WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today launched a new resource for veterans targeted by home loan refinancing scams. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has more than 50,000 active loans in Missouri, and too often, veterans are targeted by scammers and predatory lenders offering deals to refinance their loans.
McCaskill is spreading awareness about predatory lenders, offering assistance to veterans negatively impacted by these scams, and seeking details from veterans who have been targeted on her new resource page, mccaskill.senate.gov/va-home-loan-scam.
“It disgusts me that there are people out there trying to make money by preying on Missouri veterans,” McCaskill said. “But sadly this happens all too often—and I wanted to provide a resource to veterans in our state who are worried they’re being targeted by these scammers.”
Take a look at McCaskill’s new resource here: mccaskill.senate.gov/va-home-loan-scam.
Veterans across the country who participate in the VA’s home loan refinancing program are sometimes targeted with scams or unfairly high loans. One couple spent thousands of dollars on a loan refinance program after they were promised that their rate would go down—and it never did. Separately, a Missouri company warned veterans of possible scams last year, referencing a veteran who was offered a loan refinance that was approximately $10,000 more expensive than the market rate.
McCaskill publicly launched mccaskill.senate.gov/va-home-loan-scam today. The site provides resources to help veterans identify if a VA home loan offer might be a fraud. It also invites Missouri veterans to submit their experience if they have been hit by a home loan refinancing scam, so that McCaskill’s office can offer assistance. The site provides additional resources from the VA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Protecting consumers from scams has long been a priority for McCaskill, who serves as the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate’s top oversight committee. She sounded the alarm last year on fraudsters targeting the Veterans Choice Program in order to try to collect credit card information from veterans. A McCaskill-backed bipartisan bill to protect small business from scams unanimously passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last year. Along with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, McCaskill has targeted IRS impersonation scams.
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