By Anna Challet, New American Media
Nonprofit housing counseling agencies and housing rights advocates agree: Foreclosure rescue scams are still common in the Bay Area, and there’s no need for homeowners in distress to empty their pockets paying for private attorneys.
When the Tatakamotongas of East Palo Alto were having trouble making their mortgage payments after the sudden death of the family’s primary breadwinner, they decided to seek help with obtaining a loan modification to lower their monthly payments. In looking for legal help, they came into contact with a scammer.
“The advice they gave me was ‘Don’t make any more payments at all. The longer you are backed up, the more we can help you.’ And so of course I believed them,” says Mele Tatakamotonga.
The scammer, a private attorney, told them to stop paying their mortgage in order to qualify for a modification and charged them $3,000 for the assistance. After paying the fee, the family tried contacting the attorney, only to find that the phone number had been disconnected.
“Foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification scams are continuing and getting bolder,” says Vanitha Venugopal, program director of Community Development and Investment at The San Francisco Foundation.
Read the complete story at New American Media.