The Southern California Home Buyer’s Fair presented by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® will be held Saturday, April 12, and Sunday April 13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. 

The Southern California Home Buyer’s Fair will feature more than two dozen educational seminars presented in English and Spanish, designed to address many of the concerns of first-time home buyers and arm them with all of the practical information they need to know as they begin the road to homeownership.

Entrance to the Southern California Home Buyer’s Fair is free.  The Home Buyer’s Fair will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

The educational seminars will offer consumers valuable information about the many aspects of the home-buying process. Seminars will cover a broad range of topics including how to qualify for a loan; understanding credit scores; how to find a loan that’s affordable; avoiding fraud; choosing and working with a REALTOR®, home insurance issues; the inspection process; and home design on a budget.

With foreclosures on the rise, foreclosure fraud is a very real threat.  HUD has conservatively projected an additional two million foreclosures during the 2008-2009 time periods.  If history is any indicator, California is going to suffer a disproportionate amount of those foreclosures.  According to RealtyTrack, Inc., California had 39,992 foreclosure filings in November of 2007 – the most in the nation.

REALTORS® can work to assist their communities and neighborhoods from suffering further harm by understanding awareness of fraudulent schemes that can victimize homeowners who are in financial trouble.

One such scheme is a Foreclosure Rescue Scheme where a scammer preys on homeowners who have equity in their homes but have fallen behind in their payments.

Homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments are approached by someone who offers to pay off their delinquent mortgage and allow them to stay in the home as a renter with the option to purchase the home back when their financial situation improves.  But what really happens is the scammer takes out any equity in the home and then disappears.

Typically this scam includes the following:

·        As part of the “rescue” the homeowner will be required to deed the property to a new borrower who is often “investing” in a rental property, but who is really part of the scam.

·        The proceeds of the sale pay off the delinquent loan, and the new borrower removes all the equity from the house, never to be seen again.

·        The homeowner is now merely a renter in a home they no longer own, unaware that the “investor” has failed to make payments on the new loan.

·        When the new borrower defaults on the loan, the homeowner is evicted and loses the house and all of the equity in it.

Homeowners must be encouraged to work with their lender to negotiate a workout.  There are a variety of options available to them to get information and assistance to avoid losing their home.  California has unveiled a website designed to inform and assist distressed homeowners.  It can be found at http://www.yourhome.ca.gov/mortgage-help.shtml.

To help Prevent Foreclosure Fraud, Be Aware of These Warning Signs

·        Being asked to sign a legal document with blanks or false statements.

·        Being approached by a stranger with an unsolicited “rescue” offer.

·        Being encouraged NOT to seek a second opinion, and being assured that the transaction is too complicated and it would not be understood anyway.

(Source: Giardinelli & Duke, Courtside Newsletter, January 2008)