Beware of foreclosure scams in Florida!

On Behalf of | Apr 8, 2018 | Foreclosure |

When a financial crisis hits, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and nervous about what lies ahead. If a Florida homeowner fears that foreclosure is a real possibility, he or she may be anxious to explore options that may be available to secure immediate debt relief and keep lenders from obtaining ownership due to a loan default. When the foreclosure process begins, the first step taken by a bank is to send a notice of default through the postal mail.  

However, there are scam artists out there who send similar letters designed to look like official pre-foreclosure mail. In a county in another state, scammers were sending such letters, warning homeowners that they had certain amounts of time to make good on unpaid property taxes. The letters stated that homeowners had 30 days to pay their debts to the county treasurer’s office.  

A major red flag that suggests fraud is that no physical address for the treasurer’s office was included in the mailings. The sheriff’s office said it is very likely that those committing the scam will contact those who receive letters at a later day by telephone. They have ways of making the actual treasurer’s office phone number appear in caller IDs so homeowners think the calls are legitimate.  

The next step of the scam is to demand payment for the property taxes, followed by the con artists providing a mailing address that homeowners are instructed to use to send their payments. South Dakota authorities, where this scam recently took place, informed the public to disregard any telephone call or postal mail of this nature and to report such incidents to the police. Any Florida resident concerned about the legal ramifications related to foreclosure or worried about possible fraud attempts may reach out for support from an experienced debt relief attorney.  

Source: kotatv.com, “Scammers sending pre-foreclosure letters“, Madison Elliott, March 26, 2018

Archives

FindLaw Network