Feds To Announce Joint Effort To Attack Loan Modification Scams

The Washington Post reports:

• The Obama administration will announce [today] a multi-agency effort to combat loan modification scams. As the country's foreclosure rate rises, companies have popped up offering to help borrowers save their homes. But banks and consumer advocates complain that the fees, which can reach thousands of dollars, do not translate into results and many of the programs are scams.

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• According to a government statement, the effort will align responses from federal law enforcement agencies, state investigators and prosecutors, civil enforcement authorities and the private sector to protect homeowners.

For more, see Government to Offer Plan to Fight Home Loan Scams.

For story update, see Government Rolls Out Plan to Fight Loan Scams:

• [S]ometimes, these scams use names similar to legitimate groups offering help. For example, many companies use the word "Hope" in their title, similar to Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage lenders, and Hope for Homeowners, a foreclosure prevention program run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to federal officials.