Home Loan Fraud Booklets Available For Consumers

PUEBLO, COLO. — Homeowners who are looking for home equity loans to pay down debts or finance home improvements can get the best deal and protect themselves with helpful publications from the Federal Citizen Information Center.

Putting Your Home on the Loan Line is Risky Business, a publication from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Reserve Board, has tips on finding the best loans, including comparing interest rates, points, fees, and penalties. It explains how to find out the warning signs of loan fraud, such as suggesting a larger loan than can be realistically paid off, requesting the signing of blank forms, or changing the loan rate or terms at the last minute.

When buying or refinancing a home, Don’t Be A Victim of Loan Fraud from HUD offers tips about the tactics that predatory lenders use. Anyone who is being pressured to use a specific lender or encouraged to overstate income may be a victim. Even persons on fixed income or those with credit issues should still apply to local banks and credit unions to compare their rates with other lenders.

Learn more about home loans by order the Home Loan Fraud package. This package costs $1 or it can be downloaded for free at www.pueblo.gsa.gov. To order by phone, call toll-free 888-878-3256 weekdays 8 am to 8 pm and ask for the Home Loan Fraud package. Have a credit card handy. Or send a check or money order for $1, along with your name and address, to Home Loan Fraud, Pueblo, CO 81009.