|
Not found what you are looking for? Try Google search:
|
|
http://www.news-from-newspapers.com has found the following results regarding
boston mortgage refinance
Be wary of home 'rescue' scams
By JAY MACDONALD SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE You see the DayGlo signs everywhere these days: "We buy houses!" "Cash for your home!" "Fast refi now!" You may think kindly toward companies that would offer a hand to debt-ridden homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. Don't. The majority of these so-called foreclosure "rescuers" are actually sleazy predators who offer sinking homeowners what Harvard Law School professor and bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren calls "the cement life jacket." Before you're even aware of it, these scam artists will have acquired your home for a fraction of what it would have brought at sale. Or, in an even worse scenario, they will have transferred your title into a trust that then enables them to rent or "resell" your property to equally hoodwinked buyers while, to your surprise, you remain legally obligated to make the
mortgage payments. Steve Tripoli, consumer fraud investigator for the National Consumer Law Center in
boston, interviewed numerous state attorneys general and legal aids for the NCLC's June 2005 report, "Dreams Foreclosed: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Home through Equity-Stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams." Tripoli found foreclosure "rescue" scams fall into three main categories: Phantom help: The "rescuer" charges outrageous fees for light-duty phone calls or paperwork that the homeowner could easily do, none of which results in saving the home. It gives homeowners a false sense of hope and prevents them from seeking qualified help. The bailout: In this scam, the homeowner is deceived into signing over the home's title with the belief that he will be able to remain in the house as a renter and eventually buy it back over time. The terms of these scams are so onerous that the buy-back becomes impossible, the homeowner loses possession, and the "rescuer" walks off with most or all of the equity. The bait-and-switch: In this scam, the homeowners think they are signing documents to bring the
mortgage current, but instead actually surrender their ownership. They usually don't even know they've been scammed until they're evicted. "Rescuers" often place ownership of the property into a trust in the owner's name in order to avoid the "due-on-sale" clause in most
mortgage contracts. They then transfer ownership through the trust to themselves or to a front operation. In these instances, the
mortgage company is unaware anything is amiss; the homeowner, however, is frequently left on the hook to pay the
mortgage on a house he or she no longer owns. Why do homeowners fall for these scams? Tripoli blames both the failure of lenders to adequately spell out the foreclosure terms, time frame and owners' rights, as well as the hesitancy of homeowners facing foreclosure to talk about it. Unfortunately, help is becoming harder to find. Even if someone in foreclosure could afford to hire an attorney, fewer lawyers are inclined to take cases against scammers because the prospect of ever collecting a court award is extremely slim. Daniel Ebihara, staff attorney for Clark County Legal Services in Las Vegas, helps foreclosure scam victims by tapping into a network of real estate attorneys who volunteer their time to help. He recently won a trial on behalf of a young couple who thought they had sold their home to fend off foreclosure until they went to buy a car and found the 30-year
mortgage was still theirs. With credit tightening up, what should you do if foreclosure seems imminent? Warren said if there is time,
refinance out of your zero-interest or adjustable-rate
mortgage into a fixed-rate
mortgage. "Even if it costs a little more, there will be a point in the future when you will thank every lucky star that you did it," she said. If you've received a foreclosure notice, contact your
mortgage company first. There are many remedies available, including renegotiating the terms of your
mortgage, that can save your home, or failing that, allow you to walk away with most of your equity. If you can't
refinance, renegotiate or sell quickly, it may make sense to look at filing for bankruptcy. "It may be a more reasonable option instead of carrying on and maintaining a debt that you may still be obligated to pay," Ebihara said. Mortage rate rises: The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage rose 6 basis points to 5.84 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The
mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.38 discount and origination points. One year ago, the
mortgage index was 6.17 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate
mortgage rose 6 basis points to 5.45 percent. The 5/1 adjustable-rate
mortgage rose 9 basis points to 5.49 percent.
Source: Yahoo_News