Category Archives: Mortgage

Mortgage Scams Lead to Debt And Harassment

Posted on by

The Federal Trade Commission has stepped up its investigations and prosecutions of mortgage relief scam artists. Since the start of 2013, the FTC has obtained settlements from over 20 individuals and companies involved with scamming distressed homeowners. In the most recent cases, two individuals and seven companies settled FTC charges that they victimized more than a thousand people through “mass joinder lawsuits” and “forensic loan audits.” They violated the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule, which was set up to curb deceptive and unfair practices related to such services.

The FTC contends that Sameer Lakhany, Brian Pacios, Precision Law Center, Inc., Precision Law Center LLC, National Legal Network, Inc., and Assurity Law Group, Inc. targeted consumers with a mass joinder scam. They promised homeowners that they could stop their foreclosures or obtain some other mortgage relief if they joined together to sue the lenders. The defendants represented themselves as a law firm called Precision Law Center, charging between $6,000 and $10,000 in up-front fees. But every suit was dismissed soon after it was filed; the victims saw none of the promised relief.

One of the scam artists, Lakhany, was also involved in a “forensic loan audit” scam, along with The Credit Shop, LLC, Titanium Realty, Inc., and Fidelity Legal Services LLC. These defendants called themselves nonprofit organizations, with domain names like “FreeFedLoanMod.org,” “HouseholdRelief.org,” and “MyHomeSupport.org;” but really they sold people an auditing service, which supposedly found lender violations in mortgage documents. The defendants charged $800 to nearly $1,600 for this service, which never led to a single favorable loan modification for the victims.

The FTC settlements require the defendants to surrender many assets and pay $4.75 million in restitution. All except Assurity Law Group, Inc. are banned from mortgage relief and debt relief services; Assurity is required to surrender $100,000 in funds and has been ordered to cease any deceptive practices. In February, the FTC settled with another predatory group, composed of Ryan Zimmerman, Consumer Advocates Group Experts, LLC, Paramount Asset Management Corporation, and Advocates for Consumer Affairs Expert, LLC. These entities also used the forensic loan audit scam, and charged people almost $2,000 or more for the audits-they failed to make good on their false claims. Besides receiving a $3.5 million judgment against them, the defendants are banned from marketing relief services or products, and from making any misleading claims about any other type of product or service.

In January 2013, eight other defendants settled with the FTC, for selling fake relief services to distressed Spanish-speaking homeowners over the phone. The defendants-David F. Preiner, Daniel Hungria, Freedom Companies Marketing, Inc., Freedom Companies Lending, Inc., Freedom Companies, Inc., Grupo Marketing Dominicana, Freedom Information Services, Inc., and Haiti Management, Inc-collected over $2 million from people over three years. They simply didn’t provide the services they said they could. Part of this settlement, in which the defendants received a $2.39 million judgment, bans them from marketing relief products or services, and from making misleading claims about anything they advertise.

Mortgage Meaning. What Is A Mortgage

Posted on by

We hear the word all over. A couple of years ago, they were being signed like they were going out of fashion; a large mortgage was akin to a large salary at the end of month. But the times have changed and in Dave Ramsey’s words, the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice.

But, what does exactly mean? The word ‘mortgage’ comes from the Old French and Latin. In Latin, mori (turned into the mort- part in ‘mortgage’ in Old French) means ‘death’ and -gage means ‘pledge’. Thus the words: ‘death pledge’.

The word mortgage comes from the Old French and Latin. In Latin, mori (turned into the mort- part in mortgage in Old French) means death and -gage means pledge. Thus the words: death pledge.

I can see how, hundreds of years ago, taking on a 30 year mortgage was comparable to signing yourself into bondage for life. As Earl Wilson correctly put it, if you think nobody cares about you try missing a couple of mortgage payments. Thats the ultimate Litmus test for love.

Funny words aside, etymologically, mortgage means that the pledge dies either when the obligation is fulfilled or when payment fails and the property is repossessed.

