Feds Warn Of Upfront Fee Scams That Claim Affiliation With OCC; Ripoffs Target Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

From the Department of the U.S Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency:

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has been notified that a group using the names “855LAW5559” and “National Legal Help” has misrepresented that the OCC has directed their organization to send foreclosure grant review correspondence to banking consumers.



• The OCC has no knowledge of or affiliation with the group responsible for sending the letters and did not direct it to send any letters to consumers.



• Letters were apparently sent to homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure. The letters claim the recipient’s lender is being investigated for wrongdoing by banking regulators. The letters also state that the recipient’s mortgage loan is being reviewed for foreclosure fraud.



• The letters inform the recipient of his or her approved eligibility to receive $10,000 in grant assistance and ask the homeowner to use the services of National Legal Help by mailing the organization a payment of $10,000 by a specific due date.



• Based upon the OCC’s review of information and National Legal Help’s Web site (www.nationallegalhelp.com), the program does not appear to be legitimate and instead is likely an “up-front-fee scam.”

For the OCC press release, see Misrepresentation of Involvement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Independent Foreclosure Grant Review Scam.