Beating the foreclosure scam artists
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, January 29, 2009.
Image courtesy Teresa BoardmanReal estate professionals are not always trusted and respected by consumers. We are salespeople and it seems like we have to work extra hard with some consumers to establish trust.
The current economic crisis has given us an opportunity to establish trust with consumers, who have a huge need for education. I can read the terms they use in the search engines to find my Web sites.
The word "foreclosure" keeps coming up and people type in search strings that are questions about foreclosures and questions about foreclosure prevention. A couple of years ago I wrote a short, simple post on the foreclosure process in Minnesota. I did it as a public service and today it is the post that gets the most traffic. The post that explains what a short sale is comes in second.
When we don't take the time to educate consumers, others do it for us. My son recently gave me a letter that is being sent to homes in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates. The letter is from a company that charges a lot of money to renegotiate mortgages for homeowners. The way it is worded it appears that the organization is a nonprofit and is somehow affiliated with the government. It looked so real and so official my son wasn't sure if it was a scam and so he brought it to me.
Homeowners can negotiate their own mortgage payments for free. There is also a city program, a county program and a state program where free counseling is available on how to talk to the lender, and counselors will do it for homeowners for free. There are nationwide programs that provide free counseling to distressed homeowners, too.
The company that sends out the letter is doing a much better job connecting with consumers than any of the nonprofits are. Legitimate programs to help distressed homeowners are cropping up all over, but not as quickly as the scams are.
We have an opportunity to help, and we should help. The first step for agents is to understand the foreclosure process in their own state. Know it inside and out, memorize every step. You learned it in real estate school. The second step is becoming familiar with programs that are designed to help homeowners. The third step is to be compassionate and patient when a distressed homeowner calls looking for information.
There are agents who do not work with foreclosures and who do not want to. I respect that, but they should still understand the process and be able to explain it. They should know what a short sale is. There are classes on the subject being taught just about everywhere.
I would rather be selling real estate than giving out free information, but I don't like that scam artists are targeting distressed homeowners and ripping them off. These homeowners are my neighbors, and I will do whatever I can to help a neighbor.
Local government agencies have never done a good job communicating with consumers. They don't get out much; they do little marketing; and this year they are strapped for money.
The private sector needs to pick up the slack. We are in a crisis and each of us needs to do what we can to help, just like we have after natural disasters. Real estate professionals need to get involved and become a trusted source for information. We need to stay one step ahead of the scam artists.
Teresa Boardman is a broker in St. Paul, Minn., and founder of the St. Paul Real Estate blog.
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Submitted by Maurice Stewart on January 29, 2009 - 2:12pm.
Homeowners who are in need of foreclosure prevention need to educate themselves and the one source for all of this information is: www.lossmitigationexpress.com
By using this online tool, the borrowers can counsel themselves 24/7 for only $99.00 and if they need free help they can contact the company with questions. The customer service folks are experts.
Scams Artists need to move on down the road because there is nothing worse that trampling on a person who is already down.
Let me also say; the Non-Profits are not doing quite enough to give quality service because they are not trained or motivated enough.
God help us.
Maurice Stewart
Submitted by Eric Reque on January 29, 2009 - 2:19pm.
I believe that the only way to do loan mods right now is with the assistance of an attorney. Any money collected is placed in a trust account in the name of the client. They do a forensic audit and they have the law on their side to legally come to a workable solution. Loan mods have been one sided because the lenders have been in the drivers seat laying out the terms. Legal representation will even the playing field and keep families in their homes. By the way, when challenged in court, 1 out of 4 lenders even have the original documents...makes me wonder what kind of paperwork nightmare the investors have.
www.MyMortgageIsUnderwater.com
Submitted by Suzi Clue on January 29, 2009 - 2:25pm.
It's a shame most criminals come out when the average man is down. Seems like there's a scam happenning in the news every minute. Almost on all types of media channels, you can hear about someone getting scammed or robbed from. This will continue to get worst as housing prices head lower. So far it looks like housing prices will not be going up in the near future. As many others think, it'll take till 2012 before we see a bottom.
Sources: http://www.homepricetrend.com
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on January 29, 2009 - 2:27pm.
Education is available everywhere on the Internet, if a homeowner gets scammed that's too bad. We can only worry about those homeowners that we work with and attempt to educate daily.
Robert A. Hulme
Realtor, GRI, e-PRO
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Loan Officer
Envision Lending Group, Inc.
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
www.UtahHomesForSale.ws
801-885-2586
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on January 29, 2009 - 2:27pm.
Education is available everywhere on the Internet, if a homeowner gets scammed that's too bad. We can only worry about those homeowners that we work with and attempt to educate daily.
Robert A. Hulme
Realtor, GRI, e-PRO
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Loan Officer
Envision Lending Group, Inc.
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
www.UtahHomesForSale.ws
801-885-2586
Submitted by Walter Boomsma on January 29, 2009 - 2:51pm.
