Posted on 08/24/2007 10:27:48 AM PDT by Hydroshock
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Jennifer Falke and her family had been in their Columbus, Ohio home for nearly 12 years when they hit a rough patch in 2006. Falke was out of work and fell behind on the mortgage.
Falke said a flood of mailings and flyers then arrived at her door promising help from foreclosure rescue companies claiming to act as an intermediary between her and her lender to keep her from losing her home.
According to Falke, the company she contacted, Foreclosure Assistance Solutions (FAS), simply took her money and did nothing for her. And by delaying a workout with her lender, it made getting back on track harder and more expensive.
"I called the company, thinking it was the best thing I could do," she said. "They told me they could help. But one of the first things they said was, 'Don't call your mortgage company. If you do they'll tack on fees.'"
For a $1,200 payment, according to Falke, FAS claimed it would handle everything, including calls to the lender, but she charges it did nothing.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
There’s a sucker born every minute.
God,some people are stupid.
bump for publicity
Some of these home debtors are dumb as a box of hammers. Just look at the loans they got.
Before calling someone else an idiot you should read a bit more carefully.
She didn't have problems paying her mortgage before she lost here job. She had owned the house for 12 years, so apparently she had been able to afford it.
How long could you pay your mortgage if you were out of work?
You might be right. But what a cold hearted and bitter comment to make. It's also a very self-serving comment, because you are placing yourself above these "stupid" "suckers". People make mistakes, they get into financial trouble and do things in desperation. You shouldn't kick them when they are down.
I hope that neither you, nor anyone you care about, is ever treated that way.
But that would require thoughtful attention to detail, thereby taking time away from posting lots more asinine remarks in the forum.
It's not always about irresponsible loans. People fall behind on their mortgages (sometimes really good low-interest mortgages) for other reasons such as loss of employment or business failure, medical expenses, legal problems and other major financial burdens.
Falling for the scam rescuers is certainly not smart, but getting there in the first place can happen for many reasons.
You didn't even bother to read the article you posted, did you? Oops! lol
These scams have been around a long time. Obviously more prevalent now.
I’ve heard of this “group” before.
Not nice. One might say something like,
“Idiot posted an article and commented without reading it.”
I’ve been down and I’ve had financial problems but as soon as a company tells you they will solve all of your problems AFTER you give them $1200.00 would make anyone with 1/2 a brain have second thoughts.
No argument there. I object to the cartblanche labeling of "idiots" for buying more house than they can afford. I have been there as well. Then the market to a dump in 2001, My family was living in Austin (hit VERY hard). My wife and I were bringing in GOOD money. We had our first kid on the way a very manageable mortgage, $400/month auto payment, etc. Her company went out of business, bonuses and raises were suspended at my company, house went upside down by $20K and was forced to relocate to the NE or go work at Home Depot. Tough times.
We didn't get scammed but never bought too much house and are not "idiots." We did get pretty desperate there for a while, however, and did a little "legal" scamming of our own with our finances and mortgage companies.
She should have renegotiated her terms with the mortgage company...the last thing they want is to take back the house.
These scammers are fairly common in the consumer credit market. Around here a paralegal will charge a couple of hundred dollars to work out the same kind of arrangements that credit counselling agencies will do for free.
Unexpected changes in employment can have a significant impact on a family's finances, especially if the family does not have sufficient available savings and lines of credit to weather the crunch.
The best thing to do (as other FReepers are noting) is to deal with your creditors directly, however. They do really want to help up (usually) because they want their money back. Any third-parties who enter the picture with claims that are suspicious or seem too good to be true...are, well, exactly that.
Such a pity that few folks in Congress are pushing Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, combined with High Deductible Health Plans, or HDHPs. The prices can really come down, and the family covers smaller expenses and can save to pay the deductibles on bigger health expenses, all in a tax-advantaged account.
But of course, the hacks in DC would prefer to micromanage the health of every individual American, and somebody has to pay for the free health care given to illegals.
Not many people would be able to pull out of that situation intact. That you did is a credit. I bet you had few if any loans except for the house.
Trying to lump these people with the new crop of speculators with creative loan packages is more than a little stupid. Totally different issue. Scammers are always out there ready to pounce on the desparate.
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