Oregon AG Heads Up Mortgage Fraud Symposium

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More than 500 real estate professionals gathered at the Oregon Convention Center Wednesday to learn how unscrupulous lenders are scamming homeowners. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The symposium was organized by Oregon Attorney General, John Kroger. He says the state is suffering from a significant amount of mortgage fraud and foreclosure relief fraud.

John Kroger: "We've had incidents where people have been told. You'll qualify for a 1.9 percent interest rate. All you have to do is give us $3,000 up front and we'll negotiate for you. People are falling for those scams and they need to be very careful about them."

The state just released its top 10 list of consumer complaints and for the first time, home ownership lending complaints were included.

People who are refinancing are advised to check with the Oregon Department of Justice, which recently put its data base of consumer complaints on line.

Customers are also advised to check any documents they sign -- they may contain different figures than they were told orally.

http://www.doj.state.or.us/finfraud/mortgage_fraud.shtml

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March 11, 2010
9:46 a.m.
I applaud the efforts of the AG, but I wonder how many people know that there is a free easy to remember number to call for access to foreclosure assistance counseling? Any one in need can call 2-1-1. And in the meantime, here is a blog post one from one of our call center specialists about foreclosure: http://bit.ly/b0YW3C

— Posted by 211info

March 20, 2010
1:49 p.m.
The above comment has highlighted the opportunity for free advice. I would like to remind you that almost every debt releif attorney in salem offers a free consultation to anyone who wants to sit down for 30 minutes to an hour and find out what their options are. There are many good debt relief attorneys in Salem who have been helping people for years and they are able to tell you whether or not bankruptcy is the right option for you what it will do for you, what it can't do for you and what your other alternatives are. Many so-called real estate "experts" went to a few months of training and spend most of their time with "sales" and business building on their mind. Attorneys spend at least three years going to school full time with a focus on advising individuals and representing them and come out with a much more well rounded understanding of the legal landscape. In addition these attorneys are required to belong to the Oregon State Bar which is very aggressive in sanctioning its members for any form of dishonesty. An attorneys reputation is on the line with every client because they are part of a legal community that has a long historical memory and they can just slip away and pull their scam somewhere else if things go south. Some of the great bankruptcy attorneys available in Salem are Craig McMillin, Dave Jacobson of Mills Jacobson Halliday at 715 Commercial St. NE, Salem Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorneys, Camacho Law Offices, Rank and associates, Corey smith law office also on commercial street.

— Posted by mshurtle

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