If you're a homeowner, you probably receive lender solicitations over the phone, by mail or via door-to-door sales. There are also countless print and TV ads encouraging you to tap into the equity in your home.

These offers can be tempting if you're hard up for cash or longing to fulfill a dream of taking an around-the-world cruise on the QEII.

Some lenders target elderly homeowners or those with low income or credit problems, then take advantage of them with deceptive practices, including disguising the fact that they are using their home as collateral for a loan.

Here are some of the most common ways dishonest lenders scam homeowners:

Equity stripping: A lender says you can get a home equity loan even though you know your monthly income isn't enough to keep up with the payments. The lender encourages you to pad your income on the application so the loan will be approved. They don't care that you can't afford the loan because they've got their eyes on your equity. If you default on the payments, they foreclose, taking your home and stripping you of the equity that's taken years to build.

Loan flipping: This is where a lender encourages you to repeatedly refinance your loan and borrow more money. Let's say you've got a nice, comfortable low-interest loan you've been paying for years building equity. Using the temptation of extra cash, the lender talks you into refinancing the loan.

After you've made a few payments, the lender comes calling again -- offering an even bigger loan. You accept, and the lender refinances the original loan and sends you more money. But in refinancing, the lender has charged high points and fees and your interest rate has gone up. You have some extra money, but you also have a lot more debt stretched out over a longer period of time. The cash you received may be less than the costs incurred by refinancing. With each "flip" of the loan, you've increased your debt. If you get in over your head, you could lose your home.

Credit insurance packing: You've just agreed to a line of credit home equity loan on terms that seem affordable. At closing, the lender gives you papers to sign that include charges for credit insurance or other "benefits" that you didn't ask for and don't want. The lender hopes you don't notice and doesn't explain how much this will add to the cost of your loan, or they tell you the insurance comes with the loan, making you think there's no extra cost.

If you do notice and object, the lender may use scare tactics, telling you that if you don't want the insurance the loan will have to be rewritten, resulting in a delay and even reconsideration of your application. If you agree to buy the insurance, you end up paying extra for a product you do not want or need.

Deceptive loan servicing: The lender fails to provide you with accurate or complete account statements and payoff figures, making it almost impossible to determine how much you have paid and still owe. Or, after you get your loan, the lender starts sending you letters saying your payments are going to be higher than expected. They may tack on taxes and insurance you had already arranged to pay yourself; late fees even though your payments are on time; or legal fees you don't understand.

Amid the confusion, you are paying more than you owe.

The home improvement loan: A contractor knocks on your door and offers to put on a new roof or remodel your two bathrooms. The contractor tells you they can arrange financing through a lender. You agree and the contractor starts work. Later, the contractor gives you papers and tells you the job will be halted unless you sign them. Unbeknownst to you, you have agreed to a home equity loan, with high points, fees and interest. To make it worse, you're not happy with the work being done and the contractor, now that he has your signature, is not showing up for work every day.

Signing over your deed: You are having trouble paying your mortgage and the lender has threatened to foreclose. A "lender" contacts you with an offer to help you find new financing. In the meantime, the lender wants you to deed your property to him, saying it's temporary to prevent foreclosure.

Once the lender has the deed to your property, they treat it as their own -- borrowing against the equity or selling it. You've become the tenant, with the lender demanding "rent." If the rent is late, the lender may try to evict you.

Protecting yourself against sharks

NEVER, EVER: