Hi folks. Last night I was cruising around Craigslist.com deciding whether or not to place some ads for my short sale services. It's getting a little sleazy over there. Ads for short sale services, loan mods and foreclosures assistance are every where.
Some were pretty good and some were.....well.........just check out this one:
- Do You Need To Hold Off Your Foreclosure?
- Do You Need Time to Arange a Short Sale?
- Do You Just Want to Stay in Your Home For Up to 15 Months?
- For $200/month we Offer a Money Back Gaurantee if we Can't Stall Your Foreclosure.
I copied this advertisment directly from Craigslist. THIS IS NOT MY AD!!!
So I guess you can now pay people to do nothing more than help you beat the system. How crappy is that?
What say you?
***If you are facing foreclosure then please contact me. They are legal ways to avoid forelcosure.
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Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***
Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.
Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com
***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc handles Florida real estate sales, Florida short sales, Florida strategic short sales, Florida pre-foreclosure sales, Florida foreclosures in Kissimmee Florida Short Sales, Davenport Florida Short Sales, Haines City Florida Short Sales, Poinciana Florida Short Sales, Solivita Florida Short Sales, Orlando Florida Short Sales, Celebration Florida Short Sales, Winderemere Florida Short Sales. Serving all of Polk, Osceola and Orange Counties Florida. Florida Short Sale Broker. Short Sale Florida.
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Reserved Parking For "The Lovely Wife"...TLW...ROAR!
Hun...
As you know this really cracked me up. In spite of the fact their bottom feeding, please tell me where to send the check? I wonder if they even take checks. Probably not :)
TLW...ROAR!
Crappy . . .
But, for 15 months on NO payments . . . for $200 (oh sure!) . . . that a steal!
What's that Mom used to tell us. If it sounds too good to be true . . . it's a SCAM!!
Bryant,
"So I guess you can now pay people to do nothing more than help you beat the system."
I'm sorry, I respectfully disagree! It's not "beat the system" it's abuse the system! The system always wins, in the end!
Bill
Kill Bill...
Hey Bryant how ya doin'?
I see you have been quite busy!
Stop by and say hello sometime. I might be in Florida in November, would love to meet up!
BB, makes me pretty angry that they are preying on desperate people.
Amazing that people can't use all that energy in a positive direction. Although they make think it's positive as it is putting money in their pockets. Not the type of positive I was thinking of.
Andrea has it correctly. These sleazebags are preying on those who can least afford to pay. And when they fail to deliver, what about the money back guarantee? Good luck on finding them.
I wonder what it is they do!?! Very strange.
Yep. The scam artists have crawled out of the woodwork. $200 a month? That could mount up pretty quickly.
It sounds a lot like the spam I keep getting from my craigslist postings.
It sounds a lot like the spam I keep getting from my craigslist postings.
Okay...
All I need is one more and I'm home free. Assuming of course no one deletes me. That is NOT out of the question :)
TLW...ROAR!
Great spelling by the advertiser.
Gee, the sad thing is some will fall for this.
All types trying to take advantage of folks who are down. Hopefully they will continue to get exposed.
It is getting so horrible out there. I have one REO that the lady hasn't make a payment for 14 months AFTER getting a loan mod last July. She accepted a cash for keys after some seriouse negotiations. I got her the most money for the longest stay ever. The day before the exchange she emailed me, "Nevermind, sueing instead".
Ok, there are some really terrible stories out there where people have had serious misfortunes. This lady told me that she kept refinancing pulling all her money out and the last $90k she made bad investment. So, she got all the cash, 14 months rent free (that will probably 20 by the time she is done).
She told me that she is "listening" to someone that is helping her do all this...hmmm....maybe I should have just written a blog! It is getting so bad out there :o(
My first response was going to be you plagiarized my ad but I though I would keep it more serious. I am of the opinion that people who try to make a quick buck "unethically" are always the first to lose all their money. Have fun on craigslist! Hysterical post.
Bryant, NEFAR had a 3-day class that was part of a grant from NAR on short sales. The first two days were taught by a local guy and no earth-shattering news according to people in our office who went. The third day an attorney who works with Legal Aid and travels around the country teaching on this subject, spoke and she actually explained how to do this! It involves requiring the bank to actually prove that you have a loan with them. With so many loans being sold and servicers servicing them, sometimes it's not easy for the bank to actually prove there is a loan.
I was somewhat shocked to hear this - it does sound like it's just gaming the system. Her reason for doing it, though, she said, was to help the people modify their loans, to buy them some time.
But these people sound like bottom feeders. Take your money, stall the bank and in the end they still lose the house and their credit for a long time.
Sharon
This type of thing makes it so difficult for people to know where to turn when they're in trouble and truly need help.
Wow! Only $200 per month? Such a deal. Somehow, I just don't believe the Money Back Guarantee.
On a recent listing appointment, the owner confessed she had paid a 'loan modification expert' $3000 to do for her what she could have done for herself. The guy is now under investigation. And she's suing. Not that she'll ever see the money again.
Hi Bryant. I was at Craigslist last night looking over the ads in Tampa and there are some with that verbage too. Ugh!
Hi Bryant hard to believe people would pay $200 a month. I guess if your mortgage is 1200 a month that's a deal.
It's very terrible that we have to suffer the scammers out there to clog up otherwise legitimate space on Craigslist and other places with this stuff. Can't they just all very quietly take a long walk off a short pier?
Bryant, these people will either help them beat the system or they will beat them out of their money. Either way these scammers are the ones that win out in the end.
Stuff like this is exactly why the Florida attorney general has 80+ open investigations. You can't charge up front fees for loan mods, short sales, foreclosure rescue, etc.
This is common around here too. It's similar to the "credit repair" scams. They charge people money for trying to stall things through paperwork and challenges to the processes that do nothing, but end up hurting the homeowner in the long run. If someone really wanted to do this, the information on how to do it yourself is probably online somewhere for free, rather than paying someone else to do it. I home the AGs in more states go after these crooks.
BB - It seem like scam artist will do anything to make a buck.
BB - if there's a possible scam, some enterprising unethical person will find a way to take advantage of it. Seems to me there is a California statute that prohibits agents from specifically telling sellers they will help them avoid foreclosure -learned this from our company attorney some time ago.
Jeff
There is always somone who wants to take advantage.....
Patricia
LOL! I place my listings on CraigsList and I've gotten some pretty good leads. They're sporadic though. But what gets me is how many people TOTALLY violate the rules, and contact me, when I've clearly checked the box that says they MAY NOT contact me about other services!
You know it's getting crazy everywhere, people taking advantage at every turn. It's kind of amazing that the dregs always rise up in hard times. Makes you wonder where all the good guys are...oh we're the good guys and we're here to mop it all up. Real estate as it should be...ehhhh? Good post.
