Today, it is estimated that one in ten homeowners is either in foreclosure or behind in their payments. As the economic crisis becomes more severe and the recession feeds upon itself, people have become more and more desperate to find some way to hold onto their houses. With such conditions, the average member of the public is ripe for a scam and the and those who try to dupe you or use trickery know this. It is no surprise, therefore that the number of foreclosure type scams are on the rise.

If you’ve been the victim anywhere in Southern California of real estate fraud or the target of an unscrupulous loan modification service, foreclosure consultant or someone acting on your behalf to modify your mortgage or cure your problems who is in violation of the strict regulations in California, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com .

If you are a licensed real estate broker or agent and have either been wrongly accused of being in violation of the laws and regulations governing loan modification services and foreclosure consultants, or acted as such without being aware of these strict regulations and need legal defense, we urge you to call us at any of the numbers which you can find on our website.

Those who are most likely to be targeted by persons attempting to perpetrate a fraud are the elderly, anyone entering foreclosure, people who have recently lost their jobs, families who have lost a loved one, people who have limited knowledge of English, people with limited resources, and homeowners whose payment amounts have recently been raised.

The moment you enter foreclosure, expect to be inundated with offers of help from many individuals with generic type sounding names, and some claiming even to have references from churches near you. These are, in most cases, some of the people you should stay away from at all cost.

The person who will approach you in this type of scam is more often than not, well-dressed, well groomed, and seems personable, kind, and trustworthy. Some utilize social skills to put you at ease such as their representation to be of the same religion as you, or even the same church, to have been in the military if they think that will put you at ease or feel more trusting of them, and others will claim to be working for non-profit organizations, or branches of the government.

These are some of the most common scams and what you can do to avoid being a victim.

1) The Disappearing Foreclosure Consultant – With a helpful sounding name, and armed with references and a kind voice, the person who contacts you promises to help you stave off foreclosure with just an up-front fee for their time. The only problem is, as soon as the money clears their bank, you never see or hear from them again. The soon-to-be phantom performs little or no service, takes your money and you are left with your original problems and less time to try to save your home from foreclosure.

2) Loan Modification Helpers – Unlike Santa’s Helpers, in this scam you pay a fee up front to the “loan modification expert” to negotiate directly with your bank, only here you don’t get a present from Santa. If the expert really gains your trust, you also make your mortgage payments directly to the expert rather than to the mortgage company. Both the up front fee and the mortgage payments go directly into the pocket of the loan modification helper with the white beard and the kind voice and by the time you receive notice that your house is in foreclosure, this elf has disappeared and is back at the North Pole.

3) Just Sign Here Scams – As you face the prospect of foreclosure, one offer of help seems far better than all the others because it allows you to stay in your home as they save it from foreclosure. Unfortunately, in the papers you sign without having a lawyer look at them, you agree, knowingly or unknowingly, to sign over the house to the person offering this help and still remain responsible for the mortgage payments. The person then either sells your house, collects other fees from you or holds onto the house and evicts you.

4) Sale and Leaseback Scams – In this scam, if you are a homeowner who still has some equity in your home, you will be convinced to sign over title in your home and pay rent to the scam artist with the promise that they can bail you out, cure your problems and that you will be allowed to buy back the house later at a bargain price. All of this can be accomplished, but only if the property is in the consultant’s name. The payments you make go directly to the scam artist and eventually you will find yourself holding the bag. You may also find yourself evicted when you can no longer make the excessive rent payments. If you have lost your job and are having trouble making your house payments, even if you have equity in your home, you may be tempted by this scam. And while you would be entitled to the excess equity in your home if the house is sold in foreclosure, when you fall victim to this scam, you will lose the equity when it is either sold out from under you or the equity is stripped away by the new owner.

5) The Trust Me, I’m Religious or I Was In The Military Too Scam – These people posing as Christians, former members of the military or members of whatever social organizations you belong to come complete with references from members of your church or with military haircuts and promise that by adding them to the title to your home, they can rescue you from foreclosure, and have your credit repaired. Having gone through your mail or your trash, they probably know all about you. There’s no need to see a lawyer, they tell you. Just pray with them or have a drink with them and swap military stories. Just be sure to hold on to your wallet, don’t give them any money and don’t sign anything.

6) Sign Me Up Scotty And Get A New Loan Scam – In this scam, you are told that if you add the nice looking good Samaritan onto your title by signing a Grant Deed or other legal instrument, (which you are told, you don’t really need to read) this friendly person can apply for a new loan, which, unfortunately, if approved, will leave you on the hook for both the old loan payments and the new loan payments, and any up front fees you pay for this service will disappear with this fraud.

