Foreclosure: Don't Let It Crush You!

Will Foreclosure Crush You:  Save Your Home

Foreclosure is without a doubt one of the worst things that can happen to any homeowner.  You love your home and you want to remain there, but you've gotten behind on your mortgage and now can't get caught up. 

What can you do? 

There are many things that can help you to save your home, which you may not have realized.  The most common reasons for foreclosure to happen include:

• The loss of employment
• Retirement which costs more than you can afford
• Medical problems, including injuries, death or severe illness
• Divorce
• Adjusting interest rates

Below are a few steps you can take to keep yourself out of foreclosure and help you save your home.  If you find yourself in a situation that does not allow you to pay your bills, take action as soon as possible. 

Call Your Lender Today.

Your lender is not your enemy and they likely will not give you a hard time about your loan.  What you need to do is explain the problem to them. 

Remember the lenders want to keep you in your home.  Not only do they risk not being able to sell your home to repay your debt through foreclosure, but the entire foreclosure process is expensive to them, and costs them their investors.  They may have options to help you repay the missed payments or may be able to get you into other loan programs.

Call A Housing Counseling Agency

HUD, or the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is a government agency that can help you avoid foreclosure.  They will set up an appointment with you, outline the financial problems you are having and give you a good amount of advice to help you make the right decisions about moving forward. 

They can help you work with your lender, too. They can work with them to put in play a delayed payment schedule and even help you reduce the amount you need to pay to get back on track.

Pay Debts According To Importance

When you find yourself in a financially troublesome situation, you need to prioritize your debts.  The most important thing to do is to tighten up your budget.  Cut out unnecessary expenses.  These extra bits of money will keep you out of foreclosure. 

The most important debts to pay including, in order:

• Food
• Your Mortgage
• Your Utilities
  

These debts should be paid on time as much as possible, and then other debts can be repaid.  If you are just going through a short period of problems with paying your debt, just as job loss, let your credit cards go until you can get back on track.  Your mortgage is your top priority over other debts.

Find Out If Any Loan Workout Solutions Are Available.

There are several options that may be available to you, depending on your situation or your lender.  For example:

Reinstatement:  Here, the total amount of money you owe is paid in one lump sum payment on a specific date.

Forbearance:  Suspended or reduced payments are put in place for a short amount of time, until you can get your loan current. Sometimes, forbearance and reinstatement are used together.

Repayment Plans:  Often, lenders will allow you to get started on repaying your mortgage, and therefore avoiding foreclosure, by making your monthly mortgage payment, plus a small amount additional to get current.

Each lender is different in what methods they will allow to help you avoid foreclosure.  Yet, no lender should be avoided.  They want to keep you in your home and will work with you, in most situations, to get back on track.