudulent Foreclosure "Rescue" Business (Illinois)

Combination of Upfront Fee and Equity Skimmer Operator

Some operators have actually combined the "upfront fee" approach with a form of "equity skimming" where, in addition to taking an upfront fee, they convince the homeowner to remit monthly payments to them under the false pretense that those monies are being applied to a "payment plan" designed to cure or reinstate the defaulted mortgage (without the need to actually talk the homeowner into signing over the title to their home). In some of the cases listed below, the operators actually filed multiple, false bankruptcy petitions in the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the purpose of stalling the ultimate foreclosure sale so that the operator can continue collecting the monthly payments from the homeowners for as long as possible.

See, for example:

1) Detroit Man Gets 3 Years in Foreclosure Scam (Michigan), which also involved the abuse of the Federal Bankruptcy Court system.

2) Press Release - U.S. Attorney, (S.D. California), another bankruptcy fraud case.

3) Springboro Man Indicted In "Operation Truth Or Consequences" National Action Bankruptcy Fraud (Ohio), also involved bankruptcy fraud.

4) Mortgage Scam Puts Dozens of Dallas Homeowners on the Streets (Texas)
.