Hello! Darrin Jaszkowiak here with Re/Max West of Boise, Idaho.

 

I want to visit with you today about Foreclosure Scams. I am referring directly to companies and individuals that are trying to prey on people that are in a very vulnerable situation.

 

So, imagine you are behind on your house payments. You are in the midst of a foreclosure. You get some literature in the mail, a phone call, a thing on the internet that says, “Hey, we can save your home from foreclosure. Results guaranteed! Just send us $3,000. We’ll take care of everything. We will modify the loan. We will work with everybody. We guarantee our results”.

 

Here is the thing, all of these individuals…well not all, but a vast majority of them, are trying to take your money. Here are the facts, any loan modification - anytime somebody is in trouble - the bank is the one that makes all of the decisions (approves of the modification).  All that these companies can do is collect your information and pass it along to the bank. The bank underwrites the file and then agrees whether you can get a loan modification or not. Then they contact you.

 

Many of these companies charge between a thousand and three thousand dollars, sometimes more, with a processing fee of five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars. 

 

I have done some of these (modifications). It only takes a maximum of about 8 hours worth of work. 

 

That’s gathering the information – YOU gather all the information and give it to these folks.

 

Now some of them (modification companies) can be very valuable. They know what information to gather. They know how to present the information to the lender.   But you can do it yourself if you want to. And it, frankly, is not that difficult.

 

I would not give any of these people a non-refundable fee. Look at their policy very closely. But before you do that – see what it is like to be one of these people -

 

Get on the internet and type in…"how to get into the loan modification business"…

See what comes up. You will have a hundred different sites selling to everybody, kits, how to make some fast easy money. Well it is fast. It can be easy, if you give them the money.

 

Work with a qualified professional. Work with somebody you can actually meet with. A local attorney, qualified real estate professionals – if they are licensed properly to do it. 

 

I wouldn’t do any of this over the telephone with these folks out-of-state. They must be licensed in this state to operate in the state of Idaho

 

And you can do this yourself. I want to stress that.

 

If you don’t know exactly what to do, give me a call. I would be happy to go over the information with you.

 

There are also some wonderful resources on the internet about that very subject – how you can do it yourself.

 

I hope this was helpful

 

And, I hope it helps save some people some money, and some pain and suffering.

 

Have a great day! And, it’s a good life in Idaho!