"Avoid Scams" - Transcript

Art Card: Riverside California

[Music playing]

Candice, Scam Victim: "Oh yeah. They actually came to our door. They would come to our house and they would access paperwork about the house. And telling us they're going to help us and telling him to give them money. I'm pretty sure he gave them about like $7000 already."

Art Card: Helping you identify scams

Maria, State of California: "We've got a lot of people out there that are being scammed with individuals who are charging advance fees for the loan modification process."

Estela, Chase Homeownership Center: "They collect monies up front from $2500 to $5000"

Candice: "Well they were wearing suits and had a briefcase and all the information like they mean business."

Glen, Chase Homeownership Center: "Some of the scammers have said deed your property over to me. I will delay your foreclosure for you that way and end up taking the property and may be selling it."

Maria: "And these individuals basically take the money and all they do is send a letter and some cases they don't do anything and the consumer is still in the unfortunate situation."

Jenny, Local Residents: "I was looking for somebody who can help and they were charging at least $2000."

Gloria, Local Resident: "So if it doesn't go through, the customer loses that money."

Vincent, Security, Project Homeowner Event: "We had the situation a little while ago here in Riverside where a women paid $4000 to her broker. Thought that her loan was being modified. The paperwork was not submitted to the lender..."

Candice: "They actually told us to stop paying our real mortgage company."

Vincent: "As far as the lender is concerned, it's a non-responsive borrower. And they just happened to be not home at the time. They came in and changed the locks on them. They had already foreclosed on the property and the borrower didn't even know it."

Maria: "Do not pay anything for a loan modification because the banks are doing it for free. The banks are trying to assist."

Estela: "I had to explain, we've got to start over again and, unfortunately the money you gave to the modification company, is pretty much money that is gone."

Art card: Who Scams?

Vincent: "They look like your everyday do-gooders."

Candice: "People are not really doing anything about it."

Vincent: "Lawyers."

Leticia, Local Resident: "Names that you've never heard of."

Vincent: "They even advertise on TV but they charge fees."

Leticia: "You'd be surprised how much mail we get"

Vincent: "People will call because they'll think its from their lender. They do have access to public records. So they'll put their lender on it so they'll think they're talking to an authorized party."

Leticia: "It looks official. It truly does."

Art, Chase Homeownership Center: "They're going out and promising that they will do some sort of forensic review of the file and charging quite a bit up front for that service"

Vincent: "Most of them don't have the direct connections to the mitigation departments, to those that are decision making capacity."

Art Card: Be suspicious when a person or firm:

• Wants the deed to your house for any reason
• Offers to rent your house back to you
• Encourages you to borrow more than the value of your home
• Charges up-front fees for a loan modification
• Uses forms that contain black spaces "to be filled in later"

Vincent [under art card]: "9 out of 10 times it doesn't happen and next thing you know, they're facing foreclosure."

Art Card: For mortgage assistance with your Chase, WaMu or EMC loan, call 1-866-550-5705

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