Are You Upside Down in Your Home?
Are You Facing Foreclosure?
You Have Options
If you are facing money problems and are falling behind in you mortgage payments then you will want to take action now. Even if you have not fallen behind but circumstances have changed in your life and you anticipate losing your home, you should take action.
There are several ways you can begin.
1. Call Your Lender Right Away - Many people avoid calling their lender because they feel embarrassed discussing money problems with others, or they feel lenders will start collections on them right away. Lenders do not want to take homes back. They are not in the real estate business but the loan business. It costs them money to go through a Foreclosure process. Many lenders today have "workout" programs for people in hardship and will work with you to resolve the problem. Some examples of hardship are:
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Job Loss
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Reduction in hours
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Illness, Injury or Death of a Family Member
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Divorce or Separation
These and others can be a hardship that changes your financial situation and can be considered in a workout program. Some lenders will not discuss the problem right away with you. They will tell you that as long as you pay your loan, there is no problem on their end. Don't make the mistake of being too optimistic about your situation. Early detection and resolve will help keep your credit in good standing.
2. Forbearance or Modification of Your Loan - If your situation is temporary, your lender might negotiate a modification of your loan by allowing you to pay a lower monthly payment for a period of time to help you through your hardship. Your credit might be lowered but not as bad as a foreclosure. Your lowered payment might add to the principle of the loan and might need to be payed back at a later date. Once your forbearance is completed your loan would reinstate and continue on with the normal or adjusted payments.
3. Pre-Foreclosure Sale or Short Pay - If keeping your home is not an option you can hire a realtor to help you sell the home and pay off the lender. If you can't sell the home for the full amount of what's owed your lender may accept a amount less than what's owed. This is called a "Short Pay" and can be done by you and your Realtor. You give authorization to your lender to speak to your realtor on your behalf. A thorough market evaluation is done to price your home by the realtor you chose. Your home is than listed and marketed to sell at the highest possible price. Once offers are received they are sent to the lender for approval. All written contracts are subject to the approval of the lender in a short pay. You as the seller cannot receive any proceeds from the sale. Any left over proceeds must be given to the lender of the Short Pay after all liens, closing costs, fees attached to the home are paid off.
4. Deed in-lieu of Foreclosure - As a last resort you can "give back" the home to lender. Of course as I said before, lenders are not in the real estate business and will not normally take a home back without first trying to sell the property. They will normally require you to try to sell it outright first and if there are tax liens, judgements, or other liens attached to the property, they will not take the property back.
To find out more about your options please fill out the form below and submit. I will contact you. There is NO Obligation for this service.