Beware! Foreclosure Scams On The Rise
Filed under: Foreclosure Scammers
Falling into the foreclosure trap has become the norm. The curve on the graph is steadily rising. Illinois is not free from this malaise of foreclosure.
But the secondary infection that follows the primary one also needs to be attended to. Scammers are stalking foreclosure victims like vultures ready to pick the bones of the dying. They term themselves as mortgage rescuers and come forward with a deadly smile and helping hands with retracted claws. Once in their grasp all last hopes of salvaging something from the rubble is dashed.
Foreclosures are making the administration is being forced to sit up. From the beginning of this year Governor Blagojevich of Illinois initiated a move by which the IMRFA or Illinois Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act became a law. It targets two kinds of helpers –middlemen negotiating terms with the lender for a fee and the second type targeting the taking over the title deed of the house. What happens is that from the fire of the foreclosure the borrower jumps into the fire of the new lender.
The new law is an attempt to regulate the lending business by including penalties for civic and criminal violation of the Act. The IMRFA stipulates that all understanding must be on writing and no payments are to be made until all promises are fulfilled. If it is a sale agreement then the agreement must make it clear in bold and unequivocal terms. The Act gives the house owner five business days to cancel the contract without incurring any sort of fees. The business agent can keep only 18% of the current fair value of the property. If the house owner is unable to buy back the unit then his or her balance of 82% is kept guaranteed.
The law gets its fangs from the clause that any violation of the essential terms of the Act will be considered as class 2 felony and the offender can be charged by the consumer fraud act by the Attorney General of Illinois. The house owners can also sue the offenders in private and take back attorney’s fees. A website hosted by the Attorney General gives more detailed information.
Those apart there are many organizations, which are non-profit groups ready to help the distressed foreclosure victims. Their services are free. All it requires is a little bit of awareness, looking and clicking around.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:48 am
[...] Foreclosure scams beginning in California have swept across the country. Federal Investigators are honing in on Kansas. Bogus bankruptcies have been used to cheat house owners as well as lenders. Advantage has been taken of the clause that bankruptcy automatically postpones foreclosures. Bankruptcies are now on the rise. [...]