Foreclosure: Steps Homeowners at Risk can Take to Avoid Foreclosure.

So you've fallen behind a couple of months on your mortgage payment, what should you do? Contrary to popular belief, your bank does NOT want your home to enter foreclosure, and is willing to work with borrowers that are delinquent and/or have potential to default on their mortgage.  For a lender, the cost of foreclosure can cost them as much as 20% of the remaining principal balance. Also, a delinquent loan showing as a nonperforming asset on the books leads to lenders viewing foreclosure as a very unattractive last resort.

            However it, it important for the borrower falling behind on their mortgage to take a proactive approach to finding a resolution to this circumstance.  It is extremely important for the borrower to contact their lender as soon as possible to discuss the situation.  The earlier you discuss it with your lender, in most cases leads to a more attractive alternative to avoid foreclosure.

            When you call your lender, some of the questions you can expect to be asked include: What caused the borrower to fall behind in their payments, whether the cause has been remedied, and how/if the situation can be fixed.  For example, a borrower that is suffering an illness to themselves or a family member will require a different alternative as opposed to the borrower that suffered a temporary job loss.

            As a borrower that is at risk of foreclosure, its important for you to make a call to your lender as fast as possible. Run don't walk to the telephone.  Its your responsibility to be truthful and realistic in your dealings with the lender.  Unrealistic repayment promises can lead to a debilitating loss in faith that will further erode the relationship between you and your lender. Nay lenders have loss mitigators whos job it is to find a viable solution that will keep you in the house. Make sure to ask the name of the person you are dealing with from the lender, and also ask that any agreement that is reached on the telephone is confirmed in writing and sent to you via fax, email, or snail mail.  If the conversation goes well and you are feeling brazen, you can request for all or part of the late fees to be waived.  If you've ever dealt with the collection types before, then you know most of them have the personality to match the demands of the job, so refuse to lose your cool and remember that the person on the other end of the phone is only doing their job.

            In this section Ill give a few approaches that can benefit the delinquent borrower.  One possible solution to the steps outlined previously are for the loan to be recast, which is an adjustment in the loan terms that more accurately reflect the borrowers temporarily or permanent change in income and cash flow.  An example would be for the lender to lower the mortgage payment for a predetermined amount of time.  Some lenders may choose to lower the actual note rate (or interest rate of the loan).  Another example of loan recast would be to take the unpaid balance and add it as a lump sum against the proceeds from the future sale of the property.  Another option the lender may offer as an alternative to foreclosure would be to add multiple unpaid months worth of interest, payments, and delinquency fees onto the loan balances, then pay off the added debt through small additional monthly payments on top of the regular payments.

            Kevin Fenderson is a Realtor and Loan Officer with Hilltop Realty based in Santa Ana, Ca.  You can learn more checking out newschoolrealestatemarketing.com

Comments

[John Panico]

Great post overall. One other option is to sell your house to an investor. As long as it isn't a short sale, you probably have an opportunity to walk about with some money in your pocket.

John Panico
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[Alan Barker]

Another great tip for avoiding foreclosure is to not buy houses you can't afford in the first place.

[marina]

Good post and very helpful in facing foreclosure. We live in Georgia, and we were over four months behind in our mortgage payments. My wife and I called almost every agency in and around the state of Georgia seeking help to save our home. But to no avail. We contracted mortgagebuyerbasics.com on a whim of a chance. They were very sympathetic to our situation. They explained the process to us, then immediately started working with the loan agency to stop the foreclosure proceeding. They also kept us abreast of the loan company’s process and progress. By Mortgage Buyer Basics quick response to our needs we were able to work out a repayment plan and keep our home.
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