Foreclosure has been a terrible tragedy for many Americans during this economic downturn. The only ray of light for some is that once a foreclosure is settled, there is some relief from no longer being in debt. However, Heritage Pacific Financial of Plano Texas company has been one company that continues to victimize people with foreclosed homes by claiming that they fraudulently acquired second mortgages that must be paid back. By law, homeowners cannot be pursued for two debts on the same property after its been foreclosed.

Questions:

1. What are companies like Heritage Pacific banking on when they sue people like Mr. Abdelfattah?
2. Why are companies like Heritage Pacific on the wrong side of the law in these dealings?
3. The FTC is cracking down on debt collector abuse. Review the Debt Collections slide show at the bottom of the Huffington Post article. Which one of these do you think is the most interesting and why?

Source:

Bradford, H. (2012). Ahmed Abdelfattah, California Foreclosure Victim, Sued By Heritage Pacific Financial For Second Mortgage Debt, Huffington Post, May 29 (Retrievable online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/29/ahmed-abdelfattah-heritage-pacific-financial_n_1553483.html#s=1010185)