Stories from Scammed Homeowners

Real Stories

Haydee Campos

Like most homeowners, Haydee Campos was happy to be a homeowner and making her payments on time. But in fall 2009, she fell behind on her mortgage payments after she lost her job. She received a flyer in the mail from a company offering loan modification services. She trusted the company with the “official-looking” logo to help her save her home, not realizing the company was not affiliated with the government at all.

Ms. Campos contacted the company and a representative came to her home. After hearing the promises from the representative, she agreed to pay a $1,250 upfront fee to get help with her loan modification application. She needed help and the upfront fee seemed reasonable for the services and guarantees the company representative shared with her. The company verbally guaranteed results and they told her about a money-back guarantee if she did not get a loan modification to save her home from foreclosure. Like so many others, Ms. Campos did not realize that paying an upfront fee and getting guarantees or promises were signs of a scam, and felt protected because she signed a contract.

After some time passed, Ms. Campos got suspicious when she didn’t receive the loan modification she had hoped for nor receive any communication from her lender. After collecting some initial information, the loan modification company also stopped returning her calls. She soon realized that nothing had been done on her behalf, despite their promises to the contrary and the money she paid. Ms. Campos asked the company for a refund but they refused to return the $1,250 upfront fee she paid. Saving her home from foreclosure seemed to be more distant and she didn’t know where to turn.

After thinking she had run out of options, Ms. Campos found a local HUD-approved counseling agency that could help her - for free after attending a foreclosure prevention event sponsored by local non-profits and lenders. Through the counseling agency, Ms. Campos has been able to get a trial modification through Making Home Affordable, the federal program. She has also been able to file a scam report against the loan modification company, and recently won a small claims court settlement against them with the help of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights under Law. But most importantly, she has been able to save her home.

"They make you a lot of promises but in the end you don't get anything," she said of loan-modification companies.

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