Foreclosure Rescue, Debt Reduction Complaints Bombard Florida AG's Office; Frantic Callers Jam State Scam Hotline

Buried in a recent Miami Herald article on a Florida loan modification firm currently being sued by the state attorney general is this blurb:

• In the past two weeks, the Florida attorney general's office fielded 108 complaints from possible victims of foreclosure rescue schemes.

Go here for information on filing a consumer complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office.

Source: Home 'saviors' can make a mortgage mess (Sometimes a firm that promises to help modify your delinquent loan can make matters far worse).

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In Panama City Beach, Florida,WJHG-TV Channel 7 reports:

• Calls from people who have been scammed by companies offering to help lower debt or save their home have more than doubled to one state hotline. Call center operators are having a hard time keeping up with the call volume.

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• Calls here used to average 300 a week, but have been rising steadily. Two days this week they hit 650. Many are about foreclosures, debt loads and worries about companies claiming they can help. Call Supervisor Jack Hagadorn says a new state law says the companies can no longer ask for money up front, but many still do.

• “We’re getting calls from consumers who are being charged, 1200, 1800, 2000 dollars for companies who are claiming they are going to modify the loan with a lender. But when they find out later on that the company has never contacted the lender, and they are now in foreclosure.”

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• The call volume at the hot line is so high, some callers are being asked to leave a message or go to a web site. If you have a complaint, the number to call is 1-866-966-7226. The web site is myfloridalegal.com.

For the story, see Attorney General’s Hotline Swamped with Scams.