Today a person I was talking with told me that he was letting his mortgage go into default on purpose so he can take advantage of the bail out that is coming for those in trouble with their mortgage loans. He said he was still saving his mortgage payments with a family member so in case he had to, he could pay his payments before he lost his home.
He did say he has a very high house payment, that is what he committed to when he thought his equity was going to go up even higher. His plan of course was to refinance his home with higher equity and also easy qualifying requirements to get a lower interest rate and a lower payment.
He finally told me that a family member had told him about this person that would advise him through the process and his charge would be only $4,000.00. I tried to explain to him that they hadn’t even finished designing the bail out plan. We don’t even know who will qualify, or what the criteria for getting help will be. He didn’t care, he simply was convinced that he will get a smaller loan and a cheaper house payment.
I spent today questioning myself, did I miss something? Had I totally been somewhere else, like a different planet and didn’t get the email or a flyer in the snail mail offering this fabulous deal? However, I am concerned how many real estate agents might be counseling their clients to do just this sort of thing. Maybe some are the ones who have moved into a different line of business called “loan restructuring specialist” or something.
Boy! I need to start doing this to, just on a part time basis maybe. Not! I don’t want to go to jail, its fraud plain and simple. You would think when someone in a suit tells you to risk your home, not to mention your credit, and puts the proverbial carrot called greed in your face. Then tells you to fork over $4,000.00 and he will make it happen? Well this person had to come up with $2,000.00 now and the remainder upon completion. On top of this he didn’t get any guarantees, how could he? He doesn’t know what the final loan or interest rate will be, nothing.
Unfortunately we all new this sort of thing would happen one way or another. The con artists always show up when there is a way to con people. I am just surprised that the same greed that got a lot of people in California into this problem, is the same motivation that is causing them even more harm.
Well as we all wait to see the full effect of this financial nightmare as it unfolds, I believe we need to stay calm and take care of what we can and hold on to see what this bail out really means. I don’t believe anyone will benefit from it or be able to capitalize on it to their advantage. I hope it will save those people out there who really want to keep their homes so that their families will have a place to live. I think also that we need to ask God for help and direction and wisdom to do the right thing.
Bill Collier
