Helped a Lafayette Senior Citizen to Avoid Foreclosure Scam

Hey Folks!

Been a crazy week around Sagamore Home Mortgage right here in Indiana with some great things and some big challenges. I want to tell everyone about a situation I was involved in yesterday now I am going to spoil the ending and let you know that it does not have a happy ending. This is also not a story about self praise and it is not about casting blame for the mortgage mess we are in. It is a sad story about an elderly Hoosier and her mortgage.

We have some great in-house telemarketers that call folks all over Indiana and trying to find Indiana homeowners that need our help. So overhearing a call I insist that the tm transfer the call to me immediately. This is when I talk to Jane (not her real name). Jane is in big trouble with her home. In fact it is set for sheriff sale later this month. Now how did Jane get in such a mess?

Two years ago she signs an adjustable rate mortgage (again I am not casting blame, just getting the facts out). Money is always tight but was able to enjoy the home during her golden years. Then it happens. Between going into the hospital, her rate adjusting higher, and missing some payments Jane has a real mess happening. Now I do not have all of the details (not sure that Jane knows herself) this is what I piece together:

MISTAKE #1 – Getting behind in payments and not working with the lender
Jane fell behind and had a telephone conversation with the lender. The call did not go well and whatever happened during the call scared her so much that she has not talked to them since. Now this is a very important note to all of us that work with customer service we need to remember that part of our job is to have two ears and one mouth. Now Jane’s call has had a ripple effect that has a lousy ending.

MISTAKE #2 – Jane ignored all letters from the mortgage company. I read last week that more than half of the homes currently in foreclosure have never contacted the lender. They just left the house.

MISTAKE #3 – Desperate times call for desperate measures. When I talked with Jane she was in the middle of calling friends and family to borrow money to pay a “foreclosure specialist” over $900 to save her home. Jane is so desperate and afraid of the future that she would spend money she does not have vs. calling a lender that might be able to help.

So what happens to Jane now? She is facing a sheriff sale in a few weeks. She has no money and she is still recovering from a long hospital stay. She needed a dose of reality. I, in no certain terms, told her not to pay the money. I immediately did a conference call with 888-GET-HOPE with the intent of slowing things down. Since she has not make a payment in almost a year and she purchased the home using 100% financing two years ago she has no equity (in fact she is upside down).

When I talked to her today she did not give the money to the foreclosure specialist, had a conversation with the Get Hope folks and was going to call the mortgage folks today. She is coming to grips that she has little hope of saving her home and is coming up with a exit plan.

The moral of the story is this; while a foreclosure specialist can and will help in certain situation, these firms are popping up everywhere. I am sure that every professional in this business has been approached with a job offer during the last few weeks (I seem to get them every day). Most folks are approached when it is too late. While it is not good to get behind it is better to have communications with your mortgage company to work something out. If you don’t like whom you’re talking to hang up and get someone else. Don’t take no for an answer and feel free to contact folks like myself that can offer you choices. Now I’ll tell you right now that I have making options to refinance your Indiana mortgage I can help to show you how to get back on track.

Don’t end up like Jane. She is losing her home. I can say that I did my little part to keep her from throwing away $900. She will need it to help her move.

Indiana Real Estate Agents, Indiana Mortgage Brokers, Indiana Bankers, along with anyone else from Indiana we owe it to our clients, our community, and our state to help. While we did not put these folks in this situation, we can help them get out of it.

Best regards,
Tony Grego – Indiana Mortgage Company