Beware of Arizona Foreclosure Consultants wanting money up front to provide services. It may be a scam!

It is a sad story indeed that there are slime bags out there that would take advantage of down and out people losing their homes. Beware of any so called loan modification or foreclosure consultant or service that want money up front.

According to the Attorney General’s offices in Arizona and California reports of these scams are on the rise.

In fact here is one report from the Arizona Attorney General’s office this month (Jan 2010)

http://azag.tumblr.com/post/332934790/attorney-generals-office-sues-loan-modification

As part of a consumer alert, California AG Brown offered the following tips to homeowners:

Don’t pay up-front fees. Foreclosure consultants are prohibited by law from collecting money before services are performed.

Don’t ignore letters from your lender or loan servicer. Responding to those letters is your best bet for saving your house.

Don’t transfer title or sell your house to a “foreclosure rescuer.” Beware! This is a scam to convince homeowners they can stay in the home as renters and buy their home back later. It might also be part of a fraudulent bankruptcy filing. Either way, a scammer can then evict the victim and take the home.

Don’t pay your mortgage payments to anyone other than your lender or loan servicer. Mortgage consultants often keep the money for themselves.

Never sign any documents without reading them first. Many homeowners think that they are signing documents for a loan modification or for a new loan to pay off the mortgage they are behind on. Later, they discover that they actually transferred ownership of their home to someone who is now trying to evict them

Here is a Free PDF Report provided by the Arizona attorney General’s office:

http://www.azag.gov/consumer/foreclosure/documents/ForeclosureScamBrochure.pdf

Going through a foreclosure is a stressful and complicated situation. The important thing to realize is that there are a lot of slime bags out there trying to give you false hope and drain your bank account by offering phony promises.

A Short Sale in Arizona is an option you should investigate.

There is no guarantee that you will be able to do one, but you should talk to short sale specialists that can look at your situation and give you sound advice. Do not wait until the last minute. The more time you give the specialist to work with you and your lender, the more chance you have of completing a short sale and saving your credit from a foreclosure.

I have worked with several Arizona certified short sale specialists that will give you a Free Consultation. You need to get straight answers and work with professionals that know how to get short sales done. Unfortunately, many real estate agents that claim to do short sales are inexperienced and can actually hurt your chances of completing your short sale in Arizona.

Get a Free Consultation right now by going to http://shortsalestraighttalk.com/free-consultation/

Do not procrastinate! Time is not on your side and the longer you wait the closer you are to foreclosure. Get the facts today and avoid the scam artists out there!