When a company gives you a mortgage, you may feel happy and grateful. You feel like they have done you a favor. You needed the loan to buy your dream home, and they agreed to help you out.
It’s fine to feel excited about getting the house, but that’s not really how a mortgage works. The reality is that they sold you a product. By the time you get done paying it off, they’re going to make a lot of money.
That’s why you see ads for mortgages. These aren’t a service. They’re a product that they want to sell you.
Unfortunately, as with any other product, some companies resort to deception and fraud to try to get that sale. They may not be honest or they may try to mislead you.
For instance, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) warns that some ads say that you are going to get a fixed rate on your mortgage. The implication is that the rate will never go up, so you know what you are going to pay.
In some cases, though, they do not tell you exactly what they mean by fixed. Maybe they just create an intro period for a year. The rate is fixed for the year, and then it can change to whatever they want. That’s deceptive, as the ad does not tell you what you’re buying and they hope you don’t ask until it’s too late.
If you feel like you got scammed by an advertisement for any product, make sure you are aware of all of the legal options you have.
