Boca Raton Real Estate

Scam artists may promise to save cash strapped home owners from foreclosure but then, instead, steal their money or any remaining home equity.Such scams are becoming more prevalent, and some staes are fighting back.

In Florida, one of the nation's foreclosure capitals, State attorney General Bill McCollum has filed suit against National Foreclosure Management, a mediation company, for allegdly defrauding troubled home owners. Fraudulent rescue companies in Illinois have been increasingly penalized, while in Massachusetts the for-profit practice of foreclosure rescue transaction has been banned.

Here are the most common ploys scammers use to prey on desperate home owners:

Bait and switch.The home owner is presented with what appears to be an application for refinancing, but in reality it's title transfer papers. Once the home owner signs, he loses his home.

Upfront fees.Scammers ask for money to be used for locating rescue funding. Once the homenowner pays, the scam artist disappears.

Bankruptcy ploys.An attorney- or someone who pretends to be -persuades the home owner that filing for bankruptcy will save the house. The only one who wins is the person who pockets the fees he charges to file.

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1st Quarter 2008

Good News! According to the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) the number of homes sold is on the rise. In January 2008, in Palm Beach County, 393 homes sold. That number increased by over 71% in the month of April 2008 with 673 homes sold.In Saint Lucie and Martin Counties, 238 homes were sold in January 2008 and that increased 65% in the month of April 2008 with 395 homes sold.

Condo sales have been even better. There were 448 condos sold in the month of April 2008 in Palm Beach County and that was almost double the number of  condo sales in January 2008. The April 2008 condo sales in Saint Lucie and Martin Counties had an 87% increase over January's sales figures.

Palm Beach County had $210 million dollars in single family home sales in January 2008 but had $324 million dollars in sales in April 2008.Saint Lucie and Martin Counties had $118 million dollars in single family home sales in April 2008, up from $57 million in January 2008.

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