Scammers are Taking Advantage of Errors in Foreclosure Documentation
Scammers are Taking Advantage of Errors in Foreclosure Documentation
More house owners facing foreclosure related problems are choosing to file lawsuits against lenders to reverse or forestall the process. A handful of cases have been filed tin Minnesota regarding foreclosure and loan modifications complications.
In Minnesota it is not mandated that foreclosures have to pass through the courts. The process requires public notification followed by a sale conducted by the sheriff of the county. Courts are not automatically involved.
Attorney Bryan Battina from Twin Cities said that here things are much more easy for the lenders. But borrowers can bring in lawsuits and that is exactly what they are doing now with lenders going back on their word regarding loan modification.
In Minnesota the number of foreclosures is at record high levels and the necessity for credit counseling has not gone down. Ed Nelson of Minnesota Home Ownership Center said, "Our numbers are looking like they will be higher than 2009.
We may be rivaling our numbers of 2008, which was our record year". The centre has been seen an increasing number coming for advice who had hitherto paid money to other so-called consultants who had just played along and pocketed their money without doing anything.
The recent stoppage of foreclosures by some of the lenders has helped but then it was only for a brief pause they have gone back to their old game. But for the majority who turn up for assistance at the centre, paperwork is not the problem.
They require help because they are defaulting due to unemployment or their earnings have decreased. They are not aware of their options when foreclosures kick off. Till now they have never required help on foreclosure matters thinking always that it is for others. Nelson is afraid that scammers will try to take advantage of the mess in paperwork to ensnare more prey threatened by foreclosures.
In some scams the house owner pay something around $2,500 or maybe more to a firm that offer to negotiate with the lender. They claim to comb through the documents, find a fault and then hold it as a lever to bargain with the lender. But these are all false assertions.
Nelson explained that even if there is an error in the documentation it will not negate the debt due on the mortgage. Those who get trapped by this sort of talk get further mired in delays and the debt piles up more. The picture is not enco.