(CBS) Kaylene Gainor's first home was a bargain: A fixer-upper with a mortgage she could afford on her teacher's salary.
She paid it on time for seven years. But when her daughter started college, "things came up financially that I thought she just had to have," Gainor said.
Gainor was days from foreclosure when a stranger appeared on her doorstep offering help, CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports.
"She came with someone I knew, so I kind of felt safe in saying 'OK, well, let me hear what you have to offer,'" Gainor said.
She had never heard of the company National Foreclosure Management, but their solution sounded like a godsend. She and her grandchildren could stay in her home; all she had to do was sign over the title.
She agreed, but about a year later, another surprise at her door: an eviction notice.
"When I walked up and saw that, I thought, 'it's over,'" she said.
Gainor fell victim to a foreclosure rescue scam. Here's how it works: Companies like Foreclosure Rescue Management offer to hold the title to your home for a year. You're allowed to live there while they refinance your debt.
But behind the scenes, they sell the title to a new buyer who demands high rent you can't possibly pay. You end up in the same place you began - out of your home.
"We know that they were bad apples," said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.
Florida's Attorney General has filed suit against National Foreclosure Management for bilking at least 80 homeowners of nearly $2 million.
"There are at least 20 other businesses being investigated right now, and I suspect we will unearth more as we go through this," McCollum said.
Nationwide, foreclosure fraud is a booming business. In Cleveland, 21 rescue companies opened in the last year alone. Twelve states are fighting back with tough new anti-fraud laws.
Federal lender Freddie Mac posted its own "beware" sign on YouTube. But for those who have already fallen into the scammer's trap, it's nearly impossible to get out.
Gainor lost $50,000 in equity. She'd like to buy back her home, but the mortgage payments have more than doubled.
"I will stay as long as I can and after that…?" she said.
She wants her story to serve as a warning, so others aren't robbed of house …and hope.
