Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
'Phantom' Online Lead Generators Using Sneaky Ways To Peddle Payday Loans
The Los Angeles Times reports:
The envelope looked official enough. "Confidential materials enclosed," it said on the outside. "Unauthorized use strictly prohibited."
Evelyn Potter, 81, could feel something the size of a credit card within. Opening the envelope, she found a plastic card with her name and a "reservation number" printed on it. The card invited her to "get up to $500 in your checking account by tomorrow."
Unsure what to make of the offer, the Valley Village resident handed an accompanying letter to her husband, Brent, who'd been a banker for about 30 years. "Did you know you can use this cash any way you like?" the letter said. "You can. It's your money."
Not really.
What we're actually talking about is a sneaky way of pitching payday loans that can come with annual percentage rates as high as 700%. We're also talking about a cunning ploy to get people to disclose sensitive information that can end up in the hands of marketers.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Brent Potter told me. "They're not even disclosing an interest rate. Someone who needed money could very easily get into a terrible situation."
In the Potters' case, the pitch was from a website called NeedRapidCash.com, which makes clear in its fine print that it doesn't actually give loans. What it does is "submit the information you provide to a lender."
Or to whomever is willing to pony up the most money for your Social Security number, bank account number and other personal info.
"They're auctioning off completed loan applications to the highest bidder," said Jean Ann Fox, director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America. "Some might be real lenders, some might not. It's very dangerous."
NeedRapidCash.com and similar sites serve as so-called lead generators for payday lenders, which pay about $100 for people's loan applications, regardless of whether they end up making the loan.
Fox said online payday lenders are proliferating as their storefront counterparts shrink in number amid more aggressive regulation by state and federal regulators. Frequently, it's unclear what state online payday lenders are operating in — or even whether they're in the country.
The NeedRapidCash.com website offers no clues about its whereabouts. Nor does it provide any way to contact the company other than an email address buried deep in its privacy policy. My email to the address went unanswered.
The site's Internet Protocol address, which marks its real estate in cyberspace, leads to a data center in Las Vegas, where employees told me they'd never heard of NeedRapidCash.com. They figured the site must be based on one of the various Internet services using the data center's equipment.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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