Feds and States Team Up for Crackdown on Rescue Scams

Federal and state authorities announced a new joint effort to stop scam artists who target troubled owners struggling to hold onto their homes. "If you prey on vulnerable homeowners," U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said at a press conference, "we will find you and we will punish you." As part of the initiative, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued an advisory to help financial institutions spot questionable loan modification schemes and report that information to the authorities. FinCEN, working with other law enforcement agencies and regulators, will identify possible suspects for civil and criminal investigations. "We will shut down fraudulent companies more quickly than before," said Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, vowing to target "companies that otherwise would have gone unnoticed under the radar." Calling perpetrators of fraudulent rescue schemes "bottom feeders," Federal Trade Commission chairman Jon Leibowitz said five new cases have been brought against companies who "kick people when they are down, sabotaging" their efforts to save their homes. Four of the cases name outfits which use "copy-cat names and logos" to try to trick homeowners into thinking they are working with legitimate government agencies, while the fifth calls itself the "Federal Loan Modification Center" even though it has no federal connection. The FTC also has sent warning letters to 71 additional possible scam artists who promise to stop foreclosures, save people's houses and claim a 97% success rate of doing so. Such companies "will promise" to do these things "but they don't," said Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan. "All they do is take your money."