The foreclosure problem has left many struggling homeowners looking for a means of relief in order to avoid having to give up their cherished South Florida homes and thus become the next foreclosure statistic. While positive efforts are being made to stop foreclosures and give homeowners some relief, others are taking advantage of the foreclosure situation to scam homeowners.

Foreclosure scammers often keep any eye out for public foreclosure notices and then drop business cards or even handwritten notes in the homeowner’s mailbox asking to be contacted. Upon the initial meeting, a scammer will promise the homeowner peace of mind and they will also sell the home back to the homeowner eventually. They will also suggest that all contact with a lender is cut off. Eventually the scammer or “rescuer” will set the rent much too high for the original homeowner to afford which essentially forces them out of their home altogether due to delinquency. The homeowner still owes mortgage payments but is now without a place to live.

The first method of knowing whether someone is legit and is actually looking to help you keep your Miami Beach home is when they request that contact with a lender is ceased. If foreclosure might happen, it’s imperative that the homeowner stay in contact as much as possible with the lender in order to try and reach a mutually agreeable solution at all times. With that in mind, any request for payments by a third party should also be a cause of concern. All payments should be made exclusively to the lender and no one else.

A scam can usually be “sniffed out” by the average homeowner but desperate times can sometimes cloud judgment. If a homeowner becomes a victim, there are legal routes to use but they can become a headache. Usually, simply taking the time to contact a lender before delinquency becomes a problem can lead to a payment schedule or loan term adjustment that the homeowner can agree with.