Financial Utopia – Help with credit cards, debt savings and loans.

Imagine landing your dream home. Your credit is a bit shaky, but you manage to get a subprime loan with an adjustable rate mortgage. A few years later the interest rates jump and you can no longer afford to pay. You see an ad for a business thats willing to helpitll pay your mortgage for a modest monthly fee while you get back on your feet. But heres the heartbreak: its a scam. The con artists just take your money and run

Its just one of the latest schemes and frauds being seen these days across the financial services industry.

These scamswhich include plenty of shenanigans with mortgages and subprime loansare costing the nation tens of billions of dollars a year.

Millions of homeowners are caught up in this subprime mess. The Federal Reserve has gotten involved in an attempt to bail out the mortgage loan companies. Criminal charges may be filed against these companies for falsifying records, loaning money to under-qualified home buyers, and not reporting the truth to investors.

These are all good reasons why the US government is squarely focused on cracking down on the largest of these financial crimes, launching proactive initiatives and shifting resources as trends emerge, all the while working hand-in-hand with a host of government and private sector partners.

Currently, investigators are actively pursuing mortgage companies and investment irregularities.

The government is investigating 14 corporations involved in subprime lending as part of our Subprime Mortgage Industry Fraud Initiative launched last year.

The companies come from across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle loans into securities sold to investors. Theyre also looking at insider trading by some executives.

Traditional mortgage fraud:

In one state alone, more than 1,200 cases open today (up about 40 percent from last year), mostly involving fraud for profit, where groups of straw buyers, realtors, etc. rig schemes to buy properties that are flipped or allowed to go into foreclosure.
Hotspots include California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Utah.

Suspicious activity reports that we review for potential mortgage fraud have grown from 3,000 in fiscal year 2003 to 48,000 in fiscal year 2007. This year, theyre on pace to receive more than 60,000 such reports.

A recent case: In November, the owners of a long-time Minnesota homebuilder called Parish Marketingalong with a bank officer, a closing agent, and otherspled guilty to a $100 million mortgage scheme involving some 200 homes.

If you are a victim of the subprime mortgage madness, contact your bank and see if there are any programs in place to alleviate the pain.

Shopping Around For A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan: How To Avoid A Scam And Find A Good One

Introduction

If you are like many people living today, you may have found yourself being forced to deal with ever increasing debt. You may feel that your debt has become completely out of control. You may be seeking solutions through which you can restore some order to your finances and lower and control your debt. One option that you may want to consider is a personal debt consolidation loan.

Through this article you will be provided with an overview of how you can best shop around for a personal debt consolidation loan. Specifically, this article will provide you some guidance about how you can go about avoiding a personal debt consolidation loan scam.

Major Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Scams

There are two general types of a personal debt consolidation loan scams that are being pursued by unscrupulous people in the world today. It is important that you have a general concept of these two major types of personal debt consolidation loan scams so that you can be on the alert for these situations.

The first major type of personal debt consolidation loan scam involves what might be called a complete and utter sham. In this case, advertisements are placed or sent to consumers (oftentimes via email) promoting a low cost personal debt consolidation loan. The advertisement or email includes a link that purports to be to the lenders website. (Oftentimes, a well known lender or lending company is named in the ad — a lending company that you more naturally would trust.)

If you click onto the link, you actually end up at a fake lending website, a sham website. If you continue to follow the process and input your personal and financial information at the website, you will have found yourself the victim of identity theft. This scam is better known as phishing and is a common and growing problem on the Internet and World Wide Web.

The second major type of personal debt consolidation loan scam does not involve identity theft as such. Rather, you are once again drawn into a fake lending website. In this type of scam, you are asked to pay some sort of processing or application fee up front. In the end, there really is no lender and the fake lender actually takes your money and runs.

Other Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Scams

There are other personal debt consolidation loan scams that actually are perpetrated by lending institutions — albeit not particularly reliable or reputable personal debt consolidation loan lenders. In these situations, a consumer is drawn to a personal debt consolidation loan lender because of promises of low interest rates and similar savings. In reality, these ads are misleading and, if you apply for and are approved for one of these loans, you end up getting hit with much higher interest rates than expected as well as with a flood of other unanticipated fees, costs and charges. You must — must — always read the fine print before applying for a personal debt consolidation loan.

