Down payment assistance programs like The American Dream Down Payment Assistance are all but outlawed for use with any government insured loan programs.

It’s about damn time!

I can hear you now, “What’s wrong with charities helping home buyers by giving down payment assistance?”

In a word, it’s a scam…that’s why!

Lenox Financial Mortgage is known for their ever-present radio campaigns touting “no cost” refinancing and is the prime example of what I call “deceptive or incomplete” advertising.

Refer to my article, “No Closing Cost Mortgage Advertising Is a Lie” to see how Lenox Financial and others pull the wool over the eyes of the average mortgage consumer.

So I recently got an email from a person calling himself a Certified Public Accountant desiring to debate the efficacy of the supposed “no cost” mortgage made popular by the ubiquitous advertising propogated primarily by Lenox Financial and now Countrywide Home Loans. As you’ll see below, don’t expect any mortgage help from CPAs when it comes to seeing the financial rip-offs these loans embody.

Real estate closing costs can with certain limits be paid by the seller without detriment to the buyer if you know the rules. Ignorance of the rules can turn real estate closing costs into a Catch-22.

Why is this important?

It can be the difference between a loan approval and a loan denial.

I was interviewed last week by a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bill Torpy, who published an article critical of “no-cost’ mortgage advertisers like Lenox Financial.

Mortgage companies who advertise on radio and TV about “no closing costs” or “$395 flat fee” are simply lying.

I know for many of you hearing an untruthful advertisement is no great threat, but for the proverbial little old lady or an unsuspecting first time buyer it truly is. I think with 2 trillion dollars in adjustable loans set to adjust over the next 24 months, you got hoodwinked by false advertising more than we’d all care to admit.

No cost mortgage advertisers pound the air waves spewing this mortgage lie. The no cost mortgage is a scam requiring great salesmanship, some misdirection, and an unsophisticated client.