Warning Against False Claims of Expertise

The following is an excerpt from a memo published by the California Department of Real Estate

Consumer and Industry Warning: False and Misleading Designations and Claims of Special Expertise, Certifications and/or Credentials

By Wayne S. Bell
Chief Counsel --
California Department of Real Estate

The DRE has noticed an increase in the use of questionable and possibly misleading terms such as "expert", "certified", and "specialist" in the marketing and advertising of assistance to anxious homeowners in connection with their home loans and foreclosure rescue services and short sales A growing number of individuals and companies, many of whom are unlicensed, purport to be "experts" in the area of short sales, "certified" forensic loan auditors, short sale "specialists", loan modification "specialists", loss mitigation “experts”, “fraud investigators”, and the like, and many of these designations and claims seem to be nothing more than marketing ploys by unscrupulous fraudsters to capitalize on the desperation and vulnerability of unsophisticated and/or financially strapped homeowners.

The best advice to consumers is that you need to be wary and cautious when thinking about retaining the services of people or companies calling themselves "specialists", "experts", or "certified" in the areas of mortgages, lending, foreclosure rescue, and real estate.

Check out prior alerts and warnings of the DRE, and note that you are wise to never pay for such services in advance. In addition, you can do some of the advertised services yourself. In other cases, such as with forensic loan audits, there is a serious question about the value of such services. In still other cases, there are free services that might be available to you through HUD-certified housing counselors.

If you still choose to use the services of third parties for a fee(s), ask them questions, lots of questions, and then verify, verify, and verify some more. Check them out on the DRE website, at www.dre.ca.gov . If they are lawyers, check them out on the State Bar's website, at www.calbar.ca.gov . Check them out through the Better Business Bureau. Check them out through a Google search on the Internet.

The point here is that you need to view the claims of expertise, certification, and specialization with a critical eye, verify the claims, and ask specific, detailed questions.

Suggested Questions to Ask (This List is Not Exhaustive, But It Will Give You Good Information on Which You Can Make a Reasoned Decision)

1. How many transactions or services of the type you are advertising have you successfully performed? Ask them to give specifics and contacts.

2. Do you have a list of your last ten customers? If so, get it and call them. Do your own background check. And note that even if the person or company is "highly recommended" by so-called satisfied customers, the risk of a scam is not eliminated entirely.

3. Are you licensed by the California Department of Real Estate? If not, why not? What exemption from the licensing laws do you claim? If they are licensed, check to see if they have been disciplined by the Department (go to www.dre.ca.gov).

4. What qualifies you as an expert? How did you get that expertise?

5. You state that you are a specialist. What specialist qualifications do you have and what does that mean?

6. You say that you are certified. Who issued the certification? Do any government entities or recognized industry trade groups (such as the California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors) recognize the certification? If so, which ones? Then you can and should verify that information.

7. What course of study did you undertake to become certified or specialized?

8. What are the requirements for certification or specialization?

9. How many hours of coursework were involved?

10. What professional organization gave you the designation or certification? And when were they formed? If they give you a name, check out that entity with the California Secretary of State, Better Business Bureaus, with the California Association of Realtors, and see if any complaints are noted through a Google search.

11. When did you get the designation?

12. Did you take an examination? If so, who conducted the test, how long was the examination, and when did you take the examination?