| |
| |
|
Mortgage & Refinancing Information |
|
|
|
Home Refinancing Scam - Thieves Use Identity Theft to Steal Your Equity
Since the demise of the stock market in 2000, the real estate market has been booming. Investors who are justifiably cautious about investing in stocks have been investing in homes. This has driven the prices of homes in the United States to record levels. Long-time homeowners are discovering that they have a tremendous amount of equity in their homes as the values rise, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The past five years have been good to homeowners and lenders. Unfortunately, the past five years have also been good to equity thieves, who are using identity theft to steal the equity from homes, often without the homeowner's knowledge. As the median value of a home in the United States is currently a little more than $200,000, there is plenty of incentive for the equity thief. The scam is relatively simple and usually involves homes that are completely paid off. The thief obtains a copy of the homeowner's Social Security number and a fake driver's license in the homeowner's name. Using this fake identification, the thief forges a quitclaim deed, a document transfers a homeowner's interest in a property to a third party. The document says, in essence, "I don't want this property anymore." The property can then be transferred to anyone the thief chooses. Once the transfer has taken place, the thief applies for a home equity loan, takes the money, and simply walks away. In an alternate scenario, the thief simply sells the house and pockets the money. As most agencies involved in real estate transactions are quite busy these days, property transfers of this type can often be accomplished without drawing undue attention. This is just one of many scams that have sprung up in recent years involving real estate. While the authorities are certainly interested in catching the thieves, such cases quickly become rather complicated and few police departments have the necessary expertise required to deal with these cases, since they are fairly new. More often than not, the homeowner has little recourse other than to sue the mortgage company involved in the transaction. The best defense against a possible identity theft/equity theft scam is to protect your identity carefully and to avoid giving anyone your Social Security number if you can possibly avoid it. Failing to do so could cost you your home. ©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on home equity loans.
MORE RESOURCES:
Mortgage-Refinance - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Bad Credit Mortgage Loans Online - How Your FICO Credit Score Can Affect Your Loan Approval When applying for a mortgage loan when you have a bad credit history. There are a few things you should know about your FICO score that will help you know what to expect from mortgage lenders. Composite Credit Report Score Simplifies Mortgage Issues Do you want a mortgage loan for your new home? Trying to qualify for a new mortgage can be very tough, especially if you aren't aware of the effect your credit report score has on your ability to get approved for loans. One of the first things a lender looks at to determine your suitability for a mortgage loan is your credit report, or FICO score. Home Mortgages: Up, Up and Away! Refinance NOW-before it's too lateIf you haven't found the time to refinance your existing home mortgage, it's time to take action-like yesterday! Every time Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, opens his mouth, you can bet that the federal funds rates will rise by at least a quarter of a point, or by 25 basis points in investorese. What that means to you is that home mortgages will rocket as well. Refinance Your Second Mortgage A 2nd mortgage is a secured loan on your property, with your home serving as collateral. Depending on the particular terms of your second mortgage, you could be able to refinance if you wish to reduce your monthly payments or are in need of extra cash. Refinancing Your Home Mortgage Loan You're considering refinancing your home mortgage loan to save money. Interest rates are the lowest they have been in decades. Mortgage Terminology for the First Time Home Buyer Buying a Home for the first time can be a little "nerve racking". Mortgage terminology that brokers use everyday can leave you scratching your head or shaking your head pretending that you know what they're talking about. Secured Loans - Making the Most of Your Home as Collateral My visit to the lender was interrupted with my wife demanding a reason for my preference for secured loans. Though I hushed up the matter then, it kept on ringing in my mind hours later. A Guide to Getting Bad Credit Home Improvement Loans You might be wanting to look into bad credit home improvement loans but are unsure of where to start. After all, how do you get a good loan when your credit isn't the greatest?What you probably don't realize is that there are a number of lenders who offer bad credit home improvement loans, which use the equity of your home or other real estate to determine the amount of the loan with no additional collateral needed. Understanding Mortgage Basics As common as mortgages are, there are a surprisingly large number of us who are under false impressions about the way they function, and what they actually are. For one thing, though we do commonly call mortgages "home loans," this is not at all what they actually are. 6 Helpful Mortgage Tips Here are some mortgage tips that can help you obtain a mortgage with less hassle, and at a lower overall cost: Determine how much home you can afford. Based on your income and any long term debt, know the maximum payments you can be certain of making comfortably. Home Equity Loans 101 A secured home loan differs from an unsecured loan in that the secured loan borrows against one's home as collateral, thereby reducing the risk to the lender.As such, secured home loans often offer better interest rates than unsecured loans, but offer higher risk to the borrower, as defaulting on these loans can have greater consequences, such as fines, or even possible repossession of the home originally put up as the secured collateral (subject to the amount of the loan, of course). Debt Counseling - Healing Touch for the Ailing Finances The financial stories remain similar over the months and the years. With debts becoming a nuisance, people make resolutions and resolve to stand by these resolutions. A Home Loan Can Help You Own Your Dream Home Owning your dream home need not just be a dream. You can own it with a home loan offered by any number of financial institutions to help meet the shortfall between the purchase price of the home and the down payment that you provide. Understanding UK Bridging Finance Bridging finance, also referred to as "bridge loans" and "bridging loans", have nothing at all to do with re-constructing the London Bridge. Bridging finance is typically a short-term loan that a business uses to supply cash for a real estate transaction until permanent financing can be arranged. Bankers Dont Want You to Know That You Pay for Your No Cost Home Loan Forever With mortgage rates continuing on a downward trend, the competition in the business is fierce. A day never passes that I don't hear some crazy advertisement about a new loan program that XYZ mortgage company has and no one else offers. Mortgage Marketing W. Edwards Deming said "Marketing and innovation are the only source of value in business, everything else is a cost". Mortgage-Refinance Loan Can Put Cash in Your Pocket Do you need cash? Here's a mortgage for you. If you are not in a good position to take an equity line of credit on your home, because you have not built enough equity or a poor credit situation is making bankers steer clear of you, altogether, there is another option -- the cashout refinance. Advantages Of Mortgage Pre-Approval There are several advantages to getting mortgage pre-approval before looking for a home.Being pre-approved for a loan lets you know how much you can borrow towards a home, your agent can help you find a home within the loan amount you're pre-approved for, and a seller of a home is more likely to accept your offer than someone who has not been pre-approved for a loan yet. Unlock your Home Loan Piggy Bank With the recent sharp increase in property values your current home could be a pot of gold.Property prices have increase about 20% - 30% over the past year but according to economists this current boom will not continue or much longer despite recent changes in property taxes announced in the budget speech. Poor Credit Home Mortgage Loans - The Role of the FICO Score If you have bad credit history and are looking to get a home mortgage loan, then chances are you are going to need to know all about how the FICO credit scoring system works.FICO - Fair ISAAC & Company - is the leading credit reporting agency that lenders turn to when it comes time to credit scoring your home loan mortgage application; so if you do have bad credit history, these guys will know.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
