The bad economy, and especially the ongoing bad housing market in Fort Lauderdale and across Florida, has unfortunately driven many homeowners to seek assistance from people who turn out to be dishonest. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that mortgage fraud schemes are on the rise, and likely to continue to rise in the current fiscal year.

A recent report from the FBI found that for fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30, 2010, mortgage fraud schemes were up 12 percent. This was also an increase of 90 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Typically, a mortgage fraud scheme will try to convince a financially troubled homeowner that they can keep their house if they do something like transfer the deed over to the criminals. The fraudsters almost always demand huge fee payments up front, before they give any kind of assistance. In most cases, the criminals end up doing nothing for the homeowner, or at least nothing that the homeowner could not have done for themselves for free.

Fort Lauderdale mortgage option attorneys noted that the FBI's report said that mortgage fraud schemes are the most common in states like Florida, which has rampant foreclosure problems and great numbers of homeowners seeking help with their mortgages.

The other side of the coin has been a drop in mortgage origination fraud schemes, since there are fewer people seeking new mortgages and fewer people willing to take risks on too-good-to-be-true terms on new mortgages.

It is always advisable for homeowners to seek assistance from experienced Florida mortgage lawyers when help is needed with foreclosure or other mortgage issues. Dishonest people are out there, ready to profit from homeowners' desperation.

Source: Thomson Reuters News & Insight "FBI sees mortgage fraud growing as economy stumbles" Aug. 12, 2011