I hope the local attorney generals office take care of these types of things.... unbelievable...
Bryant- The short sale servicers now have black lists for scammers and flippers. I know a lot of attorneys who can for real keep you in your house without making any payments for a very long time here in Florida. We have people in their homes going on 2 years now without paying their mortgage payments. It works both ways.
BB.. this is amazing.. The bad thing is some will fall for this and get into trouble and even loose there home. This actually just happen to someone here in Clarksville. He thought they were helping him do a loan mod and he gets a knock on the door.... A man said.. "I just bought this home this morning at the foreclosure sale"
BB - It's a real shame that people are out there falling for this type of thing. They are desperate and are falling into the hands of predators. There's always been this type of thing, and it'll probably never stop.
I have to tell you plainly, this makes my gut turn over and it is sickening. The public cannot be this nieve. Or are they? I think not. It is time to stop this type of sleezy scams.
"Kill Bill...?"
"Kill Bill...?"
"Kill Bill...?"
I respectfully disagree over one word and you bring in a hit commentor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is like telling a drowning man he has to pay you before throwing him a flotation device, taking the money, and forgeting to mention there is a hole in it before leaving him in your wake.
Hi BB - I agree, that is tacky at the very least. We all get frustrated with banks from time to time when we are working our short sales, and some of their collection people can be abusive when payments are in arrears (one of my short sale listing clients is being harassed daily while we wait for them to approve the offer we submitted), but to set out to just cheat them out of up to 15 months of payments with no attempt to mitigate the damages is downright sleazy!
Bryant;
I saw those signs in my neiighborhood last night. Once a week the city comes and takes them down and they mysteriously reappear after a few days. So do those disgusting ads on Craigslist.
Pretty amazing stuff on Craig's List real estate. I use it, but just don't understand why people look there.
BB - You know what they say, "If is sounds too good to be true..." Sadly, some people will fall for this scam!
This could be the beginning of the resurgence of no money down and bad credit but we can make you a millionaire real estate scams. Excuse as I turn on the Sunday morning infomercials. I bet they are there too.
This could be the beginning of the resurgence of no money down and bad credit but we can make you a millionaire real estate scams. Excuse as I turn on the Sunday morning infomercials. I bet they are there too.
Sounds like cheap rent to me. :)
I wish someone would fork over the $200 & see what it is they are doing to do this for them.
What were they thinking? It's so unprofessional that most people would see the "red flags" going up but the ones that couldn't pick up on it...I feel sorry for.
I have talked to attorneys that are advising their clients to file bankruptcy instead of a shotr sale. By doing this they cliam that they can keep a person in their home for up to 2 years without them paying the mortgage. Of course foreclosure is the ultimate result. When I question them about the impact on credit they claim that a short sale and foreclosure have almost the same impact on credit. I have been told that foreclosure is much, much worse. Any comments?
Before I became a broker in 1997 I used to work as a journalist. The rule was always get as close to the source as possible to verify the information. This helps in most cases, even in Real Estate :-). Did anybody try to contact the Serviceprovider asking what this is all about? If not, all the above is guessing. Just my 2cents. All the best from Berlin Germany
Sorry about the spelling mistakes. I do have one potential client that should short sale his hime, but his attorney has advised him to file bankruptcy and then foreclose - thereby having a plce to live for up to 2 years free. In bad time they come out of the woodwork for sure.
There are legal ways to stall the foreclosure process, to drag it out. Our broker's wife is a real estate attorney and we just had this discussion in a recent meeting. I have several cases with cash offers on short sales but the bank is not moving the short sale process along. Stalling the lender's foreclosure process would most certainly help facilitate the short sale, if the buyer was willing to wait it out, if the seller could afford it and if paying for the stalling would still make financial sense to the seller in the end.
I forgot: my broker's wife does not advertise on Graig's list.
Hi, Did not read all remarks, but I don't know how they could "guarantee" to hold off a foreclosure. I suppose anyone is ready to take your money, if you just hand it to them. Yes, Craig's list does have some "shady" characters on it. I do like Craigs list, but I suppose you run into this in a lot of places.
thanks for sharing!
www.charlottelakewyliehomes.com
It's unfortunate that these ads both entrap the unwary consumer AND siphon off prospects that could be good candidates for a Short Sale.
Bryant,
It is everywhere. The ad can cause our anger, but the type of services, where they keep fighting off the foreclosure for up to 2 years is very real, and attorneys do that a lot.
John A Broom III,
I had similar situation when attorney suggested to my clients that they do bankruptcy and then foreclosure. The reason, as I understand, is that when they do it this way, you are not liable for any deficiency. Whatever the lender gets on a foreclosure sale, that's it. Forgiven debt is discharged, and if I am not mistaken, you are off the hook for IRS.
A lot of people have damaged their credit significantly with over 90 days late, or have other properties already foreclosed, so there is not real incentive for them to short sale versus bankruptcy and foreclosure
At the end, it is their choice what to choose. It is all very messy, and getting out a bit more cleaner or a bit more dirtier does not make much difference.
Should anyone (especially in a forum like this) really be surprised?
There is an underclass in the business sector of our culture that has always preyed on the desperate and un-informed. (I would would submit that the primary cause of this foreclosure mess can be laid on the doorstep of all of us who turned a blind eye to practise of real estate agents, mortgage people, bankers, appraiser, regulators.)
Seriously, who did not think there was something wrong with selling real estate because it was "only a few dollars a month more...
So the market dried up in the real estate sales/financing arena, why would they not move on to the foreclosure rescue/prevention/mod market?
Sort of beautiful in an amoral, efficient way! Advantage the system and get people to buy things they cannot afford, then work the market when they lose the thing you sold them. And make more money.
Who did not see this coming?
The banks are NOT going about the short sales in a logical way, and not helping much with loan mods. If they were, these scam artists would have less to gain!
BB - Don't get me started.... I agree it's getting a bit sleazy on Craigslist. I still post my listings there, but the spam it horrible. The latest I have seen is professional real estate agents spamming telling everyone in their advertising that they can sell "ANY HOME IN 10 DAYS on Craigslist".... make me wanna scream.
Hi There Broker Bryant, it makes you wonder if people really believe these ads will get them further in life....Of course, they believed the guy that said, "Zero down and no payment for 6 months!" Nice update to a scam artists dream come true.
I wonder how people get away with this crap? Now, if I tried to do something like this I would be thrown in jail... grrrrrrr The spam I get when I post on there drives me crazy and makes me not want to post. Other sites are getting just as bad.
Desperate people take desperate measures, and will grab onto anything if they don't know better, and that is not just in real estate. It's the deadbeats trying to work the system with these tactics that really get me, because in the long run we all pay the bill one way or another.
