Home Loans And Mortgages – Beware Of Deed Theft Scam

Home Loans And Mortgages – Beware Of Deed Theft Scam
By Charles Essmeier

The average home in the United States has a value of $206,000,
a record amount. Real estate prices have been rising throughout
the country during the last five years, and homeowners have seen
the value of their property skyrocket. In California alone, the
equity in private homes has increased by more than one trillion
dollars in the last five years alone. Many homeowners do not
even realize that their home may be worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars more than they know. Unfortunately for them, a new
breed of thieves is well aware of the value of home equity, and
a scam known as “deed theft” has allowed them to steal homes
from thousands of people.

Deed theft is simple in principle. The perpetrators of deed
theft post flyers around town offering “foreclosure help.” They
seek homeowners with mortgages who may be experiencing some
temporary financial setback that threatens them with
foreclosure. It’s not uncommon for people who have been living
in their homes for years to have a sudden financial emergency
that prevents them from making their house payments. Perhaps a
job loss or illness is to blame. The economic downturn of the
last five years has left a lot of people struggling to pay
their bills, and these are the people that the deed thieves
seek. Their flyers promise to help those in danger of having
their homes taken through foreclosure. The thieves meet with
the homeowners and ask to have the title to the home
transferred to them. In exchange, the “rescuer” will promise to
pay the delinquent bills and rent the home to the victim for a
year or so at a fair price. During this time, they say, the
homeowner can save their money or pay off other bills. At the
end of that year, the victim can buy the house back from the
“rescuer.”

This seems like a friendly gesture, except that the “rescuer”
has no intention of selling the home back to the victim. Once
the title is signed over to them, they legally own the home.
They may evict the victim, sell the home, or borrow against it,
and there is little recourse for the victim, who is now nothing
more than a squatter. Many of these victims fail to realize
that they may have had hundreds of thousands of dollars in
equity in their home or that their mortgage company may have
been willing to either refinance their home or assist them in
some other way with making their payments.

This scam is currently popular across the country and
homeowners could easily avoid being victimized by simply
calling their mortgage company at the first sign of financial
struggle. Mortgage companies aren’t really interested in
foreclosure; they’d much rather get paid if at all possible.
Before accepting the “help” of strangers who post signs on
streetcorners, homeowners should start by asking help from
those with whom they are already doing business. Doing so could
not only save the homeowner money, it could save the homeowner’s
house.

About the Author: ©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles
Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to
informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com,
a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and
http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on
home equity loans.

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Home Equity Loans – Research Your Lender Carefully

Home Equity Loans – Research Your Lender Carefully
By Charles Essmeier

Real estate prices are rising across the country, and Americans
are tapping into their home equity like never before. Americans
took out $431 billion in home equity loans in 2004, and that
amount may increase in 2005. The reasons vary; some are using
the money for home improvement, others are using the money to
buy real estate, and some are taking reverse mortgages in order
to enjoy a better retirement. With interest rates still near
historic lows and the bull real estate market continuing, more
and more predatory lenders are entering the lending profession.

Most lenders are honest, and prospective borrowers will
probably not have any problems resulting from taking out a loan
with a national bank. On the other hand, newer, smaller, and
less honest lenders are advertising aggressively and may grab
your attention by offering terms that seem more favorable than
those offered by the larger banks. Sometimes, these terms sound
too good to be true, and they often are. Here are a few things
to watch out for when taking out a home loan:

# A promised low interest rate “disappears”, only to be
replaced with a higher figure on the contract at closing time.
The borrowers, who expected to close right then and there, feel
pressured to sign and often accept the higher interest rate.

# Previously unmentioned fees turn up on the application at
closing. Again, by presenting these previously undisclosed fees
at closing time, the borrower is pressured to sign.

# Blanks on the application form. It’s hard to believe that a
lender would present a blank form and assure the borrower that
the blanks will be filled in later, but this actually happens,
and borrowers actually sign such deals. Remember, your
signature on the form constitutes your agreement to the terms,
even if the terms are filled in later.

These problems can be avoided by taking a few simple
precautionary steps. Ask about the total fees and interest
rates ahead of time. Inform your lender that you fully expect
to see those same figures on the documents at closing, and make
it clear that you will not sign documents that state otherwise.
Make certain that you have provided honest information to the
lender. Refuse to sign any blank documents. These things may
seem obvious, but when closing approaches, borrowers tend to
get in a hurry, as they are eager to get the closing out of the
way. Borrowing against your home is not something to take
lightly; you can lose your home if you unknowingly sign a
predatory document. Take your time.

About the Author: ©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles
Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to
informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com,
a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and
http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on
home equity loans.

