Foreclosure CRISIS in America - Are You a Victim?

Even some fixed rate mortgage homeowners are feeling the pressure, particularly if they have high consumer debt or a job loss. With the current real estate market losing value and mortgages becoming more difficult to get, homeowners trying to sell are finding that it's a buyer's market, not a seller's market. Getting top dollar isn't the issue - avoiding foreclosure is.

The situation isn't all bleak if you're willing to find the right option. Another positive force in the market is the investor who is looking to buy pre-foreclosure properties. Suddenly people with money to buy are coming to the rescue of people who desperately need to sell and both are benefiting from the deal. The trick is for homeowners to act fast to salvage something from their property before going into foreclosure.

Homeowners who are sinking under oppressive Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) or traditional fixed rate mortgages, have little time to salvage anything from their properties before foreclosure strikes.

As with any situation where people are vulnerable, there are predators looking to make money off of other peoples' misfortune. How do they do it? They're foreclosure specialists who are looking for a bargain property.

But all foreclosure specialists are not the same - some are professionals who want to make the deal work for both parties, but others are simply opportunists. The difficulty is in how to tell them apart.

Scam artists find the foreclosure market to be a dream come true. With so many frantic homeowners on the edge of financial ruin, the vultures are circling to offer what Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren describes as a "cement life jacket."

As much as a homeowner wants to avoid foreclosure, rushing to make a deal isn't the best way. Too often a scam artist will pressure the sale, insisting that it's now or never. Worst case, the homeowner is conned into signing over the property title into a "trust" in which the scam artist company can rent the property indefinitely and collect the rent while the homeowner remains on the hook for the mortgage payment.

When foreclosure finally happens, the homeowner loses everything and the scam artist makes off with rent payments without any further obligation. Don't fall for the road signs that promise to buy distressed properties at top dollar. If they can't afford to buy ads in legitimate publications, why trust them to deal professionally?

Facing foreclosure is a frightening experience. You are literally at risk for being homeless, with your belongings on the sidewalk. After the exhilaration of buying and decorating a home, there's the gut wrenching fear of the future.

In a matter of months, you've gone from enjoying your piece of the American dream to feeling that dream slip away without any way to hold on to it. These homeowners weren't irresponsible - they just got caught in a market where interest rates grabbed them by the ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) and twisted hard.

Those low payments started to rise, but the homeowner's income didn't rise to meet the change. Some people took second and third jobs until they were exhausted trying to save the home. Finally, they had to accept that foreclosure was just around the corner. Some wait until the ax falls while other homeowners start looking for options.

Getting more information before acting is critical. Scam artists are the types to pressure for cheap purchase and not give useful information. Legitimate foreclosure professionals want to get a good deal for the property but they also want to find ways to help, not take advantage of, the homeowner.

A foreclosure professional will explain every reasonable option from purchase to refinancing to auction and let the homeowner make an informed choice. Just knowing your options and being involved in the decision-making helps homeowners to complete the process with less stress than when being pushed into actions without adequate information.