7) Buy My Books, Take This Seminar And Make Millions Scam – You may see this offer on late night television, on roadside signs or even on billboards. Only this time, you are talked into buying materials that are full of worthless information that will do nothing to help you avoid foreclosure. Even worse, the materials you receive may offer advice that will land you in jail by telling you how to approach others in foreclosure and advise you to tell them you can save them from foreclosure. The trouble is, what you will be doing is either practicing law without a license or acting as a credit repair agency or loan modification expert without a real estate license and without an advance fee agreement approved by the Commissioner of the California Department of Real Estate and without being registered with the California Department of Justice.

The Short Sale Scam – In this scam, the “short sale specialist” who contacts you promises his expertise to accomplish a short sale in a small amount of time that will protect your credit. There is a fee of course that would have been better spent on groceries. When the real estate market was better, there were additional wrinkles to this scam that today are more difficult to perpetrate due to the difficulty of selling homes in this economy.

9) It’s Like Magic – Here the homeowner is told to sign one thing, but the homeowner winds up signing something altogether. In some instances of this bait and switch scam, the scam artist will serve as the notary as well. In conjunction with this and other scams, or in other variations, forgery may be utilized, and identity theft employed as well.

10) Want Somewhere Cheap To Rent Scam – Here the bogus homeowner or leasing agent takes your rent payment and security deposit and rents or leases you vacant residential or commercial property, that isn’t owned by the person you are talking with and if you are talking with a leasing agent, this “agent” has no authority to offer you the property for rent or lease.

11) How About A Nice Loan Modification Scam – As with foreclosure consultants, loan modification services are strictly regulated by California statutes. If you have lost money or your home to a foreclosure consultant or someone promising to obtain a loan modification or cure to your problems and they have violated these statutes, in some cases you may be entitled to any moneys paid to them, but also, in some cases, your other actual damages, equitable relief, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs and punitive damages of three times the compensation received or misapplied by the foreclosure consultant or loan modification service who contracted with you.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to recover your money when you have been the victim of any of these types of fraud. However, there are times when the persons attempting to defraud you simply don’t know better and are otherwise responsible citizens and business people who don’t know the law, or conveniently fail to research the law, and who may either have errors and omissions insurance or assets which may cover their indiscretions.

Such defendants may include real estate brokers, foreclosure consultants, loan modification companies and services and mortgage brokers.

These parties may be responsible if they made misrepresentations to you, committed fraud, charged you fees and collected such fees in advance for foreclosure consultant services, failed to follow the strict regulations set forth in the California Civil Code and Business and Professions Code or had you pay fees in advance for loan modifications under agreements that have not been approved by the Commissioner of the California Department of Real Estate. The laws in California are very strict as to when you may be charged fees for such services and under what circumstances.

If a person makes promises or representations to you without any intent to perform the services promised, and if you have been damaged as a result of your reliance on those promises or representations, you may have a valid claim against that person for fraud. Such promises may include a promise that they will be able to obtain a modification of your loan or to save you from foreclosure, and will likely require you to pay up-front fees that do little, if any, good.

Here are the five tips of advice we recommend to anyone in this situation being approached by people offering help.

1. Avoid any solicitations of help that come unexpectedly, by mail, e-mail and by telephone or to your door.

2. Avoid using any help agency whose name you find on roadside signs such as those which state “We Buy Homes For Cash” and those which promise to “Stop Foreclosure.”

3. Avoid paying up-front fees to foreclosure or loan modification experts.

4. Disregard anyone who tells you not to talk to your bank or tells you to avoid consulting with a lawyer.

5. Don’t sign anything without having it reviewed by a real estate lawyer.

Red flags to you that you are about to be scammed should include requests of you for any of the following: to pay money up-front before any service has been performed, payment by cash, cashier’s checks or bank wires only, transfers of title, actions to be taken immediately, power of attorney, signatures on grant deeds, signatures without any explanation or while under time constraints, signatures on incomplete documents, and mortgage payments to persons other than the mortgage company.

Other red flags include unqualified promises, offers that sound too good to be true, failures to provide you with copies of what you sign, oral promises that are in conflict with written provisions, refusals to put the oral promises in writing, oral statements that the provisions in writing don’t mean what they say or won’t be enforced, and warnings not to discuss the matter with an attorney, your lender or anyone else.

