I was one of the first people in America that discovered the forensic loan audit as a “tool” to help defrauded and struggling homeowners get relief on their loans. When used properly, the mortgage audit can be an effective tool by a licensed attorney when Truth in Lending Act violations or fraud are found to mediate a favorable loan modification for the homeowners who’s legal rights were violated.
One of the first articles I wrote in early 2008 was widely read on the internet. Unfortunately in my attempts to educate consumers, these articles were used by unsavory and unoriginal out of work mortgage brokers to dupe uneducated homeowners out of their last couple dollars.
Since the loan modification business has been virtually shut down by legal authorities across the nation, these same scammers have now morphed into loan auditors and are also running debt consolidations scams.
When millions of American homeowners faced the real estate crisis last year, companies offering “loan modifications” and “foreclosure rescue” sprouted like weeds. Yes, some of these companies were legitimate, but there were some that offered troubled homeowners quick-fix services for high fees but failed to do what they promised after collecting some money from them, leaving families more distressed and closer to being homeless.
The sudden influx of forensic loan audit companies is their effort to evade the upfront fees that state officials from across the country have prohibited them from charging. Many of these loan audits are being performed by the same kitchen table top scammers from the loan mod days. This is just simply the new scam of the week.
While loan audits can be very helpful to homeowners, regrettably, not all of the available companies are qualified to provide audits. Most loan audits these days are performed and offered by people without any legal training in the field or attorney backing. They simply input data into a software program lenders and financial institutions are using as their compliance checklist against state and federal policies and regulations. They then hand the homeowner a worthless audit and leave them to fend for themselves.
Without knowledge on the legal implications of the software’s output and a real, licensed attorney, the audit becomes useless. Remember, what you are paying in a loan audit service is the interpretation of the report. Thus, if you pay these loan audit scammers for their service, it’s like giving away your money for nothing!
About Moe Bedard
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