HAVE YOU OR HAS SOMEONE YOU KNOW BEEN THE VICTIM OF A FORECLOSURE "RESCUE" SCHEME?
The Office of the United States Trustee would like to know if you or someone you know has been the victim of a homeowner or foreclosure "rescue" scheme. Such schemes take many forms but promise desperate homeowners the ability to avoid foreclosure by various means. Such schemes often involve:
A transfer or "sale" of the home, or a fractional interest in the home, to "investors" or others who may not even know they have received an interest in the home.
The "rescuer" promises the homeowner that the homeowner will not lose the home.
The structure may be a sale with a leaseback where the homeowner is assured of lower monthly payments.
The rescuer might secretly refinance the home to draw out and keep all cash equity.
The homeowner makes "rent" payments to the rescuer, but the rescuer keeps the payments instead of making payments to keep the home.
High fees are charged to the homeowners. The fees NEVER go toward the mortgage.
Often the homeowner is placed into bankruptcy to delay the original foreclosure or the foreclosure on the refinanced mortgage. The homeowner may not know that they have been placed into bankruptcy.
Sadly, too many homeowners only learn they have been victims of a "rescue" scheme when they are facing eviction.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of a foreclosure "rescue" scheme, please contact the Office of the United States Trustee at 405 S. Main Street, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 (801) 524-5734 or through the Bankruptcy Fraud Hotline at USTP.Bankruptcy.Fraud@usdoj.gov.