If you have a business or real estate legal matter in Palm Springs or Palm Desert, in Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula or Murrieta, Newport Beach or Huntington Beach, Anaheim or Santa Ana, El Cajon or Carlsbad, Palmdale or Victorville, Long Beach or Santa Monica, Ventura or Oxnard, or anywhere in Southern California, our Palm Springs, San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo law firm has the knowledge and resources to be your Business Lawyers and Real Estate Attorneys. If you’ve been the victim of a real estate, business, loan modification or foreclosure scam or fraud, be sure to hire a law firm with experience in loan modification, foreclosure and real estate fraud in California and who will endeavor to ensure that your rights are properly represented.

To learn more about such scams or the statutes which regulate loan modification and foreclosure consultants, or for legal representation, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com .

R. Sebastian Gibson

http://www.articlesbase.com/national,-state,-local-articles/california-real-estate-scams-seen-by-lawyers-loan-modification-rip-offs-found-by-attorneys-and-foreclosure-consultant-frauds-uncovered-by-ca-lawyers-684647.html

$110,000
3 bedrooms, 1 full bath
244 East Slover Avenue, Bloomington, CA 92316
For more details, visit us here:

http://www.prudentialcaliforniarealty.com/Listings/95/I09116308/a.aspx

For more information contact us:
erealtyhomes@prudentialcaliforniarealty.com
877-553-5557

MLS Number: I09116308

Take a look at this pleasant home at 244 East Slover Avenue in Bloomington. Here’s a terrific single-story home. The casual comfort of rooms like this is another reason to make yourself feel right at home here. Meal preparation will be made easier in the efficient kitchen. You’ll find 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath in this home. The large lot makes it easy to entertain. Contact your REALTOR® today to arrange for a personal showing.

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Technorati Tags: 92316, Bloomington, CA, California, estate, for, homes, properties, Prudential, real, sale, SAUL, SILVA

$160,000
6 bedrooms, 2 full baths
11979 Pepper Street, Bloomington, CA 92316
For more details, visit us here:

http://www.prudentialcaliforniarealty.com/Listings/95/I10001246/a.aspx

For more information contact us:
erealtyhomes@prudentialcaliforniarealty.com
877-553-5557

MLS Number: I10001246

Take a look at this ranch style home at 11979 Pepper Street in Bloomington. This desirable home features central air conditioning. It offers 1,668 square feet of living space. Preparing meals will be a pleasure in the spacious open kitchen. The neutral tone of the rooms will easily accommodate your decorating ideas. You’ll find 6 bedrooms and 2 full baths in this home which is in a convenient location. Contact your REALTOR® today to arrange for a personal showing.

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Spot Firehouse reporting for WFHB: Spot got a hot tip that Barack Obama was in downtown Bloomington, so I sent Music Director Jim Manion dashing down the street with his new Sony H-9. Look what he brought back! The audio from this video got on our newscast 20 minutes after Barack Obama walked into Nick’s. Don’t miss the part where a guy at Cafe Pizzaria offers him a slice! Classic Kirkwood action….

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For some months Italian real estate market has been going through a crisis, not dramatic like US real estate crisis, but that it’s slowing down businesses and marking down real estate’s prices.

The number of families that decided to buy a house has fallen by approximately 0,5%, and families that bought one, considered the price as a the most important factor for their choice. Just as secondary factors they considered all other factors, such as location, comfort level, proximity to workplace, public transportation network or presence of many businesses in the neighborhood or if they have children, the presence of day nurseries or of other useful facilities. This happens because families need to spend less money and so they have to satisfy themselves with cheap houses even if not very comfortable.

Since last years the number of families not satisfied or not very satisfied of their houses is increasing from 10% in 2006 to 30% in 2008.

Regarding the supply of real estate properties, in the two year period of 2007-2008, just 1,6% of interviewee families sold out their house, 1,3% less than in 2006. Most families sold their house just to buy another house.

People sold a secondary house because they need money or in order to invest money in other real estate properties. Just 5% of interviewee families has decided to buy a house, but confronting this number with previous national surveys, also purchasing intentions are going down. There are two main reasons for this fall – aside from the price level reached in these last two years – these are the well-known economic difficulties of Italian families and the increasing of interest rates.

Estate prices are too high so Italian families don’t buy new houses. These are strong signals of crisis, confirmed by the severe decrease of business transactions that since 2006 are falling by 4,6% in the residential sector, the one that affects Italian families closely.