Unbelievable, it scares me to think that people will actually go for this offer.
Caveat Emptor! This has to come back to our shoulders, we need to educate, educate, educate. We can certainly name call until the cows come home, but until we educate the public about these nefarious people, we are going to have more and more of these scams pop up. We must concern ourselves with what we can do,(educate) not what bad things are going on (scam artists). Good post!
I do not use Craigs List, never have and never will. I know agents do and that's their choice, but I have always thought it was sleazy.
Where there is opportunity, there will be opportunists! It's time for everyone to step up and be responsible for their actions if we're going to see our way out of this. In some cases foreclosures are unavoidable as in the case of job loss, health issues, divorce but to simply give up just because of poor market conditions bothers me and to work the system is even worse. There is a bigger picture here and we must all work together to stabelize the market. Realtors and Lenders need to work together to close short sales as quickly as possible so we can get through this. The opportunists should be punished for their actions just as price gougers during other crisis. What's happening with loan mods?? I haven't heard any good news about that. Don't lenders have funds to try to keep people in their homes?
Judy Chapman wrote: On a recent listing appointment, the owner confessed she had paid a 'loan modification expert' $3000 to do for her what she could have done for herself.
Anyone can sell their own home, too, but I'm sure you would advise against it. In my opinion, negotiating your own loan modification is like negotiating your own hostage release. That's why the lender's representative always says at the beginning of every conversation, “This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose." It takes a lot of time, patience and knowing what you're doing to achieve a modification that is beneficial to the homeowner. Understandably, some people would rather pay someone to do this for them.
That is outrageous! I really don't know how people can live with themselves knowing they are hurting people. Aside from the obvious "it's too good to be true" theory, the typos throughout the ad is an additional red flag for me. If you're truly professional, you would know basic spelling!
BB - I've quit using Craig's List because of all the crap on it now. Not only that, but simply posting an ad wins you tons of spam! Oh, yay!
These types of ads make out lives harder, day in and day out.
Well, having been on the unwitting end of several people who were just using me to forestall a shortsale and to stay in their home as long as possible, I think that those people should go to people who will help them meet their objective. That way honest people who truly want to do a short sale, can find me and get a short sale done. Twice, I have had short sales approved by Countrywide, yes, Countrywide, and my seller tell me that I got it done too quick, they were not ready to move. Both times they refused to sign either the Addendum removing their short sale contingency or would not come to title and sign off on the loan documents. How extremely frustrating to the buyer, the buyer's agent, my negotiators as well as a wasted nine months for me. Let those who want to use the system find the right person to help them do it versus those of us, who want to be paid for the honest work received.
Bryant,
Yep.. CL is a (un)healthy mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly... Their "flag post" feature in the upper right of all posts actually works.
This is one that I would forward to the FDLE.
Why pay $200/month when there are plenty of suckers Realtors who will do the same thing for free?
Nothing suprises me anymore!
I also forgot to ad, in one instance, the seller told me that he would sign the loan documents if I gave him one-half of my commission. I did not. In another instance, the seller told me that he would sell only if I gave his buddy, a referral fee. His buddy had not referred him, had not done one day's work and came in to the picture, to check my files and to make sure that I had properly protected his buddy, the day after we were notified that loan documents were at title. I told his buddy that the only file that would be checked would be his by the DRE if he did not stop interfering with my transaction with a represented person.
Those companies/ads are common in Kansas City.
Just reading the responses is an education. Living in Vermont with month by month the lowest or nearly lowest foreclosure rate in the country we just don't see this. The one short sale our office got involved in didn't fly because the buyer figured they could steal the place and the bank wasn't that ready. Remember when cigarettes were banned from TV advertising, how about the same for on line mortgage companies!?!
Wow nothing like getting rewarded for doing nothing.
It is so sad to think people actually fall for stuff like this! It is amusing and sad at the same time!
It's a shame that people stoup to such levels on such a great website. I use Craigslist.org all the time, in fact 3 of my last 4 closings are a direct result of my ads placed there. I just wrote a contract yesterday on a short sale and got the buyer from Craigslist. It seems no matter what market we're in the sleaze balls are out there looking to take unsuspecting folk.
If you could get good, accurate, full information on what to do in a timely fashion, these sleazebags would not have a market. Just try getting straight, quick info from your bank on what to do if you need a loan mod or help of any kind ... go ahead, try.
It sounds like none of you have ever tried to do a loan modification yourself, or ran into someone who has done one themselves. Do you know most people who do loan mod themselves end up getting foreclosed in in less than a year because they didn't know how to negotiate properly with the bank to get terms that they could really afford? They get strong armed by the bank into agreeing with terms that they really can't afford in the long run. You might say, what about those "free" loan mods. They rarely get done because they are so back logged. Do we really expect attorneys, or anyone for that matter to work for free to get the loan mods done? I don't work for free, do you? I work with a company that does offer a money back guarantee. We don't advertise for it. They don't get all their money back if it doesn't happen, but they get most of it. There are scammers out there, but there are also legitimate companies. It's too bad it's only the bad stuff we hear about. But that's the way of the the media. People need to be educated. That is the key so people don't get taken advantage of. As a Realtor, I think that is part of our job. And then after you educate them, what is the solution going to be?
BB~
You mentioned, " ...I was cruising around Craigslist.com deciding whether or not to place some ads for my short sale services...."
I want to know 1) what you decided...and 2) if you have stats on the effectiveness of your short sales seminars yet...
P.S. IMHO...Your willingness to share your legitimate and in-depth knowledge about short sales is much to be admired...
Not only are these ads sleezy, responses you get to legitimate ads are sleezy too.
However, I put up with it because at the end of the day Craigslist is still getting boatloads of traffic. So if I have to field 10 scam emails for one promising one, it is worth it.
I WOULD IF I COULD BUT I CAN'T SO I WON'T
What's wrong with keeping people in their homes and using the foreclosure crisis to bring in revenue for such a service? Fact of the matter, most foreclosures are fruadulent and a keen eye can halt foreclosure easily.....many families view that as a service. What is your service? Sell them another home they cannot afford. ha
I agree, there are many predators out there, however, the cottage industry that has arose because of the housing crash is necessary to bring about the bottoming out.
Realtors were very much a part of this problem, lets not forget that on our high horses, considering everyone is scrambling to list REOs and Short sales.....as if you are any better than the bottom feeders.
You certainly hit a nerve amongst Realtors!
This is such a sad state of affairs. There are so many predators out there that it's like ambulance chasing.
Brenda Swigert,e-PRO
ReMax Unlimited West Chester, OH (surrounding Cincinnati suburbs)
www.BrendaSwigert.com
I'm curious as to what the writer of this ad is actually advertising they will do.
