With the current real estate market in decline, many homeowners are facing foreclosures. For many they (homeowners) look into refinancing their homes at lower interest rates and payments.

Unfortunately, there has been a rise in financial predators focusing on the desperate homeowners. Known as equity stripping, these scammers place ads offering help to distressed homeowners. When contacted, these predators promise cash upfront, free monthly rent and the chance to remain in their homes in the long run. What usually happens is that the deed to the home is taken over by someone else who then borrows as much money as possible against the house, pockets the cash and homeowners usually end up losing thier house anyways.

According to an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center in Washington, current conditions of the real estate market are perfect for these scams. "We are at the end of a period of rising real estate prices, so a lot of people have equity in their homes. But we also have a foreclosure crisis." states the attorney.

Read the full article at: The New York Times