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July 17, 2011 The recession has hit families hard, and many Americans are willing to try just about anything to escape from burdensome loan payments, including their mortgage. But, some companies offering a way out are scammers in disguise, whose services often leave already-struggling individuals in a far worse predicament.Avoid Foreclosure Rescue Companies

They go by many names, such as loan modification companies, foreclosure rescue services, or mortgage relief providers. But, one thing these services generally all have in common is promises that never seem to materialize.

Its entirely possible for struggling commercial-property owners to obtain a loan modification, according to Kevin Kopp of 1st Service Solutions, a commercial-foreclosure-prevention firm. The problem is that most commercial-mortgage borrowers dont know the proper way to ask, he said.Its not the borrowers fault, said Kopp, director of the companys Scottsdale office, which opened in December 2009. 1st Service Solutions is based in Dallas.

Obtaining a loan modification can be difficult, especially if the loan is whats known as a commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, or CMBS loan.

- As of January 1, 2011, the California Department of Real Estate , implemented new licensing requirements for mortgage loan originators in California who also hold a real estate license. Effective as of this date, real estate licensees wanting to originate loans must obtain a mortgage loan originator license endorsement. Without the MLO endorsement, a California real estate licensee cannot legally originate or broker residential mortgage loans.This new requirement, a result of the SAFE Act, was passed into law in 2008. Under the SAFE Act, mortgage loan originators much complete 20-hours of initial education, pass an exam, complete a criminal background check, and take annual continuing education in order to renew their MLO license endorsement.

Its not been dramatically different than what was happening before, said Joan LaFemina, who runs foreclosure prevention efforts for the nonprofit Community Development Corp. of Long Island.Expectations of speedier and better help for struggling mortgage borrowers have been low on Long Island despite the White House crackdown on lenders last month, homeowner advocates said this week.

- California  homeowners continue to have trouble getting home loan modifications that stick under the Obama Administrations Home Affordable Mortgage Program, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer advocacy organization whose members provide foreclosure counseling.
The findings of the report suggest that modifications are still hard to come by, and that servicers have not corrected many of the problems that have led to investigations of foreclosure abuses, the coalition wrote in summarizing its findings after it reviewed data the Treasury made public earlier this year and its own latest survey of nonprofit housing counselors.

For homeowners upside-down on their mortgage owing more on the loan than the house is worth foreclosure isnt necessarily the only option.Theres also a short sale.

A short sale is when a financially troubled homeowner, with the lenders approval, sells his or her home for less than whats owed on the loan.

- Jose L. Nino de Guzman Jr. drove a Bentley and used a Seahawks suite to impress investors who entrusted him with $20 million, but federal prosecutors charge it was all a Ponzi scheme built on nonexistent real-estate projects in Peru.Nino de Guzman, 28, was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles and charged with five counts of wire fraud.

Beginning in 2006, Nino de Guzman ran NDG Investment Group from a posh South Lake Union office. Investors growing suspicions about the claimed investments were reported by The Seattle Times beginning in October 2009, after several of his top lieutenants quit and alerted securities regulators.