Are they challenging the bank by forcing them to produce the note?
Using bankruptcy to stall?
Negotiating loan modifications?
Negotiating short sales?
I am a short sale specialist and routinely come into contact with clients who have paid $2,700 to $3,000 for loan modification here in the King County area. Most are unregistered in King County or with the Department of Financial Institution and the DFI has a public bulliten warning people against paying money up fron. The one person I have met who was successful in modifying her loan and even getting principle reduction did it herself. It took 6 months and was the most difficult thing she had ever done. As a result we are offering tools to homeowners to do the same.
On my site we offer help for homeowners with free reports on "how to talk to your lender", a loan modification booklet to assist with communicating and tracking your progress, links to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD approved free councilors and other tools. I think a motivated homeowner has the best chance of a good modification if they get a little help and guidance.
As a short sale negotiators I try to get whatever leverage I can to facilitate the negotiations with the bank. However, if someone is gaming the system they won't be working with me. The market is bad enough without scammers making it worse.
Attention Grabber!!! It is sad because there is already so must distrust in the public because of scams and this won't make it any better.
Roshawnda Reed
Keller Williams Professional, Spring, TX
It's hard for us in the industry to see why folks fall for these ads...but, if your down and out, don't have a clue about the foreclosure process & for a mere $200. to stay in your home & wait for that miracle to happen...
BB,
So ... has anyone called the number and asked what they get for $200????
Kathy Opatka
When you are facing the loss of your home, it is not just the loss of your home, but a lot of self esteem and pride. People will grasp at straws.
Malcom Harrison is an attorney in Wellington Fl who has between 200 and 300 people signed up to send him $300 a month to keep them out of foreclosure. One woman I know has been paying him for over 2 years -- and it has worked so far. When another client of mine rescinded her agreement saying she would pay him for work done, but did not want to keep him on a stipend; he threatened her with a letter saying "you will see just what it was I have been doing for you when they come after you. Good luck."
What a racket, he fills out the form letters and gets paid. But it seems to be keeping people in their homes. Just don't cross him. This lady is now being served her foreclosure papers.
Donna Brown
I call these guys and guys like them Merchants of Misery. They seem to come out when times are at their worst. There was a company here in Michigan that even advertised on the Yellow Pages. They promised to negotiate with your bank to rescue your mortgage. They required you to quit claim your house to them and make "rent" payments to them while they pleaded your case.
The result, as you no doubt have guessed is they ran out and left a mess to be sorted out before the chump figured they had been taken. Con artists and scallywags all.
Bryant - This doesn't surprise me, as there always seems to be these kinds of things that crop up when times are difficult. It's not bad enough that people are losing their homes, some people feel the need to take advantage of it and make money off of others.
What a scam - how to beat the system, and stay in your home, people never cease to amaze me!
My Opinion??... When it takes the Bank 15 months and longer to consider short sales (wanna see addresses... yes YOU WAMU, Countrywide, Saxon, Bof A, Downey Savings, Litton- shall I go on??) and there is NO REGARD to the loss the bank is sustaining by getting an offer to their investor... this bottom feeding is the result. I wonder how legit some of these services in FL may be... out here in NV lawyers "fight" tickets for a fee... and make a fortune using the system against the D.A.. It's cheaper to settle a traffic ticket than to fight it for the city. Same principal here?
Jeff Burnham- The WIZARD, Rosen & CO. West, Las Vegas
Sad, but there are loads of ads out there like this, and along side of our roads here in Vegas.
The loan mod scams are really bad. One of my short sales is due to a "scammer" loan mod company,,charged them $3K "up front" in December, non refundable of course....and guess what ...yep,,,the company has disappeared!
How is it that so many of you assume the ad is a scam? Perhaps the foreclosure market and people finding help are way ahead of you. Not everything is a scam because it has a fee attached. Due to their experience Some FSBO's think Realtors are scamming the market.
The fact is that there are many ways to stop a foreclosure or slow it down. Do some research on "produce the note" on you tube and look for the CNN spot of the Congresswoman in Ohio encouraging her constituents to get sufficient help during the default/foreclosure process and make the banks produce the note.
I know for myself what I have had to do to stop the bank from just "taking" my home...ignoring short sale offers, stringing out my effort for a loan modification and denying me due process, not having the original note and other technical violations on my loan.
Learn more about this as you will be in a position to help people find some recourse in dealing with this financial blood bath.
Don McCoy
Exit Realty Group
Southern Oregon
sorry to burst the bubble of those who somehow (I'm sure none of you active agents sold anyone a home that has gone down in value) don't seem to want to take ANY responsibility for this downturn, but
FIRST...those of you who keep saying you are dealing with a bank...duh...what banks...these are loan pool servicers who have licensed the names of banks and shot off into partnerships which, as a REMIC, these servicer/lenders ARE NOT allowed to own the loans that they are telling you to submit short sale/loan mod documents...part of the issue is that the world has changed and most real estate professionals have no idea what a cusip is, a bloomberg loan pool number is, or even that there is something known as the trust indenture act of 1939...time to get into the 21st century and understand that just because it said the word MORTGAGE loan on it does not mean that it was or remained that way...
SECOND...to make ugly profits and deprive borrowers of the real low interest rates being passed thru on these financing instruments(start using the right terms), the depositers/sponsers would use the splitting up process available in a REMIC loan pool tranche, to synthsize the pass thru elements, and earn 30 - 250% on the upper non AAA rated tranches...how did they do that with a loan paying only 5% ??? Because by getting a ratings agency(s&P or moody's) to rate the majority of the paper in the pool structure AAA(70-80% of the loans), then they would resell the pass thru instruments to YOUR money market accounts...and how much have money market accounts been paying in the last 5 years ??? Pretty darn low rates...they would keep and repackage the rest of the finacial stream...for those of you who actual know how to use an HP-12c, make sure you are sitting down when you do the math...
THIRD...that was not enough profits...they then turned around and sold derivatives on the different parts of the tranches...the best way to describe what a derivative is(for those who can think beyond the first day of real estate agent school)it's like an option to purchase a home...but what if someone sold multiple options on the same home ??(for those who say you can't, as long as it is disclosed and the price point of the other options are built in and disclosed it can be done)...but what if that was not enough greed on the loan pool investor side...what if you then realized that no one was watching and you started trading naked option positions, justifying it by saying you can always buy them back later...THAT is why the system froze up on August 7, 2007, when BNP Paribas REFUSED to pay out on derivative positions it had taken fees on to insure some positions tied to American Home Mortgage which had folded the day before...and if you want to get a better understanding of what I just said and why it matters google this [delphi +derivatives +bankruptcy ] and it will bring you to some reports that described that in the delphi bankruptcy(which is still not over), there were about 2 billion in actual bonds outstanding but there were over 30 BILLION in derivative contracts with each party thinking they had bought the prime position...
