know your rights!
Posted on May 31st, 2010
Know Your Rights: The U.S. Constitution: And Fascinating Facts About It
More than 200 families are working with Families Fighting Foreclosure to save their homes in Marin County, California. The sponsoring Group Marin Family Action has just been featured in the beginning of a series from Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, the Pt. Reyes Light.
One of the strengths of the group is “The Buddy System.” No one goes to court alone when facing opposition from attorneys, lenders, and courtrooms. The group has been shocked at all turns by how sloppy and/or lazy some judges run their courtrooms.
The latest story is of a woman whose husband took out a second on their house without her knowledge. He died shortly thereafter, leaving her confused and about to lose her home from foreclosure. She tried repeatedly to find out what happened, to no avail.
This writer — who has been battling to save her home for 18 months — was in court during one of these legal proceedings (and thinks “illegal proceedings” might be a more appropriate term). The judge pronounced from the bench that “The file is incomplete. I have not reviewed it.” And “It is what it is.” That judge either opened the door for mis-trial, which happened in a round-about way, or she was performing her civic duties in a sloppy manner. It was an appalling view of justice; in fact no justice was going to happen that day if it stayed in the hands of the judge and opposing counsul.
Earlier during the day, that judge told the distressed homeowner that she should prepare to move. She was ready to throw her out of her home of 17 years without knowing any facts and without caring about the facts.
This is being written two weeks after that dreadful Day in Court, and it looks like it is going to have an amazingly happy ending. We’re not at liberty to say yet and the point of this is that you have to be willing to fight or “They” will run over you.
The story about families fighting foreclosure.
Filed under In The News, US constitution, bill of rights, everyone loses . . . even your pets, fight foreclosure, learn your rights, proposed solutions, question the courts, what's going on? | No Comments »
How to Avoid Foreclosure Scams (Part 3)
Posted on October 17th, 2009
This is the third and final post of the blog series on foreclosure scams. By now, you should be more aware of the types of scams that can be perpetrated on you as a homeowner in default. Keep in mind that most offers you receive are probably genuine from well meaning real estate professionals (e.g., agents, lenders, investors and attorneys). But you should always be very careful when interacting with these professionals to ensure you’re not getting ripped off.
When someone contacts you, ask for references from other homeowners they have helped. Ask whether you have to pay a huge upfront fee and find out why. Also ask why you should work with them versus someone else. If you don’t feel comfortable with the answers you get, chances are your gut is telling you to walk away from the offer.
Remember, that you probably shouldn’t deal with something as major as a foreclosure all by yourself. Enlist the aid of your relatives or friends, who could help you see through the scams being offered. Check out www.fightforeclosurecentral.com for tips on stopping foreclosures.
So here are the last four of the 10 foreclosure scams to avoid:
7. Fake Certificate. The scammer uses financial information from you and from the courthouse records to forge a certificate of satisfaction. The certificate is submitted to the lender and gives the impression that your loan has been completely satisfied. Once the lender records your loan as satisfied, the scammer can then take out a new loan in your name and keep the proceeds for himself. This is a form of identity theft and you could become embroiled in a long, complicated process to reclaim your identity and your home.
8. Equity Stripping. The scammer offers to refinance your existing loan with a new first mortgage. Unfortunately, the loan comes with some combination of high interest rates, high points, a large balloon payment, and very strict default terms. This means that besides giving up lots of money, you run the risk of losing your home if you can’t make the balloon payment or if you default again.
9. Loan Repeat. The scammer gets you to refinance your loan repeatedly. Similar to the Equity Stripping con highlighted above, the scammer initially offers a loan with high interest rates and points. If you default for any reason, he offers you the option of refinancing with perhaps even higher rates and more points. This refinancing process is repeated until all the equity is gone.
10. Rent Stripping. The scammer gets you to sign over or sell your home and then rents it back to you. He may even offer you a lease option, which allows you to buy the property back within some specified time in the future. In either case, he charges rents that can be much higher than average and your rental agreement would have very strict default terms. You could be subject to eviction if you miss a payment.
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