The most common fraud you will find in real estate will involve; Rental, Mortgage and Foreclosure.
or Affordable Housing.
Rental fraud - is when a person is posing as the landlord and advertising a rental property as their own. They will prepare lease contract and request security deposits only to later find out you are scammed. (Make sure you use a licensed realtor). Mortgage fraud is when someone is misrepresenting information of income, assets on a mortgage application to secure a property. Foreclosure fraud is the homeowner is being targeted by individuals promising to help them save their home and negotiating with their lender. If you are facing foreclosure, understand your options. A local realtor/attorney with background in short sales/foreclosures will be able to assist.
Darren, fraud in real estate is very common. The main frauded is wiring funds to the title company for closing. Buyers should be aware of emails with instructions for wiring funds to closing. Always verify with your Realtor and the Title Company. We sometimes see someone representing they are the property owner when they are not.
Hi Darren,
Absolutely, like most other things there is fraud in real estate. Biggest one I am aware of is the email fraud. Never ever believe an email that your escrow company is changing the routing number to wire your funds without speaking directly to the escrow officer. Escrow will always confirm the bank account that you want it wired to right before escrow closes. Also, never sign the Title paperwork over to someone else. Ask a real estate attorney or a Realtor that you can trust before you sign any documents. People get tricked into signing over the documents and then their home is gone. Also, to do a loan modification noone is allowed to charge you. Do not pay anyone upfront to do a loan modification. This is illegal in California.
Hot tubs and spas are an increasingly popular home accessory, especially in luxury homes.
However, some people add hot tubs to their homes believing they are an investment that will boost the resale value. This is a debatable topic because an asset to some buyers is a deterrent to others.
Do hot tubs increase home value? This guide wi
Several risks come with not paying your credit card bills. You may accrue late fees and interest that further increase your debt, your credit card company may send your account to collections, and you may have a damaged credit score – making it harder to secure loans in the future.
One option that creditors have is to put a lien on your hous