The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Veterans Administration (VA) have recently issued a joint Warning Order to present and former members of the military warning them about scammers contacting them with offers to refinance VA mortgages. These refinance offers are scams and contain misleading representations. Scammers are able to search public records for the names and addresses of servicemen and women who have VA mortgage loans. The scammers then send unsolicited offers to refinance under conditions that will quite often appear to be too good to be true and either be total scams or misrepresentations of the real terms being offered.
Among the misleading promises contained in these offers are unusually low interest rates and the ability to skip one or more monthly mortgage payments. In fact, the VA prohibits lenders from advertising skipping of mortgage payments as a means of obtaining cash in a refinance loan.
TIPS
If you are a present or former service member considering getting a mortgage or refinancing your mortgage through a VA loan, you can speak to a VA mortgage specialist at 877-827-3702. If you are having difficulties paying your present VA mortgage you can call that same number to get helpful advice from a VA loan technician as to what options you have. As always, you should always be wary of any offer that sounds too good to be true and you should never take any major financial step such as getting a mortgage without consulting with a lawyer.