Opinion
Elders: Beware of Mortgage Scams
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
T ED B ANKS
Advertising Manager
J ERRY F OSTER
Account Executive
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
T
he economy has had a detri-
mental effect on homeown-
ership. Unemployment and
underemployment have made it
tough for many homeowners to
maintain current mortgage pay-
ments. In attempts to get assis-
tance and avoid foreclosure,
vulnerable homeowners become
prime targets for scam artists who
are taking advantage of people
through a wide array of
mortgage scams. For home-
owners in need of assis-
tance, now is the time to be
more vigilant than ever.
Through December 31,
2011, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) had
more than 2,500 pending
investigations into mort-
gage fraud around the coun-
try. Although the scope of losses
for homeowners, legitimate busi-
nesses and to the economy caused
by mortgage fraud are difficult to
calculate, CoreLogic, a research
and analytics company, has esti-
mated that losses due to mortgage
fraud in 2011 were $7.4 billion.
Marie Day
front fee. Others claim they are
affiliated with government agen-
cies and the new loan modification
programs. Some fraudsters say
they can conduct forensic loan
audits to determine whether loans
er names, addresses, lender names
and original mortgage loan
amounts are available to anyone
through public real estate records,
con artists use this information to
create direct mail pieces that con-
fuse potential victims into thinking
that they are dealing with their
lender.
Protect Yourself and Get
Assistance
In order to protect yourself
from scammers, always be on
the look-out for key warning
signs. Fraudsters might:
Request payment or charge
fees in advance.
Guarantee results.
Direct homeowners to
stop making mortgage
payments and instead make a
payment to a third-party
organization.
Tell homeowners that they
cannot deal with their lender
directly.
Request that a homeowner
sign over the deed or other
papers.
Ask for personal information
over the phone or email.
Pressure the customer to per-
form a specific action.
Homeowners looking for
help to avoid foreclosure
are primary targets
Scams from All Sides
The Skanner Newspaper, established
M ORTGAGE S ERVICING
There are many variations of
mortgage scams, but the goal is the
same: take money and even prop-
erty from unaware homeowners.
Some scammers guarantee that
they can negotiate a loan modifi-
cation with your lender for an up-
were made in accordance with fed-
eral and state mortgage lending
laws. Other schemers convince
homeowners to surrender the title
or deed of their homes in exchange
for a new “rescue” loan, or as part
of a deal that would let the home-
owners rent the home for a few
years and then have the ability to
repurchase the home in the future.
Still others may claim that they
could help expedite short sales.
Some swindlers have even used
direct mail with prominent use of
the lender’s name to gain the trust
of customers and trick them into
believing an offer for assistance is
from their lender. Since homeown-
by the U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development
(HUD). HUD-approved coun-
selors can provide assistance free
of charge, or for a nominal fee. A
list of counseling agencies near
you can be found at www.hud.gov.
If you have doubts whether direct
mail that claims to be from your
lender is legitimate, call your
lender directly and confirm it. And
finally, if you think you have been
scammed, you should file a com-
plaint with the Federal Trade
Commission
online
at
www.ftc.gov/complaint or call
them at 877-FTC-HELP. Scam-
mers are working hard to take
advantage of people in distress.
Never agree to pay
a fee to any
company for
‘foreclosure help’
If you are having financial diffi-
culties in paying your mortgage,
you should contact your lender
and a housing counselor approved
It’s imperative that you get
informed and take precautions to
not become their next victim.
Marie Day is the Residential
Mortgage Default Servicing and
Community Outreach Executive at
Wells Fargo
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
415 N. Killingsworth St.,
Urban League to Nike: Just Don’t Do It
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“T
he economy continues
to fall apart, unem-
ployment rates are
through the roof and Nike knows
that the kids are strung out. So
they just keep mass marketing
high-priced cool to those who
can’t afford it.”
- Stephen A. Crockett, Jr., Wash-
ington Post
In recent weeks, on behalf of the
National Urban League, I have
been urging Nike to reconsider its
plans to market a new basketball
shoe targeted to urban youth that
will be priced in the neighborhood
of $300. We understand that ado-
lescence is a time dominated by
peer pressure, the emulation of
celebrities and the need to fit.
This often leads to equating self-
esteem with material status sym-
bols,
including
high-priced
sneakers. Aside from the mis-
placed values this represents, it
can have devastating conse-
quences for low income urban
families. All of us – from parents
and children to corporations –have
a responsibility to recognize this
problem and do something about
it. On Aug. 24, I sent a letter to
Nike company officials outlining
our opposition to the upcoming
release of their latest overpriced
basketball shoe. Our objections
include the economic exploitation
of low-income youth and their
families, the promotion of misdi-
rected priorities to our children,
and the potential and sometimes
real violence associated with this
type of marketing campaign. Fol-
lowing is a copy of that letter.
Page 4 The Seattle Skanner September 26, 2012
T O B E
E QUAL
Marc Morial
August 24, 2012
Mark Parker
President & Chief Executive
Officer
Philip H. Knight
Chairman of the Board of Direc-
tors
Nike, lnc.
One Bowerman Drive
Beaverton, OR 97005-6453
Mr. Parker and Mr. Knight:
In light of the recent news that
Nike plans to release a $315 bas-
ketball shoe, I ask that you pause
to reflect on the implications of
launches repeatedly results in
eruptions of violence. Obsession
with the Nike brand in poverty-
stricken communities, according
to published reports has led to
muggings, beatings, and worse.
With unemployment
and its attendant hope-
lessness and desperation
at historic highs in the
very communities target-
ed by Nike’s aggressive
marketing, now is the
time to step back and
consider the true impact
of this kind of cam-
paign. To release such
an outrageously over-
priced product, designed
to appeal to a young, urban demo-
graphic, while the nation is strug-
gling to over come an
unemployment crisis is insensitive
at best.
Nike may well assure itself that
it is not responsible for the priori-
ties and values of its customers,
‘Nike ... can choose to
address the negative
consequences of its
own marketing’
‘It’s no secret that the frenzy
surrounding Nike product launches
repeatedly results in eruptions of
violence’
your decision during this fragile
economic recovery.
It’s no accident that Nike is a
coveted brand among the nation’s
urban youth. It’s no secret that the
frenzy surrounding Nike product
That message is undermined by
Nike’s appeal to shallow material-
ism.
As you are aware, in our public
statement earlier this week, we
called upon parents to resist the
but it can choose to address the
negative consequences of its own
marketing. In recent years, Nike’s
award-winning advertising has
promoted a message of personal
achievement and self-esteem.
pressure to purchase expensive
sneakers when those dollars
would best be spent on school
supplies, books or computers.
They ultimately are responsible
for the choices they make for their
children, and for the values they
instill in them. But good corpo-
rate citizens and responsible
community members should
help, not hinder parents in their
efforts.
Please reconsider your plans
for the LeBron X Nike Plus, and
join the National Urban League
in our efforts to empower young
people to value their own talents
– athletic and otherwise – above
empty status symbols, and work
together for broader access to the
economic mainstream.
Sincerely yours,
Marc H. Morial
President and Chief Executive
Officer