Phony foreclosure counseling scam

In the phony foreclosure counseling scam, the scam artist might say that if you pay a fee upfront, he/she will be able to negotiate with the lender to save your house.

He/She will usually tell you not to contact the lender directly and just let the scam artist handle everything for you. This is an immediate signal that something is wrong. The lender will want to talk with you if only to get permission to speak with someone other than you about your loan.

The scam artist may try to get even more money from you by asking that you make all the payments directly to him/her while he/she negotiates with your lender.

What will happen is that the scam artist will just disappear with the fee and any additional payments that he/she has collected from you.

Lately, companies have been sending out official looking letters, some with the official seals of the government and siting new laws. They're even saying that everything will be free. Don't be fooled. Same old adage applies: "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is". Sure there are legitimate agencies offering free advice, but they are few and far between. The rest want to take advantage of your situation. So get help, but don't pay for any service which you could do yourself on your own or with the help of a government agency.

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