Foreclosure relief scams follow the same playbook almost every time: a stranger promises to "stop the sheriff sale," buy your mortgage note at a discount, and hand the house back to you for pennies. It sounds too good to be true because it is. Here's a real U.S. federal case that shows exactly how one of these schemes worked, and what to watch for so it doesn't happen to you.
Other websites have used Antonio's name and photos in fake testimonials to collect and resell homeowner information. Antlop Investment Properties has been endorsed by the Broward Real Estate Investors Association (BREIA) since 2012, has a physical office in Miami Lakes, Florida, and never asks for money upfront. If an offer doesn't check those boxes, treat it as a red flag.
A federal grand jury charged 11 people in a scheme that defrauded homeowners facing foreclosure across the United States. The pitch: they would negotiate with the homeowner's lender by buying the mortgage note, then short sell the house back to the original owner at a steep discount. They also promised to keep an active foreclosure from reaching an auction date, something no company can legally guarantee, only a judge can grant that.
Targeting: The group searched public records for Lis Pendens filings and final judgments to identify homeowners who were financially vulnerable. This is the same public record most homeowners first hear about after falling behind on payments, see our explainer on what a Lis Pendens means if you've received one.
Recruiting: They used multi-level marketing tactics to recruit people to track down and approach distressed homeowners directly.
Outreach: Roughly 22,000 postcards were mailed promising to "stop foreclosure" or "stop the sheriff sale" for a fixed price, a guarantee no one but a judge can actually make.
According to prosecutors, the group never actually purchased a mortgage note, never removed a lien, and never completed a short sale as advertised, despite collecting money from homeowners who believed they were being helped. A legitimate short sale in Florida costs the homeowner nothing, since the lender and sale proceeds cover the process, which is one of the clearest ways to tell a real offer from a scam.
"These programs were fraudulent. The defendants performed virtually no negotiations on behalf of the homeowners and never successfully purchased a mortgage note or provided a new, lower-cost mortgage. They never removed a mortgage lien or performed short sales as advertised."
The indictment included one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, twelve counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Eight of the eleven people charged were arrested, spanning Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, showing this was not a local or isolated operation but a coordinated scheme run across multiple U.S. states.
You don't need to memorize a court case to protect yourself. Watch for these patterns, which show up in nearly every foreclosure scam:
Only a judge can cancel or postpone a scheduled foreclosure sale. Anyone who guarantees they can stop it outright is not being honest with you.
Legitimate short sale and cash-offer processes don't require you to pay anything out of pocket before a sale closes.
Be extra cautious with anyone who found your information through public foreclosure filings and reached out unprompted.
A real local buyer or short sale specialist will have a physical address, a phone number that gets answered, and reviews you can check independently.
Urgency is a tactic. A legitimate buyer will give you time to understand exactly what you're agreeing to.
Before working with anyone who contacts you about your mortgage, these free U.S. government and nonprofit resources can help you check who you're really dealing with:
Send us the details and we'll give you a straight, no-pressure read on it, whether or not you end up working with us.
100% confidential. We never sell your information, see the warning above for why that matters to us.
If you'd rather talk it through directly, call (305) 501-0457. If you're facing foreclosure and want to understand your real options first, start with our guides on how to get out of foreclosure in Florida or how the short sale process works in Miami.
Antonio has been a member of the Miami Lakes community since 1992 and involved in real estate from a young age. Antlop has been endorsed by BREIA since 2012.
Phone: (305) 501-0457
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Email: AntlopRealEstate@gmail.com
Fax: (305) 907-9002
Address: 7900 Oak Lane, Miami Lakes, FL 33016
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