Arizona Foreclosure Scammers Settle

From News 5 in Phoenix, Arizona:

Four Phoenix-area residents who acted as “straw-buyers” in a foreclosure rescue scheme have agreed to pay $89,000 to settle a civil suit filed by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard’s office.

1. … Lin Liou, 47, of Chandler; XiaoFen Liu, 33, of Laveen; Liang Zhao, 44, of Chandler, and Qiao Zhu, 37, of Chandler, were “straw buyers” who obtained mortgage loans worth millions of dollars that were used to remove equity from the homes of people facing foreclosure.

Click here for News 5’s full article

Foreclosure Rescue Deal Reached in Senate

WASHINGTON — Senate leaders announced an agreement Wednesday on legislation to ease the slumping housing market and help millions of families threatened by foreclosure.

… the plan contains $4 billion in grants to local governments to buy and refurbish foreclosed homes, new authority for states to issue bonds to be used to refinance subprime mortgages and a $7,000 tax credit for people buying new homes or properties in foreclosure.

Click for the Chicago Sun-Time’s complete article

An Example of a Foreclosure Rescue Scam

From the reader blogs of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer comes the story of yet another foreclosure rescue scammer, Charles Head:

The F.B.I. has been searching for Charles Head, who operated out of Southern California and stole millions of dollars from homeowners, leaving them without their homes and sorting through a maze of paperwork. Mr. Head’s various companies advertised on the internet and through unsolicited faxes to mortgage brokers and the like. He and his companies victimized hundreds of people, including about 15 Washingtonians.

Click here for the Seattle P-I’s full article.

Examples of Many of the Most Popular Foreclosure Scams

From Channel 8 News in Austin, Texas comes this helpful article on the many different type of scams associated with foreclosure rescue:

Click here for Channel 8’s full article.