It's 7 p.m. and the phone starts ringing. Guess who, it's all the foreclosure financing companies coming to help you. Seriously if you are in foreclosure or on your way there then you are in an extremely vulnerable position. Think twice before accepting any of these companies help. A lot of them are more interested in taking your money than helping you. The foreclosure scams come in three categories:

• Phantom help: The "rescuer" who charges high fees to do basic phone calls and paperwork to deal with the lender that the homeowner can easily do. All that happens besides losing money is losing time in correcting the situation.
• The bailout: The homeowner is deceived into signing over the title with the belief that they will be able to remain in the house as a renter and eventually buy it back over time. Of course the buy back terms are set so the homeowner is never able to buy back the property and ends up losing their house and 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.

Here are the kinds of things you will hear:

1. We'll save your credit.

Pay us a fee and sign the house over to us. The foreclosure will be recorded against us, not you. Of course this is not true.

2. We'll give you some money, just sign the house over, we'll cure the default.

Will the purchaser really take care of the default or just take your equity?

3. We'll buy the property, lease it to you, you have the option to buy it back.

In order to buy back your house you are going to need an even bigger loan than the one you currently are having an issue with. Most likely the interest will also be higher. Not much of a deal.

4. We'll get you a new loan and solve all these difficulties.

If I only had a dollar for all the times I've heard this one. Keep in mind that the lenders are making a lot of money off you each time you refinance. Sure they may be trying to hide it in the new loan but you are still out thousands of dollars.

5. I'm an agent specializing in pre-foreclosures and I'll get your property sold quickly for top dollar.

You might indeed get an offer but it most likely will not be a good one.

6. Stop Foreclosure with Bankruptcy.

Well this isn't quite true. The foreclosure will at best be put on pause. Consult a reputable bankruptcy attorney before going this route.

The real culprits in the rising tide of foreclosures are the financial institutions (with the duplicity of the government) who capitalized on all the loose credit policies of the last 10 years. This is akin to the stock market meltdown that led into the Great Depression. But instead of stocks this time it is housing that was used to line the pockets of the financial institutions. The last people you should be trusting to get you out of your current situation are the same financial institutions.

Here are the ways to avoid falling victim to one of the scams:

• Don't panic. Get detailed information from your lender so you can take appropriate actions.
• Never sign a contract under pressure. Get a lawyer if necessary. Yes they are expensive but you'll pay a lot more if you sign a bad contract.
• Never sign away ownership via a quitclaim deed or other means without consulting a lawyer.
• Never make your mortgage payments to anyone other than your lender.
• Beware of any home-sale contract in which you are not formally released from liability for your mortgage.
• Don't sign anything with blank lines or spaces. This is common sense; the blanks could be filled in with things you don't agree with.

More info on your stop foreclosure information search:

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