DREAMS FORECLOSED: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes

DREAMS FORECLOSED: The Rampant Theft of Americans’ Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure “Rescue” Scams
“Don’t portray the offer as the best possible,” he says. “The whole reason for this (deal)
is to buy the house for less than it is worth….I’ve never done it. I just couldn’t stomach it.”
In NCLC's own investigation we noticed messages on ostensibly unrelated foreclosure
"assistance" websites from several states that were nearly word-for-word identical -- a strong
indication their "program" is a packaged one. 16
Then there are real-estate "training" programs that apparently aim to simply make as
much money as possible off their customers. A website called infomercialscams.com, for
instance, contains a long litany of unedited consumer complaints about well-known TV
pitchman Carleton H. Sheets' "No Down Payment Real Estate Program." On this website, those
saying they did business with the Sheets program complain about over-billing, having
supposedly-permissible refunds blocked and having loads of "extras" tacked onto their orders
either without their permission or after extremely aggressive sales pitches. 17
Another website called foreclosures.com features long lists of real-estate training
"Gurus to Avoid" and "(Web)sites to Avoid."
16 As of early April, for instance, the website of Resolution Home Buyers in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, was
prominently displaying a mouse-click on its home page that leads to the message below. We found large sections
of an exceedingly similar message on several other seemingly unrelated websites--it repeatedly stresses that the
distressed homeowner must act quickly, it cautions the homeowner to not trust lawyers for help and it urges them
to sell the home that's in foreclosure -- three pieces of advice that, at best, could be called misguided in a great
number of cases.
See also the websites of Walk-Away-Today, which lists a Minnesota telephone number,
HouseCashQuick.com which lists a Baltimore address, the Matador Group which lists a Houston address and The
Wierman Group listing a North Carolina address as just four other examples of a very similar message.
http://www.walk-away-today.net/Home.cfm, http://www.housecashquick.com/,
http://www.tmgtexas.com/cont.html and http://www.cashforyourhouse.us/foreclosure.htm.
Here's the Resolution Home Buyers website message:
"If you are facing foreclosure the best advice we can give you is ACT NOW! Many people facing foreclosure simply do nothing
and hope for a miracle. Don't fall into that trap!
"Some homeowners seek advice from a lawyer (and why not - a lawyer is supposed to have all the answers right) Maybe – but then
maybe not! Some homeowners act on their lawyer's advice and file bankruptcy thinking that all their problems are now solved. Bankruptcy
does put a hold on everything, yes, but all it buys is a little time. The end result is the property almost always going to auction and you now
have a foreclosure in addition to the bankruptcy on your credit report
"In almost ALL cases, the best thing for a homeowner to do when in foreclosure (assuming that the homeowner's loss of income is
not temporary) is to SELL THE PROPERTY! When you sell the property, you avoid the foreclosure and possibly a bankruptcy on your credit
report and you can get on with your life.
"We can bring your payments current and in many cases even give you equity back out of your home. We can even help in most
situations when there is little or no equity in the house.
"TIME IS YOUR ENEMY! If your house payments are more than a month or two behind, your lender has probably already started
foreclosure proceedings. As time passes thousands of dollars in penalties and legal fees can be added to the balance you owe. Every single day
extra interest is added! The longer you wait the harder it is for us to help you. You must act quickly. "
17 See these complaints at http://www.infomercialscams.com/carlton_sheets_no_down_payment.htm
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