Real estate market of course highlighted a slowdown that in 2009 will go on, sector analysts foresee that estate prices will still decrease, also as a result of actual loan market, since banks and lending institutions are less and less disposed to make loan both at fixed or variable rate. Rates are lower, but loan are granted much less easily. Even immigrants are buying less, right as Italian temporary employees, they are also affected by the strict loan policy.

In the last months prices have been decreasing of about 20% and probably will decrease again of about 6%, just real first-class properties will limit the race to lower prices but they are really few.

Besides these numbers, other events will occur in the Italian real estate market, such as discount prices on big estates, the building of too many new houses in the small towns, increasing number of houses for rent.

Anyhow the fall of prices should help the recovery of real estate market. The demand, even if a bit decreasing, is still quite steady. Today, in a not very positive economic situation, real estate is still considered a very good investment by comparison with other economic sectors. You never have to forget that fluctuations always occur in the real estate market, low prices will encourage more families to buy a house, and this way businesses will slowly but certainly increase again, and sooner or later real estate market will recover and pass through this crisis.

By Michele De Capitani with support from software immobiliari for any information, please visit software franchising or visit applicazioni gestionali.

Martinapp

http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/the-situation-of-real-estate-market-732242.html

5140 West 96th Street
Bloomington, MN 55437
5.0 bed(s)
3.0 bath(s)

Dawnn Eldredge Green
Phone: 612-990-7638
Email: dawnngreen@edinarealty.com

[ http://tours5.vht.com/ERM/T50017937 ]

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5.0 bed(s)
2.0 bath(s)

Pam Friesen Kretschmar
Phone: 612-267-5555
Email: pamfriesenkretschmar@edinarealty.com

[ http://tours5.vht.com/ERM/T50016498 ]

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Technorati Tags: Bloomington, estate, homes, MN, real, Realty, sale

There are many Americans that are making money in real estate. I’m not talking get-rich schemes here. I’m talking about making wise investment decisions when it comes to real estate.

These are the people that aren’t simply flipping a home for the fun of it. They really know their stuff. They aren’t as affected by rising interest rates, because they are ready for them. They have made their choices carefully in order to minimize risk. They aren’t jumping out of the real estate game due to a slowing market. They understand how the market works in their area.

Before beginning investing in real estate, understand that there are a few things that should be learned about such a process. For one, always line up your own home purchase first. Having your own home –and a mortgage for it — is a great way to learn about real estate markets and even investments. They can teach you about location and also how markets can move up or down in a relative short amount of time.

1. Get an education.

You can’t just jump into an investment. You need to understand the details and risks. You have to be able to mitigate the risk. Look to the internet, the library, credible investment groups and even college courses as a source of information. Your local real estate investors, realtors and lenders may be valuable information sources for you. Shop around for your information. You will need it.

2. Get some help.

Truly successful people understand that you have to be willing to accept the help of others. You can’t be great at everything. You might need to look for a mentor, investment partner or network to help you start on the road to investing in real estate. You want to find someone you can trust who is currently experiencing a successful real estate investment.

3. Watch the markets.

There are many factors that impact the real estate market. For example, the job market can impact the ability for consumers to buy homes. But the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to know your own market. Some markets boom while others are busting. Some see price appreciations one year and depreciations the next year. Some aren’t getting big jumps in housing values, but have a steady track record. Consider the area closely when deciding to invest. Watch it closely for any changes. Know when you need to get out.

Investing in real estate isn’t an easy task. It takes a lot of education and savvy. You need to be able to think and juggle. You have to be able to make quick decisions and solid choices. Listen to those who are successful and learn from your own experiences. And remember, any good investment isn’t a quick one. It’s usually best to look to the long term.

4.0 bed(s)
3.0 bath(s)

Nathan Plasch
Phone: 612-703-2610
Email: NatePlasch@edinarealty.com

http://tours4.vht.com/ERM/T1141166

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Technorati Tags: 169, 3453533, 55437, Bloomington, Edina, estate, for, homes, MN, Nathan, Plasch, plymouth, real, Realty, sale, Studios, VHT

3.0 bed(s)
4.0 bath(s)

Gary Oslund
Phone: (952) 927-1100
Email:

[ http://tours5.vht.com/ERM/T1174875 ]

Duration : 0:0:48

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Technorati Tags: 3591695, 55438, Bloomington, c20080828, Edina, estate, for, Gary, homes, MN, Oslund, real, Realty, sale, Studios, VHT