Mortgage crisis leads to an increase in scams

by John Paul (jpaul@wsbt.com)

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Scam artists are taking advantage of the growing mortgage crisis as more Americans struggle to avoid foreclosure. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Sep 8, 2008 at 4:12 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 9, 2008 at 11:10 PM EST

OSCEOLA — As Becky Hibbs points to pictures of her four children in her home office, her dog Jack barks in the background. It's a full house in the Hibbs home.

"We love this home because it's different," Hibbs said. "It's not the same old, same old."

As she points to the large dining room table her mother left for her after her passing, she proudly says it's the only table that can accommodate the entire family.

But behind Hibbs' cheerfulness, she hides a lot of pain. Her son Christian battles leukemia. That has taken a financial toll on the family's income.

"You can't sleep at night," she said.

In addition to her son's medical bills, she's had difficulty keeping up with her utilities and her mortgage. After talking with a family friend, she was referred to a mortgage company, based in Florida.

"I told him that our son had cancer and we needed to get out of bankruptcy, " Hibbs said. "He told me he could do that."

After sending him copies of her Social Security number, driver's license and paycheck stubs, Hibbs said everything seems like it was looking up for once.

"He sent us a contract to sign by email, we filled it out and sent it back," Hibbs told WSBT News.

But days would pass before she would hear from the alleged broker named Phillip. Then weeks would pass. After two weeks, Hibbs grew concerned.

"I trusted too much," she said.

South Bend Det. Sgt. Dominic Zultanski said that was Hibbs' first mistake.

”Mistake number one was trusting too much too fast,” Zultanski said.

Becky said she wasn't worried until weeks passed since her last word with the alleged broker, and his phone is now disconnected.

“When it comes to perpetrating a scam or a fraud some tools used are a gun, or a fist, or a knife,” Zultanski said. “Mortgage is another avenue to commit a fraud.”

“This is the biggest investment of a lifetime for a consumer,” said Liberty Mortgage’s Geoff Helmen.

He said potential borrowers need to do their homework.

“Just make sure the company you are doing business with is reputable,” Helmen said.

While Becky has filed a police report, she's learning in this instance, not everyone is putting her best interests at heart.

“How are you going to tell your kids you don't have money to feed them or pay the utilities?” Hibbs said. “You don't want to do that."

Officers suggest checking with the Better Business Bureau to see if a company is in good standing, and if you've given out personal information like Social Security numbers, it's best to check your credit report annually and file a fraud claim on the report.

Helpful resources:
Identity Theft Recovery and Assistance
Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network
Better Business Bureau

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