Fraud Alert

Have you ever wondered why you receive so many calls from mortgage brokers and lenders once you applied for a mortgage from a broker or lender? It's called trigger leads. Once you apply for a mortgage loan (purchase or refinance), the credit bureaus/repositories sale your information to mortgage lenders, brokers, and possibly con artists around the country.

Currently it's perfectly legal for the credit bureaus and repositories to sale YOUR personal information. Feel a little vulnerable, wait a second? Companies that sale these leads don't even check or verify if the company/person they are selling YOUR information to are licensed mortgage brokers or if they are on the fraud watch list. Now you have 5-10 people calling you that know a lot about you personally, financially, and your credit offering to beat the rate and closing costs of your current lender. Beware!

A few quick stories from people we have helped recently.

1. The first borrower we were helping refinance their house to lower their rate and they wanted a little cash out. A few days in the process they received a call from a well known national lender (they were just purchase by Bank of America), promising lower closing costs and a lot more cash out. Obviously, any one would be interested in a deal like that. It turned out the loan officer was not familiar with our local market and assumed the house was worth a lot more than it was. After three weeks and $500 later the borrower called us tired of hearing promise after promise but no substance.


2. Borrower two received a call 3 days before closing, again a lender promising to beat the rate we had provided. They provided the loan officer all of their personal information and waited for a response, but never heard back. We closed the loan for them after a slight delay, and every thing was great. Until 3 months later we received a call from the borrower, their identity had been stolen.


3. Borrower three was purchasing a house and received a call about a week after we pulled their credit, once again some one telling them they could beat our loan. They provided the borrower with a good faith estimate and all the disclosures and every thing appeared great. However, on the day of the closing they received a call from their broker telling them rates had jumped over a 0.50% and their closing costs had also increased.

How can you avoid your personal and credit information being sold? Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit http://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Remember it's always good to shop when looking for a mortgage, however, make sure you know who you are doing business with, try to use a local broker/lender that is familiar with the market, and you ask for a lock confirmation as well as the other disclosures.

Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to look over your mortgage package another lender has provided.

Prosperity Financial, LLC - Your Mortgage Manager

Lafayette, Colorado

http://www.colomortgages.com/ http://www.3bed2bath.net/

Purchase - Refinance - Cash-Out - Debt Consolidation - Home Equity - Great Rates

Buyer Beware - Lease Option Scam

The recent boom and bust in the real estate industry has created many opportunities for scam artists to make quick and easy money, while leaving their victims wondering what happened. Real estate fraud has been a problem for decades, however, it typically increases in markets that recently have experienced problems and people are desperately looking and hoping for solutions.

I recently heard of scam that appears to be gaining popularity in the real estate industry. The scam artist, will first prey on people that are having a tough time making their mortgage payment or facing foreclosure and promises to handle their problems if they quit claim the title of the house to them (the home owner relinquishes their ownership of the property). They tell their victims that they will refinance the house in their name or handle the sale of their house so they don't have to deal with the headache and can salvage their credit.

Once the scam artists takes over ownership of the property, they then advertise the property for rent, or even better for them, as a lease option to buy. Once they have tenant, they collect a deposit (on a lease option the deposit could be as much as $10,000) and rents, but never make a payment on the house or try to sale the property. By the time the original owner or tenants discover what has happened they scam artist has collected their money (up to $15,000 in some cases) and has disappeared. The original owner is now stuck with a mortgage that is in foreclosure and has no options to save their property and the tenants are out their deposit and are forced to find a new place to live.

How do you avoid falling victim to a similar scam? First you have to know the people that work these scams are good and very convincing. They will provide you will a deed to shown they own the house, and it's almost impossible for the common person to know who is on the note of the mortgage. However, there are few easy steps you can take to protect yourself.

First, always ask to contact their other tenants for a referral, any good landlord or business person will have no problem providing this information.

Next, check county records to determine how long they have owned the property and how they acquired the house. Almost every county has this information online through the assessor's office or property records. If they acquired the property through a quit claim deed, there is a good chance that they are not responsible for the mortgage and it should raise red flags.

Another good idea (especially for lease options), is to have the deposit held by a non-interested 3rd party, such as a title company. If some thing does happen you will be able to get your earnest money back from the title company.

If you are doing business with a stranger, remain skeptical throughout the process, make them earn your trust, and don't be a afraid to ask for help from some one with in the industry. Feel free to call us and we will take them time to review the transaction and provide any advice that might help.


Prosperity Financial, LLC - Your Mortgage Manager
Lafayette, Colorado

http://www.colomortgages.com/
http://www.myprosperityfinancial.com/

Purchase - Refinance - Cash-Out - Debt Consolidation - Home Equity - Great Rates