(l-r): Columbus City Councilman Hearcel Craig; Columbus homeowner Jose Santander; Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray; NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade; Columbus Housing Partnership President and CEO of Amy Klaben; NHS of Greater Cleveland Executive Director Lou Tisler

NeighborWorks America’s Loan Modification Scam Alert campaign moved into Ohio and Texas on November 18 as part of a national effort to educate homeowners about scammers who are out to take advantage of those facing foreclosure.

"We can't afford to wait any longer," said NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade. "Loan-modification scams have reached epidemic proportions. There are thousands of fraudulent companies out there making a mint," he said.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Columbus Housing Partnership President and CEO Amy Klaben joined Wade at the statehouse in Columbus to launch the campaign.

In Waco, Texas, the kickoff event included JoAnn DePenning, chair of the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and Roy Nash, president and CEO of NeighborWorks Waco. At both events homeowners who were scammed shared their stories.

In Ohio, the campaign was promoted at the Ohio Housing Conference, one of the largest housing conferences in the country with more than 1400 industry professionals. The conference took place in Columbus from November 17-19. On November 20, campaign street teams were joined by more than 30 AmeriCorps volunteers to pass out materials to homeowners in Columbus neighborhoods. Read local coverage in the Columbus Dispatch.

In addition to educating homeowners about loan modification scams, the national campaign provides tools to help them avoid a scam before it’s too late and encourages them to report scammers to authorities if they unfortunately fall prey. The campaign’s Web site is www.loanscamalert.org.