I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. I'm in the business of real estate brokerage -- not credit counseling, financial advising, etc. That doesn't mean I'm not compassionate and it doesn't mean I'm an ostrich. I would add that there are just as many scam artists in brokerage as any other field.
Anybody who's worked with foreclosure transactions must know how incompetent most of these lenders are. I am one who has made the decision not to represent sellers. I will, however, represent buyers because they are going to need all the help and protection they can get. They'll get "scammed" and it won't matter if it's intentional or ignorance.
The point about loan mods being a problem because the banks have been in the driver's seat extends to short sales and foreclosures. Nearly every foreclosure transaction I've been involved in the bank/REO/asset manager and the listing agent violated real estate laws.
Anybody see the elephant standing in the room?
Submitted by Jillayne Schlicke on January 29, 2009 - 4:01pm.
Walter, the point is, to help people.
If you can't help them, listen to what they need and refer them on to a free HUD-approved non-profit agency, and/or a competent attorney.
It's ironic that the first comment was from a person trying to sell something.
I get one call or email a day now from consumers all over the U.S. who have found one of my blog posts on predatory loan mods, foreclosures, or short sales. Of course I help them. It only takes a short amount of time and for that they are so grateful.
Submitted by Jose Lopez on January 29, 2009 - 4:20pm.
Foreclosure prevention has been a hot topic lately and the vultures have come out in force trying to make some money. To charge anything upfront is ridiculous. The real estate commission should step in and establish guidelines for this type of business. These people do nothing and walk away with other's money.
Jose Lopez
www.sellsarasota.com
www.fl-repos.com
Submitted by Missy Caulk on January 30, 2009 - 4:30am.
Teresa, the value we bring to the buyer or seller is our knowledge of the real estate industry and the laws. Anyone can find houses on line. So we better know how to educate the consumers on loan modifications, short sales and foreclosure's.
I have an appointment on Sat. with a fellow who found my blogs on short sales, called me up we chatted for 30 minutes, and he said, "well, I can tell you know what you are doing." So what is the next step?
He had been on the internet reading ALL day he said and just wanted to know the right questions to ask as he has never been in this situation.
Missy Caulk
Ann Arbor, MI
Missy@MissyCaulk.com
www.AnnArborRealEstateTalk.com
www.SearchAnnArborHouses.com
Submitted by Ken Lampton on January 30, 2009 - 6:16am.
Okay, I'm convinced. I'm one of those agents who isn't particularly interested in dealing with foreclosure and short sale situations. (I work in Texas where the foreclosure rate is still low.) But I'm going to get some training right away. Thanks, Theresa, for this very timely article.
Ken Lampton, CRS
RE/MAX About Dallas
www.m-street-dallas.com
Submitted by elizabeth obih-frank on February 2, 2009 - 10:04pm.
Maurice, I can't believe you even read Teresa's article. The operative word was "free counseling" information which any agent worth the code of ethics and RE license they agreed to use would, at least, make some effort to give out to their sellers/buyers.
Robert and Walter, I am mystified by your lack of regard for the RE public you serve. It is this very type of lackadaisical response that adds to the negative press RE agents get.
Our business is a people business and the sooner we drop the cavalier attitude, get informed, educate our customers/clients and remember this is about SERVICE and sharing KNOWLEDGE, the better off we will all be.
Thank you Teresa; you are providing a sorely needed service both to the public and the realtor community!
E. ObihFrank
Submitted by elizabeth obih-frank on February 2, 2009 - 10:12pm.
Maurice, I can't believe you even read Teresa's article. The operative words were "free counseling" information which any agent worth the code of ethics and RE license they agreed to use would, at least, make some effort to give out to their sellers/buyers.
Robert and Walter, I am mystified by your lack of regard for the RE public you serve. It is this very type of lackadaisical response that adds to the negative press RE agents get.
Our business is a people business and the sooner we drop the cavalier attitude, get informed, educate our customers/clients and remember this is about SERVICE and sharing KNOWLEDGE, the better off we will all be.
Thank you Teresa; you are providing a sorely needed service both to the public and the realtor community!
E. ObihFrank
Submitted by Teresa Boardman on February 3, 2009 - 3:50am.
Walter - I don't do any credit counseling either and am in the business of selling real estate. I am able to make money without ripping anyone off or doing anything unethical. When I can save someone a lot of money by giving them some advice I do.
Maurice - Good point about the non profits. That is one of the reasons I am taking the time to build some decent resources into my web site. It comes up higher in the search engines than any of the non profit sites do and I hope the information will save distressed home owners money.
Submitted by Keith Labrecque on April 11, 2009 - 6:22pm.
Teresa,
You are a good and decent person. I wonder why we ALL can't put AT LEAST some links on our web sites to direct desperate parties to the right local and state resources... I guess I hadn't really thought of it before!
THANK YOU ! ! !
Keith Labrecque
Two Maples Properties
TwoMaples.com