Real estate and mortgage scams can cause catastrophic damage to your financial and personal lives. Victims of real estate fraud can lose their homes and their good credit, and even end up bankrupt or in debt. By the time you realize you're involved in a scam, the title to your home may already be clouded, which prevents you from using your home equity to bail yourself out of trouble.
Con artists usually aim their scams at elderly people, those with low incomes, and borrowers who are in foreclosure, but anyone can fall victim to a well-developed scam. Here are some of the most common types of real estate and mortgage fraud; if you've become involved in a fraudulent transaction, contact a qualified attorney immediately.
Mortgage Relief Scams
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Reputable lenders will always require that you have good credit, and usually want you to provide a down payment of 10 to 20 percent to prove your level of commitment and financial solvency. Predatory lenders also charge exorbitant fees and interest rates.
Equity Fraud
This crime involves identity theft and forgery. The criminal uses your personal information to take out a mortgage and forges your name on the paperwork or deed. This kind of scammer preys on vulnerable elderly or disabled people, and often gets access to the victim's information and signature through false friendship, service professions like home health care, or by taking advantage of family connections.
Real estate and the mortgage industry are both highly regulated fields. Homebuyers and borrowers often feel a lot of frustration in the face of all that red tape, which in turn creates opportunities for scammers and con artists who are looking for people to exploit. In general, if a deal sounds too good to be true, or if you feel pressured to make a quick decision, it's wise to be suspicious. Reputable online resources can help you become more aware of potential fraud, but there is no substitute for having a legal professional look over your contracts and loan
The next portion of the chapter talks about how real-estate agents use information to gain power and wealth. Most real-estate agents have a better sense of knowing the condition that a home or apartment is in, and this gives them an upper-hand against the buyer or seller. Like the Ku Klux Klan, real-estate agents use secret words and information to
If they could not pay the money back, the lenders repossess the things that were not paid for. When this happens to a house, it is called foreclosure. Leading up to the crisis of the housing market, borrowers got mortgages without understanding the terms. Banks were giving out loans to people the banks weren't sure could pay the money back. The closer to the crisis, the higher the frequency of illegitimate loans and mortgages.
There are a lot of options in the San Antonio real estate market at this time, which can prove to be a bit taxing for a prospective home buyer. Those interested in purchasing a home can browse through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in order to view all of the listings available. As a whole, the real estate market is thriving, yet the general price of properties in the area are surprisingly affordable.
In recent years, the shameful subject of elder abuse has gained more awareness among community members. In particular, the complexity of elder financial abuse often makes manipulative dealings by fraudsters difficult to identify and separate from actual permissive transactions made by older victims. The result is that these cases are very rarely prosecuted and many other undetected cases continue to fall far below the radar of society. The consequences of financial exploitation of older adults are reaching far beyond the immediate distress of financial depletion. Victims may also experience declines in physical and mental health as well as the risk of a decrease in life expectancy (Kemp & Mosqueda, 2005). The purpose of the following studies is to address the issue of financial exploitation of elder adults through the means of intervention, prosecution, prevention, and correlation between different forms of abuse.
Throughout history, the swindler has financially plagued society. Whether it is the get rich quick scheme or the carnival worker’s impossible challenge, people have been cheated out of uncountable sums of money. In the 1920’s a man named Victor Ludsig, posing as a French official, sold the Eiffel Tower to a gullible scrap ironworker for $50,000. Even today con artists are thriving using the Internet to borrow from Peter to pay Paul. This is a scheme made famous by a crook so successful that his name now graces the age-old fraud, the Ponzi scheme. Webster’s Dictionary defines Ponzi Scheme as
is like an easy walk in the park, do not be fooled. The keys to becoming a home owner are to be
Lastly, the final FHA loan requirement involves your credit and guidelines you must fall within to meet the FHA qualifications. The FHA loan requirements scrutinize your credit history, as it can be a direct indicator if you will be a good borrower or not. As a good rule of thumb, if you currently have good credit and credit history, then you should not have to worry about this requirement. Contrary, if you have poor credit, or have many delinquent marks on your credit history, you may not qualify for a FHA loan.
Nothing can make you feel safer than owning a house, provided that buying a home will not result in financial problems of its own. Every year, a new wave of first time home buyers hits the trail in search of their humble abode. There are pros and cons to home buying. Certainly, there is the matter of timing and related financing programs.
Buying or selling a house or an apartment is one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life. And when selling or establishing a price for real estate, people seek out real estate agents to do the dirty work. A real estate agent has to convince a prospective homeowner that he or she is trustworthy and knowledgeable. In many ways, the agent acts as a counselor to individuals and families about to embark on a huge commitment. Real estate agents have a thorough knowledge or real estate market in their community. They
This is the problem with the burst in the housing market. The third major factor that is causing the mortgage crisis is, mortgage fraud.
A Ponzi scheme occurs when someone is tricked into giving them money to invest into something and is promised a high return rate in a short amount of time. Ponzi schemes can occur anywhere. The fraudsters could come door to door, e-mail you, or start up a business and entice you to invest. More people are starting to become aware to Ponzi schemes without actually knowing what the scheme is actually called. It is the elderly people who are likely to become scammed because they are not aware of all of the different types of Ponzi schemes and how they are done now.
Finding a mortgage can be just as difficult as the home itself. There are more mortgages than there are possible homes. There are many factors that determine the amount of the mortgage and the interest on it. Credit bureaus such as Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian determine if the person has enough credit for a home loan. An acceptable credit score ranges from 620 and up for a mortgage. This is a very important facet because a person’s score can change the rate of interest. Other important factors that decide interest rate are the types of documents presented to the mortgage lenders.
Buying a home is more complex then most think. A purchaser of a home doesn't pay in cash when buying a house. If that were so, then nobody would be able to afford one. A potential buyer must get a loan. The bank doesn't lend their money to just anybody, so there are prerequisites before a buyer should consider buying a home. The potential buyer must have enough money for a down payment which is 3% to 20% of purchase price, a steady job with for at least two years or more, must have a decent credit score with at least a 640 or better. That is standard for the market. (1) The credit score is based on the FICO score. FICO stands for, Fair Isaac Corporation, a company that has been in business since the early 1950's and monitors consumers' credit ratings and put a scoring system on it. (2) Conventional loans are usually financed up to eighty to ninety percent with a down payment required of ten to twenty percent. The potential buyer must also have a debt ratio not exceeding 28/39 of their income. The first number 28 refers to your new mortgage payment that cannot exceed 28% for your gross combined income and 39 refers to your mortgage payment plus revolving and installment debt as well as taxes and insurance cannot exceed 39% of you total combined gross income (3).
...et up illegitimate credit card accounts, bank accounts and other accounts – this is called identity theft.
Another way of committing fraud is the sending of fake emails through Craigslist to make the victim think that he/she is getting a great deal. This type of fraud has to do with shipping. Criminals send fake emails out from a company such as PayPal, saying that the money is being held until the victim replies to the email with a tracking number. When the v...