.... Serving Stephenson & Jo Daviess Counties

Suite 100

121 N Harlem St

Freeport, Illinois

61032-3803

1.800.424.6696

815.235.9777

Funding for Case Management, Information and Assistance, Jo Davies Transportation, Caregiver Services and Health Management is provided under the Older Americans Act through the Northwestern Illinois Area Agency on Aging

n	Living in Illinois

n	35-64 years old (younger women may be eligible in some cases)

n	Without insurance or have insurance that doesn’t cover your breast exams, pap smears or mammograms (ages 40-64).

Avoiding “Mortgage Rescue” Fraud

If you are a homeowner at risk of losing your home due to foreclosure, you may be a target for unscrupulous businesses seeking to profit from your misfortune. As a general rule, beware of anyone who calls you or shows up at your door promising to save your home. Real help doesn’t find you; you have to go looking for it.

Question: Have fallen behind financially and find myself unable to make my monthly mortgage payment. Recently, a guy calling himself a “mortgage rescue consultant” contacted me and offered to help me negotiate a deal with my bank and repair my credit. Is this an offer I should consider?

Answer: No. Doing business with a mortgage rescue consultant could cost you a lot more than money. It could cost you your home. Typically, mortgage rescue consultants promise to “buy time” for struggling homeowners and possibly save the home from foreclosure by negotiating a deal with the mortgage lender, all for a hefty fee. They may also offer to help repair a homeowner’s credit and refinance the existing mortgage.

Whatever the consultant is selling, don’t buy it. All too often, mortgage rescue consultants leave struggling homeowners worse off than they were when they found them. In some cases, consultants take the homeowner’s money and run, without doing anything they promised to do. In others, they simply do the bare minimum, perhaps placing a phone call to the homeowner’s bank or mailing the homeowner a list of refinancing sources downloaded from the Internet. In both kinds of cases, the mortgage rescue consultants essentially abandon the homeowner to a foreclosure that might have been prevented if the consultants hadn’t wasted their time and money.  

You do have options. First of all, stay in touch with your lender. Mortgage companies are under increasing pressure to put programs in place to help families stay in their homes. But you won’t know whether you qualify for such a program if you break off contact with your lender. Unfortunately, many struggling homeowners stop talking to their mortgage company once they fall significantly behind in their payments. A recent study conducted by my office found that up to 80 percent of families facing foreclosure are not working on a plan with their lenders to save their homes. For families who do receive help from their lenders, however, the study found that about half are able to keep their homes.

Because talking to your lender on your own can be intimidating, you should consider seeking assistance from a HUD-approved housing counselor in your community. A number of agencies in Illinois provide free counseling services to homeowners who are having trouble making ends meet. These agencies can help you explore your options, which may range from working with your lender to modify the terms of your loan to selling your home so that you can avoid the costs of foreclosure.

To find a HUD-approved housing counselor near you, please consult the Illinois Mortgage Lending Guide, a comprehensive resource manual for homeowners compiled by my office and available at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov or by calling my Homeowner’s Referral Helpline at 1-866-544-7151 (Voice/TTY). You should also call the Helpline if you believe you have been victimized by a mortgage rescue consultant or an abusive mortgage lender.