Being that I've been in the real estate and mortgage industry 10+ years I felt like I had seen mostly every scam and fraud out there. Unfortunately not! The number of "Loan Modification" companies popping up out of the blue is litterally frightening. Typically when a homeowner is in need of some type of assistance such as a loan modification the lender holding there mortgage is the first place they contact. Today they are overwhelmed with loan modification offers filling there mailboxes claiming how they can help get them out of trouble for a nice fee of course.

Consumers and homeowners who find themselves unable to make their mortgage payments or who have fallen behind due to some type of financial hardship are like sitting ducks to these companies. They prey on homeowners by searching courthouse records for foreclosure filings and mailing them ridiculous "guaranteed" solicitations to assist in saving there home. Even mortgage brokers and loan officers are getting in on this popular loan modification scam. Usually the fee to modify the loan is equivalent to one months payment or 1% of the balance of the loan. Mnay of these companies require payment upfront and will not refund any amount regardless of the outcome. Homeowners need to be extremely careful in dealing with companies offering to modify there loan for a fee. Doing so could result in them having less money to try and reduce debt which could help the overall situation.

Citigroup says it will expand its foreclosure prevention efforts and try to keep 130,000 troubled borrowers with $20 billion in mortgages in their homes.

The news follows similar initiatives announced earlier this year by IndyMac Bank, which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last summer, as well as Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) each of which heralded enhanced housing rescue efforts. Banks are undoubtedly feeling pressured to be more aggressive in aiding home owners, given how many billions of taxpayer dollars have poured into the industry to stem the credit crisis.

The Citi (C, Fortune 500) effort, dubbed the Citi Homeownership Assistance Program, targets 500,000 Citi borrowers. CitiMortgages CEO Sanjiv Das said he expects that more than a quarter of these people, with mortgages worth about $20 billion, will take advantage of the program over the next six months. "We're reaching out to borrowers in areas of steeper-than-usual falling prices and higher-than-average unemployment," said Das, including California, Michigan, Florida, Nevada, Ohio and Arizona. "These areas are where the concentration of at-risk mortgages are the highest."