Department of Real Estate Issues New Consumer Alert — Special Warning to Spanish-Speaking Homeowners and Tips on Avoiding Scams
The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has issued a Consumer
Alert to help Spanish-speaking consumers avoid falling victim to
foreclosure rescue scams. The DRE, whose mission is to protect and
safeguard the public interests in real estate matters, issued the alert
in response to the large number of cases that involve scammers who
specifically target non-English speaking homeowners in the Latino
community.
Based on the cases we prosecute, it is clear that Spanish-speaking
fraudsters are targeting homeowners by taking advantage of the culture
of trust within the Latino community, stated Wayne Bell, the DREs
Chief Counsel and author of the special warning. The typical scam
involves the promise of a loan modification or other mortgage or
foreclosure relief in exchange for an upfront fee, but once the fee is
paid little or nothing is done to help the homeowner.
The warning provides tips on how homeowners can avoid mortgage relief
scams, which include:
Victims of a scam should contact the California Department of Real
Estate by calling the department’s Spanish language call center at
213-576-6878, or its Mortgage Lending Activities unit at 916-227-0770.
For a copy of the alert and more information about DRE and its programs
visit www.dre.ca.gov.