Interestingly, the French use mutated back into hypothque, derived from the classic Greek and meaning to put something under something else.

In some countries, like France and Spain where they have a civil-law system, a mortgage is closely or even solely related to a loan against real estate or property whereas in common-law, it represents any device in which a debtor (mortgagor) conveys an interest in property to a creditor (mortgagee) as security for the payment of a money debt. The Anglo-American definition has a broader meaning than its civil-law cousin, the hypothec.

Your Mortgage Tagline…is It Workin For Ya Or Agin Ya

Posted on by

The most successful companies in the world choose words carefully when they create their advertising taglines. You can learn from their advertising strategy and experience. Treat your mortgage tagline as a critical part of your marketing campaign and choose your words very carefully.

In case you don’t know what a tagline is…it’s a short (usually one line) advertising blurb that aids in establishing credibility for you. Your mortgage tagline helps customers and prospects to feel that calling you and working with you is a “safe” choice. Your tagline can help drive business for you.

The really nice thing about taglines other than they work, is…they’re absolutely free! Once developed, they sort of tag-a-long and enhance all of your mortgage marketing material and summarize your advertising message in one short sentence.

How much more effective could your advertising be if you treated your tagline as a sales opportunity? With just a few additions and small adjustments, you could significantly improve the power of the tagline in your ads, and improve your return on your advertising investment.

Here are a few examples of some highly profitable taglines: Coke – “The Real Thing”, Pepsi – “The Choice of a New Generation,” Maxwell House Coffee – “Good to The Last Drop,” Budweiser – “The King of Beers,” All of these companies know that their tagline is a sales opportunity, and they use every word carefully to take full advantage of that opportunity.

One thing to keep in mind is that the key to creating your very own “mortgage brand” or “mortgage tagline” begins with creativity. You want people to think of you when they think of mortgages. Make sure your brand has an emotional ring to it. The right choice makes people want to do business with you and actually creates customer loyalty. The right brand tugs at their heart strings and says “buy me.”

If your business card says “Vice President” that’s great…except it really doesn’t describe exactly what you do, does it? Instead let’s use the title “Home Loan Consultant” or “Investment Specialist” instead.

Now, not only do you have a great title, but the title describes to folks exactly what you do and what you’ll be talking to them about. There’s no mistake here…you don’t work for an Automobile Dealership, or a Dry Cleaner, or whatever. You are involved in loans and mortgages.

If you’re having a problem getting started, just Google your competition and the consumer goods industry, then convert their marketing campaign and sales message into your very own mortgage business strategy. Work your chosen tagline into every single facet of your business plan and marketing program.

By simply improving the power of your tagline, you can improve the response to your marketing material, improve the return on your advertising investment, and improve your mortgage business. Go for it!

Where Can You Search For Madison Mortgage Company

Posted on by

Searching for the madison mortgage company online is the best option.

Is it your first time in buying a home? If yes then the first question that will come in your mind is which one would be the right Madison mortgage company. There are some things that you need to consider.

Purchasing a house can often be a difficult task and getting yourself ripped here might be very significant as it may have big impact on your future. You finances might get affected and you will even make wrong investments which will certainly not be favorable for you in the future. Hence, it is very important for you to make the right decision and select the most appropriate madison mortgage company to get loans. Mentioned below are some important criteria that can help you search for genuine providers.

The first thing that you should do is take help from the realtor. Ensure that you take suggestions from the realtor and certainly have a look at the recommendations provided by him/her in relation to the mortgage company. This will help you in getting the various loan options that are available and thus the concepts will be clarified. Since the realtors have been into this market since a long time then they will certainly be helpful to you as they know the best mortgage companies in the area.

At the time you are looking out for the Madison mortgage company that are in the market, another thing that you should do is look out for the ones that are based locally.

When you know about the many Madison mortgage company that are present, the next thing which you can do is you choose the one which is locally based. This is because only then you will be able to visit them and their office to see what they have to offer you with. With this you will also be able to see to it that the mortgage company you have seen is not at all unproductive. It is because then you will be able to know the different kinds of options which they will offer you.

