City warns of foreclosure help scams

Baltimore, MD - It is something you'll hear on the radio a lot over the next several months.

Ads telling struggling homeowners that they need to look out for people who are trying to make a bad situation worse.

Mortgage scammers have helped take advantage of people desperate to stay in their homes buy promising help to get the banks off your back for fee.

But in many cases they do nothing but take the money and run.

"We have dealt with literally thousands of people who are facing foreclosure and have been able to help quite a few of them they come to us and having already paid some of these scammers two thousand five hundred dollars and sometimes even more and have received nothing."

It's gotten so bad in the Baltimore area, that Cummings says they get dozens of calls a week from people who have already been scammed and a looking for help.

That's why a coalition of different groups is banding together to help stop foreclosure scammers.
Baltimore is one of the top areas in the country where scammers are taking money to fix mortgages causing even more hardship to the homeowner.

The coalition says there are plenty of free and low cost legitimate alternatives that can help people stay in their homes and prevent foreclosure.

"There has been good housing counseling going on in the city and in the state for a number of years now and we know that there are folks who have received that counseling who have avoided being scammed and who have received help getting a loan modification or a finding a way to hold on to their house." Baltimore Hope Staffer Sally Scott says.

If you would like more information about getting legitimate foreclosure prevention help you can call the coalition at 1-877-462-7555 or go to their website at loanscamalert.org.