July 6th, 2010 by Reed Allmand 
Many homeowners losing their homes today are the victims of ugly foreclosure scams that involve the homeowner signing over their home to a con and then “buying” it back with an astronomical mortgage attached. Francis Blackman, a 55 year old victim of foreclosure lost her home because of one of these scams.
Blackman said she was duped by a woman who came to her door in 2006 claiming to be a foreclosure specialist after she and her stepmother missed payments on the $180,000 mortgage.
“She said that I would have to sign over the deed to her,” Blackman said of the woman, who city property records identify as Orit Tuil. “I was ignorant to what goes on after that.”
The $180,000 mortgage was paid back, then Tuil took out two mortgages totaling $405,000, according to property records.
Basically this foreclosure scam involves transferring ownership of the property to the con, stripping out all of the equity and then “selling” it back to the rightful homeowner along with all of the new debt. This type of foreclosure scam is particularly harmful to homeowners because not only do they eventually lose their home to foreclosure, they are burdened with a debt load that is well beyond anything they could have imagined. If you are facing a foreclosure below are few tips that might help you avoid becoming the victim of a foreclosure scam:
- Be wary of anyone claiming to be a foreclosure specialist. Many scam artists will try to use official sounding titles to gain your trust, don’t fall for the ruse.
- Don’t ever transfer your deed to anyone under the guise that it will help you avoid foreclosure. Once you transfer your deed to someone else’s name you are handing over your very valuable asset and giving power to others to do with it what they like.
- Make sure you discuss you foreclosure with a bankruptcy attorney to find out if bankruptcy can be helpful for your situation. Oftentimes, bankruptcy can help a homeowner avoid foreclosure and save their home.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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