Foreclosure Prevention Company Takes Homeowners' Money Then DisappearsHomeowners Legal Assistance promised Texas homeowners that they could stop foreclosure ; but what thousands of homeowners discovered is that the company could not deliver on its promises.

Valladares paid the business $3,000.

In April, Valladares received a letter from his mortgage company stating his loan modification would be approved pending some needed documentation. Then weeks later, he received another letter. In that letter, the mortgage company stated it never received the needed paperwork and his loan modification was denied. Valladares, his wife and two children were told to get out.

“It’s one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me, let’s put it that way,” said Valladares. “I never saw it coming.”

Homeowners Legal Assistance was apparently a company that used trust and the reputation of Houston area newscaster Antonio Hernandez to convince thousands of homeowners that they could avoid foreclosure by enlisting the help of this company.  But not only did the company fail to help homeowners avoid foreclosure; they fraudulently filed bankruptcy on behalf of their clients without their permission or knowledge.  The scam has left many homeowners angry and with very little recourse since the company’s owner has since disappeared.

This situation is another sad example of how some individuals are using the foreclosure crisis to dupe desperate homeowners into forking over their money on the promise that they can help avoid foreclosure without the help of bankruptcy.  The truth of the matter is that no company can guarantee that they can stop foreclosure.  Only the automatic stay of bankruptcy can stop foreclosure, and even then, you still have to pay your mortgage to remain in the home.  Remember, if someone guarantees that they can stop your foreclosure outside bankruptcy, they may be trying to scam you.