MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE - AVOID SCAMS

Once again, as a volunteer attorney at Nassau Supreme Court, for mandatory settlement conferences, I consulted with victims of mortgage modification scams. This is from an April 26, 2010 post from "preventloanscams.org:

"According to the New York Times the State Supreme Court in Manhattan issued a permanent injunction to stop Sal Pane, Jr. and his companies, Amerimod Inc. and the American Modification Agency, from continuing to scam homeowners looking for foreclosure assistance. Using well-known tactics of false promises and grandiose success rates, Pane scammed some 3,000 homeowners in the State of New York.

One of Pane's victims, Ms. Catus, a distressed homeowner learned of Amerimod during a local N.A.A.C.P chapter meeting. Facing a possible home foreclosure, Catus thought she "had found a godsend." Instead she found herself out $3,200 in upfront fees and no help with her loan. In fact, once the last installment of the arranged fee was automatically debited, the Amerimod representative never called Catus again.

The representative touted Amerimods work as having "a 95 percent success rate in saving people's home from foreclosure." Catus was unaware that only a small amount of its 3,000 clients actually received loan modifications. She was also unaware of the free housing counseling and loan modification services available to homeowners facing foreclosure.

Last week Pane was referred to the Manhattan criminal courts for investigation. Enforcement authorities are also moving on shutting down his operations in the state of Maryland. The Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network applauds the New York State Supreme Courts for its efforts and will continue to work with law enforcement partners to stop loan scammers from preying on distressed homeowners across the country."