FOURTH...just because SOMEONE shows up claiming you OWE SOMEONE money, does not mean the actual person who you owe money to is trying to collect...most FLORIDa foreclosures are being filed by and in the names of entities that do not show up as the owner of the debt in the county records and is not properly registered to do business in the State of Florida...and in some cases, are actually NOT passing thru the payments to the loan pool investors(billions of dollars in lawsuits currently on this issue)
SOOOOO.....stop thinking we are back in the days of George Bailey..those banking days are over...Since everyone wants to have 24 hour access to their money, every day is a bank run day...to insure there are no regular daily crashes, financial instruments were homogenized since the last S&L crisis, when REMIC's were created by the tax code in 1986...this was to allow financial institutions to trade in financial instruments to the central banking system to allow them to borrow funds overnight when more depositors yanked out money from their atm than was sitting on the cash side of the financials of the lender...what developed at the turn of the century was that by reducing the FEDERAL DEFICIT, Clinton actual hurt the banking system by removing US Treasuries from the pool of available capital...and THE ENTIRE WORLD needs US taxpayer backed FEDERAL DEFICIT CERTIFICATES commonly known as TREASURIES since there is not and has NEVER been enough GOLD to back up the worlds financial systems...AND then add in the crazy BASEL 2 rules designed to offset the lost decade of japanese banking but has turned into a mess that led overseas financial institutions to BEG WALL STREET to find some or create some AAA rated instruments so that they could keep growing...so what is some lonely wall street exec to do when someone is throwing money at them and insisting that SOMETHING be done....??? can you say NINJALOAN ???
AND...aside from the work I have done as an investor in real estate, I do the legal assistant work for an attorney where we force the court and the attorney's filing the foreclosure to take note of the various problems with the filings and yes we take payment plans on our cases since many folks have not enough money to pay the full retainer up front...so ....YES...you can...AND SHOULD fight a foreclosure case since:
A) the person on the other side of the 800 # CAN NOT be the the owner of the note and is telling you a GIANT FIB...if somehow you are dealing with an instrument that was not designed to be resold(less than 15% of all loans made in the last 5 years)..ignore this fact
B)Many title companies have stoped providing over sized title policies on "short sales"...what do I mean by that, Smart real estate investors pay an additional fee on purchase to get an oversized insurance policy...they buy a property that seems like a deal for 100K and pay for a title insurance policy for 200K..why...because if someone shows up one day and says they are owed money or they were the proper person to sell the property, the investor is covered up to the 200K...if the property goes up in value and the investor goes to the title insurance blanket underwriter with a regular policy, they are only required to pay out on the 100K..the rest of the money is GONE..lost PROFITS...and in seeing that many of the servicers are taking short cuts and not actually getting releases from all the investors tied to a specific loan or loan pool, the title companies are not looking to be on the hook for what they know are problems with the chain of title..for those of you who have done or are doing short sale deals...take a look at your E & O policies to see if you are covered on this type of an error/issue...
C) In Florida, just because you make a payment to someone who claims to be the agent for the loan pool investors does not mean you are covered. There are appeal court rulings that have shown the borrower has an AFFIRMATIVE responsibility to know that the payments have gone to the rightful party OR they may have to pay a second time...
D) one of the largest foreclosure law firmsin Florida regularly has his office manager claim to have power of atty to sign in the name of the "lender"...so if the person on the other side of the 800 # at a "bank" is "able to negotiate" the short sale/loan mod" how come they can't get someone at that same "bank" to actually sign the release who is qualified and has the authority to do that ???
AND for the RECORD, the reason that a knowledgable attorney is able to hold off a case from moving to a judgment in the State of Florida(the atty mentioned earlier, from jacksonville, has been fighting a goldman sachs case for over 4 years) is that the law firms doing the foreclosure are cutting corners and in many cases are not actually authorized by the "owner of the note" to be going forward.
SO PLEASE, stop snipping at people and start learning what has been going on right under your noses for the last 5 years and get in gear coming up with REAL solutions, not complaints or your own short cuts...
And for those of you who might not have any empathy for someone who lost their medical coverage and chose to fight cancer instead of paying the mortgage, the persons who lost a spouse in IRAQ and now has no income and is trying to work 2 jobs and finish school to keep a roof over their heads...yes there are a few people who come to us looking for the FREE CHEESE LINE, and we tell them to go live in their HUMMER and get out...and I know that the angel of jacksonville makes the clients she works with put money aside, they are NOT getting a free ride, and she insists they try to find a way to make things work including getting a second and third job if needed...so no one here gets to denegrate April in front of me without a fight...
Oh and finally, one of the reasons FLORIDA had to cut back on money for school children is that these loan pool instruments were being designed to AVOID paying taxes in Florida...we may not have any personal income taxes, but there are taxes and fee's that are designed to pay the bills in the State...There are estimates that over 6 BILLION dollars in moneys that should have been paid as these loan pool tranche certificates were traded back and forth, were not paid by WALL STREET...
think about that next time you hit a pot hole on a road here in the sunshine state...
Watch for fraud on craigs:
An associate put a home on craigs and someone STOLE all his pictures & info and placed the home back on craigs as a rental! When you contact the loser about the rental, they send you an application to apply asking for all of your personal info....
I'm going to beat the dead horse.
If these lien holders only knew
it wouldn't be so easy for folks like this to do what they do. Just a thought
The sad thing is that most of those ads are by marketing people and not people with the experience or license to get the job done.
by the way, although agressive, I thought the points made by Mr. Morfesis were very useful. One of the best posts I have read.
But that is what is happening right now in our market. People not trying to sell their homes, but live in it as long as possible. The public has given these realtors a pass to promote it this way. I don't know why agents even take some of these short sale listings anyway. Maybe they can get other business from it?
In all my days of selling Real Estate, and that has only been since 2007 when the market started to plunder, I have not seen so many scams and unethical practice by conartists as I have in the past 12 months! Targeting people who are struggling and trying to make ends meet, doing what they can to keep their way of life (or whats left of it) just so they can maintain their dignity, pick up the pieces, and go on, is WRONG! It should be treated like as crime of steering, blockbusting, discrimination, call it what you will, but the aim is to target a group of people in the same distress all for profitable gain! If that isn't discrimination I don't know what is!
Alex, how about translating that rant into a language that those of us, who are obviously not as financially astute as yourself, can understand? It seems you may have interesting information but if was completely LOST in the jargon you clearly spewed in an attempt to condescend the rest of us. THANK YOU!
