Nationwide, the number of foreclosures is up more than 60 percent compared to this same time last year.

It's not quite a crisis in our area, but there are many folks facing the possibility of losing their home.

That can leave them vulnerable and promises of foreclosure rescue often wind up leaving them in ruins.

"They came through like knights in shining armor, like, 'Here, we're going to help you.'"

A Lynnwood woman is talking about a Western Washington-based company that promised to help save her home when she was faced with foreclosure.

"I'd say we were desperate, yeah, and just not knowing what to do and how to handle it," she said.

The family that doesn't want to be named, though the answer came with a knock at the door and a company willing to step in.

They claim the company offered to talk to the mortgage company for them, take over ownership of the home and leave the mortgage in their name -- then rent the home back to them at a price that was lower than their mortgage.

The homeowners would also have the chance to re-buy the home after a couple of years.

"It looked like you were going to make a lower payment, you'd have a little bit of cash put aside to re-buy, they were going to help you rebuild your credit and you'd be fine.

But they claim they were rushed through signing the closing papers -- never having a chance to review them, not even getting a copy of the documents.

And the rent payment that was supposed to be lower than their mortgage payment was actually higher.

Months later, their mortgage company started calling about late payments.

That was their wake-up call.

"They certainly thought their existing loan was going to be paid off. They didn't know their loan was going to stay in place," said Attorney Melissa Huelsman.

Huelsman has filed a complaint against the company contending the entire deal was set up to fail from the beginning.

Not only would the family lose its home, they would lose the equity in the home, as well.

"It's a false promise that they are going to be able to save the house hen in fact the payments are the same as the ones they couldn't make previously."

Assistant Attorney General Becky Jacobson calls this type of scheme "a bailout."

"They can walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars," Jacobson said.

She said her office is seeing more of these schemes as the number of foreclosures goes up because more people are left feeling vulnerable emotionally and financially. "All of those weigh on people's ability to make decisions and someone comes along and tells you exactly what you want to hear that they can help save your house."

As for our Lynnwood family, they're still living in the home, but they don't own it anymore.

And they're waiting for a court date with the hopes they can recover some of what they say they've lost.