Scammers Hit Homeowners Where It Hurts The Most
SAYREVILLE, N.J. (CBS 2) – Marie Miller works seven days a week determined to hold onto her home.
"No, no, I'm not going to lose it," Miller said.
Miller is among the millions of homeowners struggling to hold onto her home, CBS 2's Manuel Gallegus reports, and now a scam artist has hit her in the middle of her financial troubles.
When she fell behind on her mortgage, she asked the bank to lower her interest rate. When the lender took too long, she went to a mortgage rescue firm called New Day Financial Solutions.
"They assured me that they would be able to talk to my mortgage company and negotiate for me," Miller said.
But little did she know, after paying the persistent agent $2,500, she would become the victim of a mortgage scam.
After never hearing from New Day Financial Solutions, whose website is LordSaveMyHome.com, she finally contacted the attorney general's office where she found out she wasn't the only victim and investigators were already on the case.
"In many instances, the consumers never got the relief they wanted and lost the complete fee," N.J. Attorney General Paula Dow said.
Dow went after New Day for fraud and recently settled for $800,000. The company is now out of business, but with more than 4 million homeowners facing foreclosure, authorities said there are plenty of other scammers looking for easy targets.
"This type of conduct is simply outrageous. It's predatory; it's hitting people when they are most vulnerable," Dow said.
Miller, meanwhile, has bounced back. Her lender granted the loan modification. She can now afford her payments, but she's still stung from the embarrassment of getting ripped off.
"I don't know where their morals are. How do they sleep at night knowing that they can bring somebody down even lower?" said Miller, who expects to be reimbursed for at least part of the money she lost.
Experts said homeowners should be wary of businesses that claim to help avoid foreclosure or modify their loans.
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