November 29, 2007

Equity Loan Scams - Protecting Yourself From Thieves

Even though it appears somewhat painless to start up a new equity loan, there are choices that you must deal with to avoid equity scams. Indeed, plenty of the things that you'll study here are not talked about much. Before you enter into your loan contract, please investigate this…

I want to point out that most lenders on the equity loan marketplace are legitimate lenders; though, a few lenders are preying on those that are ignorant. These unscrupulous lenders offer attractive loans, yet fail to advise the borrower about hidden fees or balloon charges. Unnoticed charges are regularly stripped from loans, since the APR is a supposed protection to the borrower that weeds out concealed fees. Abusive lending practices range from equity stripping and loan flipping to hiding loan clauses and packing a loan with excess fees.

Equity Stripping is one of the leading scams on the loan marketplace. Lenders will attempt to seperate you of your hard earned money by stripping all of the equity from your house. They will actually strip you of your house after you default on the loan. The lenders participating in equity stripping will often present to borrowers (That is really a steal!) deals, leading you to believe that you are saving cash. Thus, once the borrower says yes to the agreement, the lender will present new charges, expensive interest, and other fees that puts pressure on the borrower, until he or she breaks and fails to make payments on the mortgage. The lender then repossesses the home, selling the house for cash while the borrower is without a home and no where to turn.

Therefore, the Federal government has provided facts to help borrowers avoid losing. Given that equity stripping is becoming an enormous industry, the Fed's advise homeowners to watch out for equity stripping, including taking note of lenders that are providing loans that reach beyond your earnings. A clue to the deceit is when a lender says it's o.k. to exaggerate your personal wealth. The lender may influence you to take out a loan with monthly payments that are too high for your pay check. The loan is accepted, because the lender reports your cash flow as higher than it really is.

The feds also instruct borrowers to remain alert to loan flipping, which is the method of switching loans regularly and requesting bigger amounts of cash on each refinance taking place. Loan flipping works this way: When a customer neglects payments on a loan, the lender offers to renew the loan and take care of any missing payments. Many lending firms are refinancing loans many times in a short period of time.

You will similarly want to lookout for PMI, which is personal mortgage insurance, which is a requirement; although, a handful of lenders try to charge for added coverage that is not needed. As a result, homeowners, especially the less fortunate, should read the details of any loan presented painstakingly.

If a lender is forcing you to sign a contract, you will need to locate another lender, given that pressuring borrowers is a definite sign that the lender is conning you.

In the end, the final voice for coping with house equity scams will be up to you. Use the info in this report to find the best course of action for dealing with your funds and find yourself sleeping a little better at night.

Permalink • Print