Debt Management – Avoiding Scams

October 11, 2008

More and more people are falling into debt. As a result more people seek the help of professionals who can help. While this is a good step, there are also a lot of shady deals out there which promise to save your home from foreclosure but don’t delivery. It is important for you to recognize and stay away from such offers.

In one scenario, you have to surrender the title of your home under the impression that you will be a tenant and rent the house and be able to buy it back after a few years. The truth is that you will probably lose your house, won’t be able to buy it back and the scam artist gets to walk away with your capital. There are times when people sign a bunch of documents and don’t even realize that they have just passed the title of their house to someone else. Don’t be such a victim. Read the contract document very carefully. Check for customer references. Check for their registration with a reputed association.

If you find yourself in a position where you cannot make the next mortgage payment the best thing to do is to contact your lender immediately. It is very likely that you can renegotiate terms and work out a payment schedule. Lenders don’t like to foreclose as it is very expensive for them. Moreover, by you having contacted them in advance shows them your good intentions and they are likely to revert the same.

Be careful of any person or company that calls itself a mortgage consultant or foreclosure service. Do not trust people who solicit business using flyers or door to door marketing techniques. Watch for promises that seem too good to be true for they usually are. The promises could be to save your credit or find a buyer for your home within x number of days. Whatever the promise, think if it is likely? If it was so good why wasn’t it more popularly used?

Whatever you decide to move forward with, make sure you get it in writing. Do not sign anything that has any blank lines or spaces. This leads to the possibility of later adding information you don’t agree to. Verbal agreements are also useless, so make sure to get it all in writing.

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