Navigating Real Estate Scams In Denver
How to navigate real estate scams in Denver
Selling a house in Denver is a multi-step process with several interested parties. At any point along this journey, there is an opportunity for real estate fraud. According to a report from the FBI, losses from housing scams increased by 64% from 2020 to 2021, at a rate of growth similar to the rise in housing prices. With real estate scams on the rise, it is becoming increasingly important to know what common scams to look out for, and what you could do to mitigate the inherent risk involved in the sale of your Denver home.
Deed scam
Deed scams can cause home sellers to lose their properties before they get the chance to sell. In these situations, scammers will collect confidential information about a home seller, then forge signatures and documents so that they appear to be the legal owner of the property. This is usually done so that the scammer can then take out loans against your property.
If you have missing mail, your credit score has recently dropped for an unknown reason, or there are strangers on your property, then you may be the victim of a deed scam in progress.
Foreclosure relief scam
Homeowners who are in dire straits financially and are facing a possible foreclosure can become victims of foreclosure relief scams. These individuals or companies will make fake promises to modify existing loans or stop the foreclosure process indefinitely by having the homeowner pay upfront fees for these services—which are never rendered.
They may also convince the homeowner to sign over the deed to them with a promise to rent the house to the homeowner until the homeowner can buy it back from them. Unfortunately, the homeowner may not realize that the name on the deed is entirely separate from the name on the mortgage loan, so while the scammer now owns the house, the homeowner still owns the debt.
If an individual or company is asking you to sign over the deed to your property, to send mortgage payments to a third party that is not your lender, or to not contact your lender, you may be experiencing a foreclosure relief scam.
Wire fraud
In the case of wire fraud, a scam artist will pose as a seller’s agent. Most commonly, they will contact the seller through email with a request to wire transfer funds to secure the sale of a property to an interested buyer. These email addresses could be exactly the same as the seller's agent's address or have a slight variation. The email itself often includes the seller's personal information and falsified documentation to convince the seller that the requested transfer is legitimate.
In these cases, it is best to always contact your agent’s office to confirm any transfers before they occur. Additionally, any time a buyer or other interested party is applying pressure toward a sale, there is a good chance that they are running a scam.
Mortgage fraud
For home sellers in Denver, a borrower will provide false information to qualify for the purchase of a property they can’t afford. This misleading information is known as financial statement fraud. Examples of misleading information that scam buyers may provide include sellers exaggerating income or assets to get better loans or better terms.
If an interested buyer doesn’t have a credit history, isn’t signing or dating loan documents, and/or is using a P.O. Box address on loan documents, you may want to take action to protect yourself.
Don’t fall for property fraud!
Selling your house can be like walking through a minefield. There are plenty of "we buy houses" scams out there—don’t let those fool you!
When you sell your house in Denver to us, we won’t ever use pressure tactics. We don’t harass our sellers with endless phone calls and emails, and we don’t ask for any upfront fees for our services—in fact, we don’t charge anything.
Our customer-forward approach to our guided selling process means that you get personalized service every time.
Don’t fall for a cash-for-houses scam—work with We Buy Ugly Houses®—America’s #1 trusted cash home buyer since 1996.
Contact us at 866-200-6475 to get all of your questions answered about our company and our process.
