The Foreclosure Scam Red Flag Checklist

Print this page. Put it by your phone or on your fridge.

If anyone contacts you about your mortgage, your foreclosure, or your house — check this list before you say yes to anything. One checked box means walk away. You don't need to know which scam it is. You just need to stop.

Money Red Flags

• They want any money up front — a fee, a deposit, a "retainer," a "processing charge" — before they've delivered a signed result from your lender. (Charging up front for mortgage help is illegal under federal law.)
• They want you to send your mortgage payment to them instead of your mortgage company.
• They want payment by wire transfer, gift cards, cash, or payment apps — anything hard to trace or reverse.
• They charge a fee for something that is free: government assistance applications, HUD counseling, or claiming your own surplus money after an auction.

Promise Red Flags

• They guarantee they'll save your home, stop the sale, or get your loan modified. (No one can promise that. Not even a lawyer.)
• They claim a success rate — "100% successful," "we get results 90 percent of the time."
• They say they're with the government, HUD, or your lender — or their letter looks official but the fine print says otherwise.
• They say your mortgage can be erased, voided, or proven fake through an audit, a secret account, or special legal filings.

Isolation Red Flags

• They tell you to stop talking to your lender or servicer. (It is illegal for them to tell you this.)
• They tell you to stop making your mortgage payments.
• They tell you not to talk to a lawyer or a housing counselor, or to keep the deal secret from family.

Paperwork Red Flags

• They ask you to sign over your deed or add any name to your title — even "temporarily," even to a "trustee," even "just until things settle."
• They ask you to sign anything with blank spaces to be "filled in later."
• They rush you: "sign today or lose your chance." (Real options don't expire in an afternoon.)
• They won't give you copies of everything you signed, or won't let you take the papers home to review.

Contact Red Flags

• They found you. They called, mailed, knocked, or texted because your foreclosure is public record. (Legitimate help waits for you to call.)
• They want personal details fast — Social Security number, bank login, loan number — before you've verified who they are.
• Their "office" is a P.O. box, their email is Gmail or Yahoo, or their company is too new to have a track record.

If You Checked Even One Box

1. Stop. Don't sign. Don't pay. Don't share anything else.
2. Call your mortgage servicer — use the phone number printed on your monthly statement, not any number the caller or letter gave you.
3. Call a free HUD-approved housing counselor: 888-995-HOPE (4673) — open 24/7. In Colorado: 1-877-601-HOPE (4673).
4. Report it: FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and your state Attorney General.

The one rule that beats almost every scam: if they ask for money before they do anything — walk away.

This checklist is educational information, not legal advice. For advice about your specific case, talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor (free) or a licensed attorney.

Sources:

• MARS Rule / Regulation O advance-fee ban, 12 CFR Part 1015 (eCFR, current): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1015
• How to spot and avoid foreclosure relief scams (CFPB): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/mortgages/how-to-spot-and-avoid-foreclosure-relief-scams/
• Mortgage relief scams (FTC consumer guidance): https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/mortgage-relief-scams
• Colorado Foreclosure Protection Act overview (CO Division of Real Estate, 2025): https://dre.colorado.gov/division-notifications/understanding-the-colorado-foreclosure-protection-act-0