What are some common equity theft and title conversion scams that I should avoid?
Home improvement fraud is perhaps the most common scam. Be extremely careful if you are solicited for a new roof or other home repairs by phone or by a door-to-door salesman. Many of these contractors are crooks who will grossly overcharge you for their services and steer you to a high-cost mortgage lender to finance the repairs. The contractor pockets the loan proceeds and performs shoddy, incomplete work or no work at all, and you’re left paying off the mortgage loan for years to come. Debt consolidation is another popular scam to steal your equity. Either a mortgage broker or a mortgage lender will contact you and offer to pay off your debts with a single mortgage loan. Watch out, though, because this single loan is almost always more expensive over the long run than all your previous debts combined. Often the mortgage broker or lender pressures you to borrow more money than you really need to pay off existing debts because the more you borrow, the more they profit. You’ll most like