Seems like the worse things get the sleazier they become. Unfortunately this is true in just about any business. The more desperate people are to put food on the table the more BS they'll pull. Look for things to become even more creative if the economy doesn't turn around sooner rather than later.
In my opinion, the loan modification, mortgage, and short sale (which I am in) industries should be regulated just the same as the real estate sales industry. Realtors must be licensed and conform to a code of ethics, and these other real-estate-related industries should be under the same scrutiny.
At the end of the day, I do have the opinion that "BUYER BEWARE" - regardless of what it is you are buying. If you go to a used car dealer and buy a lemon, there are laws to protect you but you will need to jump through a plethora of legal hoops. Was the dearler a scammer? Perhaps. But in the long run people need to be alert to the fact that there are a MILLION thing s you can buy on the internet and elsewhere and one must be able to make good decisions with regard to who they give their hard earned money to. It's possible that there are companies out there doing something that is truly helping people but because of the multitude of dishonest busines people in our industry most of them don't get a fair shot if they ARE legitimate.
One's home is a huge a personal and life altering purchase, and if faced with the possibility of being homeless people WILL do anything they can to aviod it, including paying someone who is scamming them. Regulating and monitoring ALL real estate related industries would be a blessing to those of us who are out there doing it right, morally and ethically.
Bryant, The next time you cut and paste one of these ads, also cc the Florida Atty. General.
WOW!! We have some pretty interesting comments on here.
O I have to read through these comments again to get my head around all of this.
I do want to point out that I don't think this is an ad for a loan mod company. Also I am sure there are many ways to "stall a foreclosure" and this may even be a tactic that has it's place. For example if the seller is attempting to get a loan mod or short sale through. BUT if the only reason to stall is to live for free then it's wrong. And it's wrong for someone to charge to help them achieve this.
Great discussion. I knew this ad would bring out some differings of opinions.
Thanks to everyone for participating.
I'm not sure I'm clear on your complaint. Is it the misspellings or the fact that companies are offering services to help homeowners. I don't believe that simply because the ad is misspelled or grammatically incorrect that it automatically means the advertiser is perpetuating a "scam" After all, your own tag line says "If you are facing foreclosure then please contact me. There are legal ways to avoid foreclosure" (you should remove the word "then" as it indicates the passage of time) . I'm confident that you provide a quality service, but the best way for a prospective client to know is to contact you, which is why you advertise. Let's work together to bring attention to good companies like yours rather than focusing on the bad ones. When I train my staff I remind them.."you are good because you are good, not because your competition is bad".
Folks:
I don't see the scam. I just see someone more original than 99% of the brokers up here and in the market.
They're asking the right "call to action" questions:
We position ourselves as professionals. The public doesn't care...they are desperate...they want money or help.
As long as they perform to the above, not a problem.
I might just use that ad for my investing.
By the way, I would say about 50% of you had spelling errors in your blog complaining about their spelling errors and grammatical errors (add instead of "ad"). Do you NOT REALIZE that there is a spell check button in the upper right hand side of this comment box?
By the way, I left the original errors in this posting.
You know, though there are more scammers coming out of the woodwork than Ive seen in 30 years business, its still incredible how many people are losing homes because they have NO idea whats going on and the stories of scams keep them away from possible help. Ive almost thrown up three time in just the last week over the loss of properties by people I personally know. In each case I found out after the fact that they simply deeded the props back to their lenders. They didnt know what short sales were. They didnt know about loa mods. The ALL HAD SOME EQUITY!!! I tore my hair out and thought about placing big craigs list ads DONT LOSE YOUR HOME! Call me before you sign anything type ads but instantly felt sleezy and that people would look at me as sleeze. Still trying to figure a way to get to these poor people before they take losses w/o coming on like a snake oil salesman.
Ive helped people with loan mods and each one was EASY. Ive never charged for the service. In once case the owner just couldnt accept that I was doing it for free. He kept angling that there must be a catch and toward the end thought he had a EUREKA moment when he asked if the lender pays me for the service. I had to keep from laughing. Sure---the lender will pay me for helping them lose money! Be nice, eh?
Thousands of people really need help. We professionals have to try and shine through the cesspool of theives out there and do something for them.
Marvin Von Renchler
Bryant
It's been said before....if it sound too good to be true; it's not so good!
And what goes around, comes around....I just want to be there to see it happen. They'll get theirs..
As a person who has taken the CDPE training (Alex Charfen is outstanding), there are legitimate ways to assist folks who truly have a financial hardship and I pride myself on providing professional services to them. For the folks that have taken out all their equity in their home to finance their lifestyle AND then want to stay in their home w/o paying their mortgage....well, that is a different story.
Great post!
Pat McGuire
Craigslist can be a scary place and buyer better beware!
Fellow Realtors, Please read http://livinglies.wordpress.com/ This website will explain what homeowners are doing, themselves, pro se, and with the assistance of a lawyer. Thanks, Angela
Michael Clarkson, Thank you for having the fortitude to call a spade a spade.
I stopped using Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. I was getting mostly spam instead of clients. Checking the box that you don't want to hear about other services doesn't od any good.
A lot of people go to Craigslist. I use it for posting listings and that is it. I see these ads and just skip them.
I agree there are a lot of scams out there, but we are we to judge unless we personally check them out. That is really the only way to know. In any case, the banks are the worst scammers of all. I just talked with an agent here locally that had the bank turn down 3 short sale offers. Then, the last people that did an inspection found black mold in the house. They asked the agent to cancel the listing so they could list with another agent and hide the mold issue!!! He refused, so they stole his key box and put on one of their own and locked us all out. The prosecuting attorney is charging the bank with theft and B&E! The seller (show the agent works for,and not the bank) is in Arizona living with friend and has no money at all.
Also, John Broom, a buyer can do an FHA loan 2 years after a bankruptcy, not so after a foreclosure.
Hi there! I posted a blog last week addressing a similar type of thing - basically a what to look for with scammers who say they can find legal jargon to get you out of your payments, pay us and we can stop foreclosure - but only if you stop paying on your loan, etc. The problem I see is this:
There are desperate folks on both sides of the fence - those looking to stay in their homes and those looking to scam for a few bucks - there are also those looking to stay in their homes rent free - and where is the happy medium?
If only these desperate folks would call us professionals! We could save them a lot of time and heartache!
I did here about this ad - it's here in CA, too - and I am going to post a rebuttal ad as well!
Here's my article - I think it is worth sharing!
Re-blogged by 0 agents
Loan Modification Scam Warnings................. (edit/delete)
Having friends and neighbors who've been scammed as well as seeing advertisements ALL over the place for companies offering loan modification, debt consolidation, etc, all noted that their "team of lawyers (please note that the State Bar of CA is asking licensed attorneys NOT to affiliate themselves in any way with these "teams") will be working on the mod.
