One of the problems with our current era of foreclosure madness is the rise of mortgage scams. These are designed to sap funds out of vulnerable families who are looking for a viable option when faced with the gamut of housing issues: late payments, missed payments, foreclosure, short sale, or even seeing trouble on the horizon due to income or debt loads without having yet missed a payment.

Francine Knowles at the Chicago Sun-Times provides a fairly comprehensive list of ongoing mortgage scams that can masquerade as legitimate solutions to a financial bind. Watch out for these offers, among others:

“FTC says avoid anyone who:

•  •  Guarantees to stop the foreclosure process, no matter what your circumstances.

•  •  Instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer or credit or housing counselor.

•  •  Collects a fee before providing you with any services.

•  •  Accepts payment only by cashier’s check or wire transfer.

•  •  Encourages you to lease your home so you can buy it back over time.

•  •  Tells you to make your mortgage payments directly to it rather than your lenders.

•  •  Tells you to to transfer your property deed or title to it.

•  •  Offers to buy your house for cash at a fixed price not set by the market at the time of sale.

•  •  Offers to file your paperwork for you.

•  •  Pressures you to sign paperwork you haven’t had a chance to read thoroughly or don’t understand.”

The problem with these scams is not merely that they may take some of your money and provide little in return. In reality, they may derail your attempts to eliminate debt by setting you back from funding the top priorities in your life; they may actually do damage to your financial health; cause your credit score to drop; jeopardize your financial and security; and take away your emergency savings. Instead, look to sensible mortgage advice that can help you to clearly evaluate your options and get you moving in the right direction; the silver lining in the cloud is that there is always an option for you to choose, no matter how troubled your mortgage situation is, that represents the best course of action to get you headed back towards financial health.

Raj Patel writes for DebtGoal.com, a do-it-yourself system for getting out of debt and lowering your interest costs.  DebtGoal.com incorporates all of the techniques discussed in this post and can help users understand and get visibility to and manage their debt finances.