Fairfax County Consumer Affairs Branch Offers Tips to Avoid Home Loan Scams
As the housing market softens and fewer people are buying homes or refinancing their mortgages, exploitative lenders are using mass mailings to pick up unsuspecting customers, especially older adults, limited-English-proficient consumers and those with poor credit.
Homeowners in the Annandale area of Fairfax County recently received letters claiming that they were entitled to cash up to $46,000 under the Community Reinvestment Act, which is a federal government program. What many people discovered once they read the fine print was that the letter was really a solicitation for a home loan.
Home loan scam letters usually have several defining characteristics:
- The letter is mailed in an envelope that looks like it was sent from someone or another entity that is familiar to the homeowner, such as a government agency.
- The letter tells homeowners that they are entitled to cash because they meet the requirements of a federal government program and may provide a link to a government Web site.
- The letter provides a number to call to claim the cash. It may indicate that the program is available for a limited time and will expire soon.
There is usually an asterisk at the bottom of the page that indicates the terms and conditions are on the other side.
- On the back page, there will be a section with a lengthy list of terms and conditions in fine print. This is where the lender discloses that they are soliciting homeowners for a loan.
To read the rest of this article please visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov.
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