That said, I have decided to print a top 10 list of warning signs for loan modification scams - and if ANY of these have happened to you, please report the company you are working with to the Better Business Bureau (you can also look up their rating online as well) and CALL the bank yourself or hire a real estate professional or loan officer to help you - there are also organizations who will help you for FREE! I help my clients for free as a courtesy and I will disclose upfront that if the client cannot afford what the bank is offering, my suggestion is a short sale! Now keep in mind that a lot of these companies will only make money if they (1) charge you up front (#1 sign it is a scam) OR (2) sell your home as a short sale - so what is their motivation to help you????? The only thing they want is a short sale - otherwise they work for free! And folks, as we all know - nothing is FREE in this world...........
TOP 10 Warnings are as follows:
1. "Pay us $2,500, and we'll save your home and get you a VERY low monthly payment." Some legitimate housing counselors may charge small fees, but fees that amount to thousands of dollars are likely a sign of potential fraud - especially if they are charged up-front, before the "counselor" has done any work for you. Be VERY cautious of companies that require you to provide a credit card, cashier's check or wire transfer before they take any action on your behalf.
2. "Sign over your home, and we'll let you stay in it." Be very suspicious of someone who offers to pay your mortgage and rent your home back to you in exchange for transferring title to your home. Signing over the deed to another person gives that person the power to evict you, raise your rent, or sell the house. Although you will no longer own your home, you will still be legally responsible for paying the mortgage on it - all you have done is give the home away - not the financial responsibility for it.
3. "Stop paying your mortgage." Do not trust anyone EVER who tells you to stop making payments to your lender, even if that person says it will be done for you. Think really carefully about this - if you stop making your payments, what typically happens?
4. "If your lender calls, don't talk to them or refer them to us." Your lender should be your first point of contact for negotiating a repayment plan, modification, or short sale. It is vital that you stay in close communication with your lender, so they understand your circumstances - who better than you truly does understand what your circumstances are?
5. "We guarantee we will save your home." Be VERY CAUTIOUS of guarantees that a person or company can stop a foreclosure and allow you to remain in your house. Unrealistic promises are a sign that the person making them will not consider your particular circumstances and are unlikely to provide services that will actually help you.
6. "Your lender never had the legal authority to make a loan." Do not listen to anyone who claims that they know of secret laws that can be used to eliminate your debt and have your mortgage contract declared invalid. These scammers use sham legal arguments to claim that you are not obligated to pay your mortgage. These arguments don't work, they are fraudulent and waste precious time that you may not have!
7. "Just sign this now; we'll fill in the blanks later." NEVER EVER EVER sign a contract without making sure all of the information is filled out and complete and be sure to take the time to read and understand everything you sign. Never let anyone else fill out paperwork for you. NEVER let anyone pressure you into signing anything that you don't agree with or understand.
8. "Call 1-800-Fed-Loan." This may be a scam. Some companies fool the home owner into believing that they are affiliated with the government. Some will also tell you that you must pay them high fees to qualify for government loan modification programs. REMEMBER that you do not have to pay to participate in legitimate government programs. All you need to do is contact your lender to find out if you qualify as there are certain restrictions for loan modifications. As some may have read today, it is not always in the banks best interests to do a loan modification and thus they would prefer to foreclose.
9. "File for bankruptcy and keep your home." Filing bankruptcy MAY temporarily stop foreclosure. If your mortgage payments are not made, the bankruptcy court will allow your lender to foreclose on your home. Be aware that some scammers will file bankruptcy in your name, without your knowledge, to temporarily stop foreclosure and make it seem as though they have negotiated a new payment agreement with your lender. It is a temporary measure that may give you another 3 to 6 months in the home - a home that is no longer yours!
10. "Why haven't you replied to our offer? Do you want to lose your home?" Some companies will use high-pressure tactics which is a red flag. If someone continually contacts you and pressures you to work with them to stop foreclosure, do not work with that person, do not provide them any of your information 0 hang up the phone! Legitimate counselors do not conduct business in a threatening manner. Be sure to look up the company at the BBB OR any of the scam sites available online.
To save someone else the trouble, please be sure to report ANY suspicious activity to the federal agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, and to your state and local consumer protection agencies. Reporting con artists and suspicious schemes helps prevent others from becoming victims.
If you have any questions on the above information or need help with your loan modification or short sale, please call or email me. I'd be more than happy to help - for free!
Hi and thanks for the education. What about if there was no money involved?
Kieran Loughman
I just find it too bad that most people here are jumping to conclusions and posting that it is a scam. Although I dont know the particulars, it sounds to me that no one here knows them. Withouth any complaints with the BBB or other agencies, it could be quite viable and useful for some people to avoid foreclosure, buy some time for a short sale, let your kids finish up their school year, find a new place to live, save up money and maybe even find a way to save their home. Not everyone is a scam artist or will take advantage of an offer like this. I dont see the scam in this ad other than if if they can prolong it like they claim, the clients are scamming the company because it is worth more than $200 a month.
On a side note, I peruse realtor.com and other sites regularly, and to be honest with you, I would say that 1/3 of the listings have spelling errors in them or one liners of "will go fast" - when they have been listed for 100s of days. In my mind that means that maybe 1/4 of the people posting here make mistakes, and the the other 3/4 you must be the smartest people around.
To the people that think Morfesis was arrogant, I would say that he put a lot of people in their place and gave me a number of terms and subjects to look up and education myself on. If you all did less complaining about people and more educational reading, I bet 1/8 of you would know that it is possible to delay foreclosure via whatever method the company will be using.
(Joe, just a passer by that thinks more people need to enlighten themselves and ask questions rather than berate others trying to possibly make an honest $200 a month)
More people in the world make money on other people's misery. I recently had an interior BPO; two weeks from foreclosure, listing Realtor could not get me into the property. Seller had contracted with a company paid them $2000 to stop the foreclosure, go to Vegas at least you could get a great buffet, for that price, I think they will lose their home. Very sad
There's always someone there to feed on those in need. I'm sure they do nothing to help as well. Just collect money from those who need it most. All we can do is educate and try and save some from a disaster like signing up with one of those "companies"
BB,there have always been people out there that will help you screw the bank and get you free digs for 12 months at least. Rent or mortgage for only $200 seems like a dream with these guys. There is always someone willing the "press" the issue to the max. Craigslist really brings out the best of the 'rock crawlers'.
Hi Bob and group,
There are many ads on Craigs list to feed those that have a need.Not all the ads are very helpful. Unfortunately, as a short sale investor, Realtor, Licensed agent, and negotiator, I face the same up hill strugggle today in this industry as has been in past markets.
