Mortgage Insurance Scam Goes Blue

It’s the same mortgage insurance scam we alerted readers to this time last year – just in a different color.

In August 2021, we told consumers to disregard a yellow postcard marked “important notice” that a TINA.org staffer had received demanding an “immediate response” to a “time sensitive” matter regarding their mortgage. We called the number on the postcard and a recording revealed that the mailing wasn’t from their lender but rather a company offering “information regarding mortgage protection.”

We did the same with a blue postcard relaying the same urgent calls for action that a TINA.org reader recently sent in. We listened as an almost identical recording played:

When your loan with [lender redacted] closed on [date redacted] you were entitled to receive information regarding mortgage protection coverage that would pay off your mortgage in case of a death or make your monthly payments if you are disabled and can’t work. You are entitled to receive this information. But company records show that you have not.

Another slight change between the mailings was the stated origin of the information. While the yellow postcard said in a disclaimer in the bottom right corner that all information was provided by H.W.C., which stands for Home Warranty Company, the blue postcard credited LeadPros, a Las Vegas-based lead generation company. The fine print of both postcards disclosed, “Not affiliated with, sponsored by, and loan information not provided by” the borrower’s current lender. (The reality is the information that these kinds of scams use to target homeowners, such as a mortgage closing date, is publicly available.)

One type of “mortgage protection coverage” is mortgage protection insurance, or MPI. The personal finance website NerdWallet notes that MPI isn’t a mortgage requirement and for many people, a normal term life insurance policy is a better option. If you are interested in MPI, shop around for policies and read the fine print before purchasing a plan.

And if you receive one of these mailings, you may be better off tossing it in the trash, no matter the color.

Find more of our coverage on these kinds of mailings here.