Anyone Can Get Loan Modification Leads - For Better Or Worse

Most companies specializing in modifying loans utilize loan modification leads to search for potential customers. The majority of homeowners, those seeking modification, may wonder what loan modification leads are, but the word "leads" should tell it all: They are sales leads with a unique name.

Modification companies get these leads from a variety of sources: Some come from sheer assumption based on low-income neighborhoods; while others come from loan modification-based newsletters, websites, and on line groups. There is almost no limit to sources companies can get information about homeowners seeking loan modification -- some even sell the information to each other for both monumental and trivial prices.

Getting loan modification leads are incredibly easy to get, and anyone aspiring to open a modification company can easily start their own website offering advice and get hundreds, maybe even thousands, of email and home addresses.

There are two downsides to this:

1. Most homeowners do not want to be approached by these companies.

2. Those who run predatory scams under the guise of modification companies can get the information with just as much ease as a legitimate company.

The scams do as much harm to legitimate companies as they do homeowners trying to get modified loans. Because there are so many predators posing as modification services, law abiding and legitimate companies have trouble getting clients and holding their trust.

The problem has gotten so bad that the FBI has begun to take action on possible scammers. The state of California, having one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, is pushing to have upfront fees prohibited and any paid modification service to present a letter informing the homeowner that there are free FHA-certified representatives available to give them the exact same services.

It's debatable whether loan modification leads have actually helped the industry. While a handful of actual services are out there, dozens -- hundreds -- more are waiting around the corner and are armed with thousands upon thousands of homeowners' information.

It's not a surprise that people looking into getting modification are being more pensive to look for advice online, and are wary of signing up for anything loan modification related. There are so many more predators buying their information than companies that it has gotten out of hand. No one likes to have their information traded between or given to people they are unaware of, but many unsuspecting homeowners have already been scouted out -- and even ripped off. So one is left to wonder if loan modification leads are friend or foe.