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Home Equity Loans 101

Home Equity Loans 101
By Frank Kelly

A secured home loan differs from an unsecured loan in that the
secured loan borrows against one's home as collateral, thereby
reducing the risk to the lender.

As such, secured home loans often offer better interest rates
than unsecured loans, but offer higher risk to the borrower, as
defaulting on these loans can have greater consequences, such as
fines, or even possible repossession of the home originally put
up as the secured collateral (subject to the amount of the
loan, of course).

As the interest rates for secured home loans are usually
significantly lower than unsecured loans, more of the monthly
payment goes towards paying off the capital, rather than paying
the accrued interest.

The monthly payments are often more flexible in secured loans,
affording the borrower more leeway in working out a payment plan
that fits his or her needs. However, care must be taken not to
use this as justification for taking out such a loan, as it is
a financial contract between lender and borrower.

There can be a number of reasons for taking out a secured
loan, such as debt consolidation of high-interest loans,
financing for remodeling, or repayment of college or car loans.
Most lenders offering these types of loans recommend loan
repayment insurance, to guard against an inability to pay on
the loan for a time due to factors such as illness, losing a
job or other unexpected occurrences.

Before taking on a substantial loan such as a secured home
loan, a careful analysis of personal finances is in order.
Having a friend or an accountant or finance officer assist in
this process can save trouble and headaches later, as they may
bring up issues and/or expenditures unthought-of, issues such
as examining how much is spent on morning mochas at a favorite
coffee shop? An outside perspective can often help clarify
these matters so a better-informed decision can be made.

If proper planning and care is taken, a secured home loan can
be a valuable tool for managing personal debt. Talking to a
loan officer or financial advisor at a major lending
institution can help make these possibilities a reality, and
can be a step towards the realization of financial freedom.

About the Author: Frank Kelly is a freelance writer. Years ago
he was an employee who regularly used payday loans to get thro
the month. Then he disocvered the better alternative of a home
equity loan. Discover useful advice and information about home
equity loans. Website contains articles and advice about home
equity loans. Click ==> http://www.homeequityloans-cheap.com/

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Home Equity Loans – Beware Of Appraisal Fraud

Home Equity Loans – Beware Of Appraisal Fraud
By Charles Essmeier

A new report by the independent Demos group has revealed what
may not be a surprise to many people – corruption is rampant in
the home appraisal industry. The bust in the dot-com market of
some five years ago has left would-be lenders with a surplus of
cash to lend. This has led to a huge boom in both mortgage and
home equity loan lending. That’s not a bad thing; a record 69%
of Americans now own their own homes. Owning a home is easier
than ever; in 2004 the average down payment was a record low of
only three percent.

So if everyone is buying a home, and loans are easier to obtain
than ever, what is the problem? The problem is that nearly 55%
of the appraisers polled in the survey said that they had been
pressured by lenders to deliver appraisals that met a “target”
value. The appraisers said that failure to meet the “target”
value resulted in either their not being paid, or not being
hired again. Since most appraisers want to keep working, they
have had a tendency to meet the target value, even if it means
that they have overestimated the value of the property. This
drives prices artificially higher and leaves many homeowners
with mortgages that may be worth more than the homes they were
meant to finance. This problem becomes acute should the owner
need to sell the home, only to discover that it isn’t worth as
much as he or she owes on it.

The worst-case scenario to result from this would be a burst in
the current real estate “bubble” and a nationwide collapse in
home values, leading to massive foreclosures. This probably
will not happen, but there are several things prospective
borrowers can do to avoid being caught in the appraisal trap:

# *Become educated about the appraisal and lending process. The
more informed you are, the less likely you are to be caught in a
scam.

# *Be aware that refinancing your home isn’t a cure to all
problems. It may seem appealing to use the equity in your home
for such uses as debt consolidation but if the result of that
is that you owe more on your home than it is worth, you
probably haven’t gained anything.

# *Be active in the appraisal process. Talk to the appraiser,
and ask to see the finished appraisal, along with the data used
to create it. Appraisals are based in part on the sales of
similar properties in your area. Check them out yourself and
compare the home you saw with the stated appraisal value.

# *Be bold. Ask your lender if they pressure their appraisers
to provide inflated values. You might not get an honest answer,
but pay attention to how they respond. You might be able to
determine if they are lying.

Ultimately, if you take out a home equity loan or a mortgage
for more than your home is worth, you are the one that suffers.
That can be easily avoided if you simply pay more attention to
the process and educate yourself about the possible pitfalls.
The last thing you want to lose is your home.

About the Author: ©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles
Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to
informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com/
and http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net/

Source: http://www.isnare.com