It is not usual for sellers and buyers to be " coerced " by scandle.
We all need to stay accurate, current and knowledgeable in our field. I encourage all agents to only allow the very skilled agents handle the load of Shorts and foreclosures today. NO homeowner needs to be practiced on by anyone.
Kathy
Hi Bob and group,
There are many ads on Craigs list to feed those that have a need.Not all the ads are very helpful. Unfortunately, as a short sale investor, Realtor, Licensed agent, and negotiator, I face the same up hill strugggle today in this industry as has been in past markets.
It is not usual for sellers and buyers to be " coerced " by scandle.
We all need to stay accurate, current and knowledgeable in our field. I encourage all agents to only allow the very skilled agents handle the load of Shorts and foreclosures today. NO homeowner needs to be practiced on by anyone.
Kathy
where there's the scent of blood, there will be sharks
Interesting batch of comments.
So what some of you are saying is that getting paid to "stall a foreclosure" is OK?
Or maybe I'm reading this statement wrong "Do You Just Want to Stay in Your Home For Up to 15 Months?"
Neither one of these statements imply finding a solution for the looming foreclosure. They DO imply stalling the foreclosure so the home owner can just stay in the house.
Why not offer to assist with a loan mod or a short sale? Why not offer a solution to their problem instead of just offering a stalling tactic?
By the way I'm not complaining and certainly I'm not mentioning spelling and grammar errors. I'm simply bringing out an ad I found and asking for opinions. My opinion is that it's crappy....the ad and the offer.
And I do appreciate your opinons so thanks for leaving them.
Dude...
Do you know that when you get 130 comments I get a 129 emails? :)
TLW...ROAR!
Some of the stuff on craigslist is just freaking crazy.
There will always be people out there who try to beat the system, just like here at ActiveRain. That's why it's important to know the rules, something we don't know about ActiveRain. Unfortunately, that's also why we have so many rules. It just takes one person out of six billion people on Earth to mess everything up, resulting in a new rule just for him or her. We're even to the point where we are now naming the rules after the people who caused them to be implemented.
California, for one, has statutes that are intended to protect consumers against "Foreclosure Consultants," but the DRE is slow to enforce the statute, as is the DA or the State Bar when lawyers are fronting for people offering to do anything if paid. Those of us who are professionals should not hesitate to preserve each of our professions through greater education for the public and vigilance to eliminate dishonesty by others. ActiveRain is a great tool and resource.
BB - In my opinion it is crappy BUT, some people seem to like and gravitate towards that kind of hype and "beating the system" mentality. John
Craigs list has been a portal for this kind of non-sense for a while now. Exposing this garbage and keeping it "in focus" will save a few deserving folks. Keep up the good work!
I appreciate the open mindedness of some of the comments. Most of the knee jerk reactions to this Craigs list ad only make me belive that most are putting a comment in to get their 25 points.
How is it that so many of you assume the ad is a scam? Perhaps the foreclosure market and people finding help are way ahead of you. Not everything is a scam because it has a fee attached.
The fact is that there are many ways to stop a foreclosure or slow it down. Do some research on "produce the note" on you tube and look for the CNN spot of the Congresswoman in Ohio encouraging her constituents to get sufficient help during the default/foreclosure process and make the banks produce the note.
I know for myself what I have had to do to stop the bank from just "taking" my home...ignoring short sale offers, stringing out my effort for a loan modification and denying me due process, not having the original note and other technical violations on my loan.
Learn more about this and you will be in a position to help people find some recourse in dealing with this financial blood bath and land grab by the banks.
Don McCoy
Exit Realty Group
Southern Oregon
I did not read through all of these comments (stopped at about 50) so if this is a duplicate question, I apologize. Just wondering if these bottom feeders are even realtors. Don't have to be licensed to run these ads and when people are desperate they often do not pay much attention and just grab what they think is a quick fix.
Some people will do anything to make a buck! The moral degradation of our society has no limits.
This world is made up of all types.
Foreclosure/Short Sale scams...Back in August of 2009 this was a hot topic. I had written a response (#137) to the people that took a position that these efforts to stall a foreclosure were "bottom feeders" and comments about the worst of the worst types confusing people out there that truly needed help.
I would like to get your take on this subject now. With the troubling bank fraud issues we are literally surrounded by with the scams that have been perpetrated upon the home owners and borrowers we are in deep trouble.
I had written...
I appreciate the open mindedness of some of the comments. Most of the knee jerk reactions to this Craig's List ad only make me believe that most are putting a comment in to get their 25 points.
How is it that so many of you assume the ad is a scam? Perhaps the foreclosure market and people finding help are way ahead of you. Not everything is a scam because it has a fee attached.
The fact is that there are many ways to stop a foreclosure or slow it down. Do some research on "produce the note" on you tube and look for the CNN spot of the Congresswoman in Ohio encouraging her constituents to get sufficient help during the default/foreclosure process and make the banks produce the note.
I know for myself what I have had to do to stop the bank from just "taking" my home...ignoring short sale offers, stringing out my effort for a loan modification and denying me due process, not having the original note and other technical violations on my loan.
Learn more about this and you will be in a position to help people find some recourse in dealing with this financial blood bath and land grab by the banks.
Don McCoy
Exit Realty Group
Southern Oregon
Foreclosure/Short Sale scams...Back in August of 2009 this was a hot topic. I had written a response (#137) to the people that took a position that these efforts to stall a foreclosure were "bottom feeders" and comments about the worst of the worst types confusing people out there that truly needed help.
I would like to get your take on this subject now. With the troubling bank fraud issues we are literally surrounded by with the scams that have been perpetrated upon the home owners and borrowers we are in deep trouble.
I had written...
I appreciate the open mindedness of some of the comments. Most of the knee jerk reactions to this Craig's List ad only make me believe that most are putting a comment in to get their 25 points.
How is it that so many of you assume the ad is a scam? Perhaps the foreclosure market and people finding help are way ahead of you. Not everything is a scam because it has a fee attached.
The fact is that there are many ways to stop a foreclosure or slow it down. Do some research on "produce the note" on you tube and look for the CNN spot of the Congresswoman in Ohio encouraging her constituents to get sufficient help during the default/foreclosure process and make the banks produce the note.
I know for myself what I have had to do to stop the bank from just "taking" my home...ignoring short sale offers, stringing out my effort for a loan modification and denying me due process, not having the original note and other technical violations on my loan.
Learn more about this and you will be in a position to help people find some recourse in dealing with this financial blood bath and land grab by the banks.
Don McCoy
Exit Realty Group
Southern Oregon
yes they look so nice but Foreclosures are such tough on to stomach.