The Workplace of Legal professional Basic of the District of Columbia on Tuesday issued a shopper alert warning metropolis residents about widespread scams concentrating on owners that would make the most of details about a mortgage or images of property.
Scammers seeking to steal cash and private info will provide lies to victims about their mortgage, taxes or residence guarantee and should use info that’s associated to a home-owner’s dwelling, such because the title of the mortgage servicer, account info, and even images.
If a home-owner receives a letter, cellphone name or a go to from an in-person “salesperson,” that particular person ought to pause earlier than giving up info. Scams can take the type of strain to signal over curiosity in your house, costly costs for companies earlier than they’re offered, and a push to enroll in pointless companies like a house guarantee.
Widespread homeownership scams embrace lease-back or a repurchase scheme; a refinance rip-off consists of a scammer posing as a mortgage dealer or lender and providing a sufferer refinance paperwork which are literally papers to get management of a home’s deed; a house guarantee rip-off is when a scammer sends a letter to a home-owner asking them to name a phone quantity to handle “time-sensitive” issues and push them for fee to unravel the scenario, however it’s a fraud.
Different widespread scams are phantom assist the place a scammer claims to be a housing counselor or lawyer who may help a home-owner keep away from foreclosures in trade for a big charge that seems to be fraudulent; a property tax lien wherein a scammer mails a letter threatening a home-owner with a tax invoice from a faux authorities company or might threaten IRS motion however is designed to get cash illegally; and cellphone and web rip-off the place the scammer pressures a home-owner to use for a mortgage over the cellphone or the net extracting private or banking info to, in actuality, steal an id.
The legal professional basic’s workplace advises residents to be cautious of somebody who makes an unsolicited provide to save lots of their residence; use designs, logos, or names that sound like a authorities company however are actually not; strain a home-owner to behave instantly divulging private info; recommends ending your contact with lender or counselor; tells a home-owner to ship funds to another person aside from their mortgage servicer; advises home-owner to cease making funds; instructs the home-owner to switch possession of the property to them; demand a big fee upfront of any companies; accepts fee solely by cashier’s examine, wire switch, cellular fee like Zelle, or asks for funds in reward playing cards; makes guarantees over the cellphone and in particular person however not in writing; and asks home-owner to signal a doc that has clean strains or areas.
The workplace advises residents to name their mortgage servicer, speak to a trusted good friend or member of the family, put up the rip-off on neighborhood listservs, analysis the folks and firm that made contact and don’t conduct enterprise if not licensed, and by no means signal any doc that they don’t perceive.
Cautious residents are inspired to contact an legal professional or name the free DC Bar Authorized Data Assist Line at 202-626-3499 for questions. Residents may also contact the free D.C. Workplace of the Legal professional Basic Hotline at 202-442-9828 or submit a shopper safety criticism.