East Bay Express-
One giant fraud spawns ten thousand smaller frauds — that was one of the major lessons of the foreclosure crisis. A relatively small number of mortgage lenders issued millions of toxic home loans in the 2000s, often misrepresenting the terms to borrowers or predatorily targeting low-income homeowners, Latinos, African Americans, immigrants, and the elderly with financial products that were practically designed to fail. Then when the crash came in 2008, thousands of smaller fraudsters crawled out from under their rocks to feed off the carnage caused by the collapse of the mortgage market.
Calling themselves “foreclosure consultants,” this army of rip-off artists set up on the internet and plastered local newspapers, especially ethnic media, with advertisements, claiming that “we can stop your foreclosure.” Radio ads broadcasted on English- and Spanish-language stations promised to “halt foreclosure.” Scam artists pumped their messages through late-night TV: “Obtain a loan modification to stay in your house.” Sometimes scammers posed as representatives of federal housing programs, emblazoning HUD and Treasury Department seals on their deceptive websites, mailers, and brochures. One company even used a robocall system programmed with President Obama’s voice announcing a phony mortgage “rescue” plan.
© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
