Behind on your mortgage?  Beware.  You could become the target of a growing scam by foreclosure prevention “specialists” who use deception and outright lies to sell services that promise relief to distressed homeowners.

In the scam, homeowners are asked to pay an upfront fee to retain the services of an auditor, who is supposedly backed by an audit attorney.  This fee might be as much as 1.0% of the principal balance.  On a $350,000 loan that could be as much as $3500, and some audit companies even charge a monthly retainer of $1000.  For this fee, the audit team then offers to review your loan documents to determine if your lender complied with all state and federal lending laws.  The auditors propose that if irregularities are discovered, you can use the audit report as ammunition against your lender to stop foreclosure, get your loan modified, the principal reduced, or even cancel the loan.

Not true.  According to the FTC there is no evidence that forensic loan audits will help you get a modification or any other foreclosure relief, even if conducted by a legitimate attorney.  Some federal laws may allow you to sue your lender for errors in your loan documents, but even if you win your lender is not required to modify your loan.

The bottom line is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is and looking for lender errors or omissions is not going to save your home.  But you do have options.  For free guidance visit www.hopenow.com , view the options I discussed  in a previous post, or for immediate answers, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

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