Prevent Foreclosure: Don’t lose your house
There are many ways to prevent foreclosure depending on your situation and what stage you are at. Most people who miss a mortgage payment still find a way to keep their homes. In fact, around 95% of people who face a risk of foreclosure manage to avoid it. So do not despair.
The earlier you start to take steps, the better your chances will be. If you do nothing and hope the problem will go away, then it will get worse. Your credit rating will drop with every missed payment and it becomes harder to find refinancing. But even if this has already happened, there is still hope.
The first thing to remember is always to make your payments if you can. The mortgage on your home is probably the most important payment to make each month. If you miss credit card payments, your credit rating will suffer a little bit. But if you miss home loan payments, not only your credit rating drops but also you risk losing your home.
If you have some missed payments, you need to talk to your lender. They usually want to help you keep your home (and keep on paying on the loan!). They will be sympathetic to any plans that you have for making up the payments that you have missed. They may even agree to extend the period of your loan so that you don’t have to pay any more right now, but just keep on with the same monthly payment.
After coming to an agreement like this with your lender it is very important that you keep to it. You may be tempted to think that it was easy to reach agreement so it doesn’t matter if you miss payments again. This is not true! If you default a second time, their attitude may be much harder. They may start the foreclosure process much sooner. So be sure that you will be able to keep to whatever payments you agree on, and make those payments every month without fail.
Any time that the bank writes to you or calls you about your loan, be sure to answer. If you always answer them quickly then they will be much more comfortable trusting you when there are problems. Remember that every little thing probably goes on your record. Call them as soon as you can when they ask you to - that means within hours, not days.
Answering their calls and letters quickly will also minimize anxiety for you. Any letter that is lying around unanswered is always in the back of your mind, even if you hid it away, and it increases your stress.
However, never call when you are very angry or upset. This will only make the situation worse. If a letter or message from the lender has made you very emotional, a good way to deal with this is to call someone else first and talk it through with them until you have become calm. If possible, pick someone who will help you to see the lender’s point of view. You could practice what you will say by having your friend play the part of the bank staff member.
When you do finally call, remember that whatever situation you are in, it is not the fault of the individual person that you are speaking to. Even if you think the bank has acted badly, try not to blame the person who happens to answer your call.
Finally, if you cannot find a way to make your payments, take advice on filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Find out about this as early as possible to be sure not to miss the deadlines. If you can work out a plan for repaying your creditors that is approved by the court, you can prevent foreclosure this way.
