A caller promises to save your home from foreclosure — for an upfront fee
Scammers call homeowners facing foreclosure and promise to modify their mortgage or stop the process for an upfront fee. They tell you to stop paying your lender and stop communicating with them — accelerating the very outcome they claim to prevent.
Also known as: mortgage relief scam, foreclosure rescue scam, loan modification scam, foreclosure relief fraud
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Never pay any upfront fee for mortgage relief — it is illegal for any company to charge before delivering services
- 2 Keep paying your mortgage if you can — stopping payments at a scammer's advice damages your credit and accelerates foreclosure
- 3 Contact your lender or loan servicer directly using the number on your mortgage statement to ask about real hardship options
- 4 Get free help from a HUD-approved housing counselor at 1-800-569-4287 or find one at hud.gov/findacounselor — this service is always free
- 5 Never sign over your deed or grant power of attorney over your home to anyone you have not verified independently
- 6 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Red flags
- ⚠ You are asked to pay an upfront fee before any services are provided — this is illegal under federal law
- ⚠ The caller tells you to stop making mortgage payments so the lender 'will have to negotiate'
- ⚠ You are told to stop communicating with your lender and route all contact through the scammer
- ⚠ The company uses official-sounding names (Federal Mortgage Assistance Program, National Homeowner Relief Fund) but is not a HUD-approved counselor
- ⚠ You are asked to sign a document transferring your deed or giving power of attorney over your property