Technology has made day-to-day life easier for many people, but it has also made scams much more elaborate and difficult to detect.  It is understandable if you are concerned about foreclosure scams, but there are a number of things you can do to help make sure you are not taken advantage of when it comes to such scams.

Never sign anything without an attorney

As obvious as this first rule may be, there are some people who think nothing of signing legal papers without an bankruptcy-attorney.shtml">attorney present.  You need to be aware that this is not a safe practice.  To protect yourself, always involve a legal professional in these types of processes.

Relax - Take your time and find out about your options

Today’s fast paced lifestyle may leave you feeling like there is not time to waste, no matter what you are doing.  This is not the case when it comes to foreclosures.  Be sure to take your time and examine your options in a calm, not rushed, manner.  This will protect you in the long run.

Always make your mortgage payments to your lender - NO ONE ELSE

You can get into big trouble if you get behind on your mortgage payments.  You may not even realize you are getting into trouble if you think you are making payments, but in actuality the payments are going to someone other than your lender.  To keep yourself and your credit safe, ONLY make payments to your mortgage lender and not any one else – ever.

NEVER sign away ownership without an attorney

It bares repeating that you should NEVER sign anything, including a transfer of ownership, without an attorney present.  Some foreclosure scams work by getting you to sign over ownership with the “promise” that the new company will make the payments for you while you keep your home. Unfortunately what happens is they now have the power to SELL your home to whomever they want and kick you out! Yikes!

Don’t sign anything with blank lines or spaces

You should never sign any papers that have blank spaces or lines within the writing.  These blank spaces can be filled in with whatever the other individual wants at a later date.  Since you already signed the form, it can be very difficult to prove that the added in information was not there at the time of the signing.