Don't fall for autoloans modification scams asking upfront fees

Ads for car loan modification scams are all online. Auto loan modification companies promise to negotiate with lenders to get customers lower car payments -- for a hefty upfront fee. But consumer advocates and government regulators say most auto loans with bad credit modifiers promising lower car payments will probably just take your money and provide nothing in return. Increasing throughout the nation are consumer complaints about auto loan modification companies. Florida's attorney general shut down Auto Relief Group, a south Florida business that has an F rating with Better Business Bureau.

Source of article: Don't fall for automotive loans modification scams asking upfront fees

A cautionary tale is what we can auto loans bad credit modification

Pitches by auto car loans modification companies offering automobile loan modification services say that they have lender connections and expertise to negotiate dramatically lower interest rates or extended payments. According to WKYC in Cleveland, an unemployed student was looking for help with her $ 420.00 per month car payment when a television ad led her to Auto Relief Group. The automobile loans modifier promised that they would lower her 13 percent interest rate to 8 percent and extend the loan, which would result in a lower monthly car payment of $ 290.00. They also said they would work with Honda Financial services which is her lender.

Lower car payments never really happened

The unemployed student gave her banking account details to Auto Relief Group and agreed to let it take a one-time advance fee of $ 298 from her checking account. As outlined by WKYC, when she didn't notice any reduction in her monthly car payment after a couple months, she contacted Honda directly and learned that Auto Relief Group had never contacted her auto lender. When she confronted Auto Relief Group, she was told that the $ 298 fee was for an "options report" the company provided and if she really wanted them to contact her lender, it would cost an extra $ 100.

For what you are able to do yourself, scammers charge

Other consumer complaints about Auto Relief Group point toward the information within the possibilities report is nothing more than what any person can get from free by calling their auto lender, like the amount of the loan, the current value of the automobile, current interest rate, balance, etc. The student in Cleveland found that Auto Relief Group had made two additional $ 298 withdrawals from her account without her authorization.

Scammers who did mortgage loans aren't moving to auto loans

Some financial experts have said that auto loan modification scams are attracting some of the same scammers who modified mortgage loans until regulations shut them down. SunSentinel.com reports that claims on auto-loan modifier sites and ads — "We can help you keep your car, truck, boat or RV!" "Stop repossession and make your payments affordable!" — are almost identical to the promises mortgage loan modification scams once made to property owners facing foreclosure. Many of those promises weren't kept and all of the homeowners lost their homes and millions in upfront modification fees.

Auto loan modification companies unregulated

New laws that went into effect this year drove away most mortgage loan modification scams. The new laws require mortgage modifiers have to get their mortgage broker licenses and they can no longer charge upfront payments. Auto loan modifiers do not have to be as much as trained. The Federal Trade Commission is considering a new rule that would prohibit any kind of upfront fees for debt settlement services. The proposed FTC action wouldn't contain auto loan modification.

You are on your own for this one. You've been warned.

Discover more about this topic here:

WKYC

wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=138784&catid=3

Sun Sentinel

sun-sentinel.com/fl-auto-loan-modification-20100707,0,6069557.story

FTC

ftc.gov/opa/2010/04/debttestimony.shtm