Poor Credit Home Equity Loans – Avoiding Home Equity Loan Scams

Obtaining a home equity loan makes it possible to payoff credit cards, finance a home improvement project, etc. In fact, one of the benefits of homeownership is being able to tap into your home’s equity for large expenses. Many lenders offer great rates on home equity loans and lines of credit. Yet, homeowners should beware home equity loan scams that place them at risk of losing their home.

Understanding Home Equity Basics

A home equity loan is essentially a personal loan that is secured by your home’s equity. The amount you are able to acquire will vary. For the most part, you are able to obtain a loan up to the amount of your home’s equity. However, lenders will usually review your credit and income to ensure that you qualify for the requested amount.

Home equity loans are beneficial because the funds may be used for a multitude of purposes. If you are looking to payoff credit card balances, a home equity loan will help you achieve this goal. Nonetheless, exercise care when applying for such a loan. Because your home serves as the collateral, failure to maintain regular payments will result in foreclosure. Sadly, some lenders are betting on your inability to repay a home equity loan.

Common Home Equity Loan Scams

Lenders use an array of fraudulent schemes to steal your equity. For starters, there are lenders who cleverly convince homeowners to borrow more than they can afford to pay.

Moreover, a lender may encourage homeowners to exaggerate their income in order to qualify for a larger amount. Instead of having your best interest in mind, these lenders knowingly position their clients for defeat. Hence, when you can no longer afford the payments, the lender forecloses.

If applying for a home equity loan, it is important to read the loan agreement carefully. If possible, have the contract reviewed by an attorney. Some home equity loans involve a large balloon payment at the end of the loan term. The typical homeowner cannot afford to pay this amount. Regardless of whether you maintain timely payments, the home equity lender may claim your home if you are unable to make the final payment.

Many people who badly need money make the mistake of doing business with companies that steal money from them rather than lend it. These scams are usually directed at people who already have bad credit. More people are in financial trouble than ever before, and many criminals are taking advantage of this situation. Those who are filing for credit counseling or bankruptcy are at a high risk for these types of scams. Here I will show you common scams and what you can do to avoid them.

Money Up Front Scams

If you are in a situation where you need to file bankruptcy or seek credit counseling, your life is likely already hard enough as it is. The last thing you want is some con artist taking more of your money. Unfortunately, a huge market exists for these types of scams. The most common trick used by debt consolidation services is to make an offer to loan a client money despite their credit history. They will ask that the client pays three months in advance before they are able to loan them money. The company then takes the payments and refuses to loan the client money, stealing from them.

Many of the customers never hear from the company again. Many of these companies make themselves appear legitimate by purchasing advertising space in the local phone book, a place that most people trust to find their information. As more people suffer from debt, these scams will continue to increase.

You should avoid any lender which asks you to pay money up front for the loan. This is generally the first sign that a service is likely a scam. There is no reason you should have to pay a fee up front. Any lenders which ask you to pay before you receive the money are likely con artists. You should only have to pay money back after you’ve been given money, not before. Many of these services will also try to get you to send out a wire transfer.

Wire transfer services like Western Union are not secure, and there is no recourse available if something goes wrong. The transactions can’t be traced, and you should avoid any services which ask you to wire money to them. If you feel the need to borrow money, you should use a service which is recommended by a friend or member of your family. This is much better than calling a random service which you’ve never heard of.

A Word On The Side Of Caution

It is important to be cautious when looking for loans, especially those which are unsecured. The first thing you should realize is that there is no such thing as a loan which is guaranteed. You should be wary of lenders who promise that you will be approved without bothering to check your credit history.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that many people make a career out of stealing money from others. Much of this fraud is perpetrated by groups which are highly organized. Getting scammed in a situation where you are already on the verge of bankruptcy can be enough to push anyone over the edge. People tend to make the most mistakes when they are desperate. It is important to analyze the situation and study the lender carefully. Anytime you are asked to pay money up front this typically means that it is a fraud, and will not end well if you fall for it.

The most important thing you can do before choosing a lender is to do research. Find out how long a company has been in existence. If they don’t have an established history, this likely means they are a fly by night operation, and you will want to avoid it.