The next and the less time consuming option which you can choose is looking out for it on the web. This is one good way to look out for the Madison mortgage company because here the information you would get will all be valid and true. In this way you can be assured that the company is good enough and can also give you right loans which you are looking out for. When you want to research on the web just one thing that needs to be remembered always is that you got to be a bit careful while choosing. It is with this that you may find right Madison mortgage company that can help you with good loans.

Lenders To Avoid – Business Loan And Commercial Mortgage

Posted on by

I have published many articles which are designed to assist commercial borrowers in avoiding commercial loan problems. One of the most serious commercial mortgage business loan situations is a commercial lender that causes problems for their commercial borrowers on a recurring basis. It is particularly this type of commercial lender which prudent commercial borrowers should be prepared to avoid unless viable alternative business financing options do not realistically exist.

As a direct result of my commercial loan experiences advising business owners for over 25 years and regular conversations with other business financing professionals, I do in fact believe that there are a number of commercial lenders that should be avoided. This conclusion is based on a recurring pattern of lending abuses by some business lenders.

This article will not name specific lenders to avoid, but specific examples will be provided to show why informed commercial borrowers should be ready to avoid a variety of business lenders in their search for viable commercial loan solutions. This business financing strategy article will illustrate the significant benefits of avoiding “problem lenders”.

Meaningless Pre-approvals for a Commercial Mortgage Business Loan

An early commercial mortgage pre-approval is often sought by commercial borrowers. The expected advantage to this initial commercial loan approval is that the business borrower can make other business arrangements which are based on the business financing being completed.

An ethical commercial lender will treat any form of business financing approval very seriously. Commercial borrowers should expect that a meaningful version of such an approval will not be realistically possible in just two or three days.

However, there are lenders who prepare a misleading and questionable version of a pre-approval shortly after receiving minimal application data. Because this approach often produces surprises for the borrower as the commercial mortgage process moves forward, borrowers should be wary of any lenders that do this.

Why do some commercial lenders provide such meaningless pre-approvals for a commercial mortgage? There are two likely reasons. (1) To motivate the commercial borrower to stop considering other potential commercial lenders. (2) To provide a business loan pre-approval that is similar to a structure prevalent with residential loans.

Because many commercial loan situations are facilitated by residential mortgage brokers who are typically unfamiliar with normal business financing requirements, this reason will be especially relevant with business lenders that primarily work with residential mortgage brokerage firms. Such a lender should be avoided for most commercial mortgage circumstances.

Commercial Mortgage Loan – Yes or No?

I have published an article which discusses the tendency of many banks to say “yes” when they mean “no”. Such banks will typically attach onerous business financing conditions to commercial loans instead of simply declining the loan. Business owners should explore other commercial mortgage alternatives before accepting commercial financing terms that put them at a competitive disadvantage.

Think Outside the Bank for a Commercial Mortgage

In some non-competitive business markets, it is unfortunately common for a lender to employ business loan terms that would typically not be seen in a more competitive commercial loan environment. Such business lenders can repeatedly take advantage of a non-competitive commercial lending imbalance.

An appropriate response by commercial borrowers is to seek out non-bank commercial loan options. It is neither necessary nor wise for commercial borrowers to depend only upon local traditional banks for commercial mortgage solutions. For most business loan situations, a non-local and non-bank commercial lender is likely to provide improved business financing terms because they are accustomed to competing aggressively with other commercial lenders.

Commercial Property Commercial Loan Appraisals

For commercial mortgage loans, commercial appraisals are an unavoidable part of the commercial loan underwriting process. The commercial appraisal process is lengthy and expensive, so avoiding commercial lenders which have displayed a pattern of problems and abuses in this area will benefit the commercial borrower by saving them both time and money.

Copyright 1995-2007 AEX Commercial Financing Group and Stephen Bush. All Rights Reserved.