Steps to Circumventing Foreclosure

This day has been looming over you for quite a while. Although you saw it coming, you felt there was nothing you could do. You can no longer ignore the foreclosure process at this point in time. You must act quickly to avoid being homeless and losing thousands of dollars.

To say that the foreclosure process is intimidating would be an understatement. If you wind up losing your home, it will be devastating and you may not completely recover for many years. Your credit report will show the foreclosure for seven to ten years and have a negative effect on your ability to get credit. You could also still be responsible for any short-falls from the bank auctioning your home as well. The good news is that there are options available to you to avoid foreclosure.

You must be proactive if you are to avoid foreclosure. Do something as soon as possible once you realize it will be impossible to keep your payments current. Don’t put it off until tomorrow, but act immediately. Taking too much time will only make things more difficult. People are often optimistic about their financial future and hope to be back on their feet before the situation worsens. You still need to be cautious even if you think the future will be better.

Do anything you can to earn extra money for your mortgage payment. Of all the debts you might have, a mortgage is the most important. Do whatever is necessary to scrape together enough money to pay the mortgage. It is extremely difficult to catch up once you have fallen behind on payments. It would be better to pay several hundred rather than several thousand. Be creative in finding ways to boost your income until you are on schedule with payments. Consignment shops will buy your gently worn clothes. Find an additional job. A credit counseling program may help relieve credit card debts. Do anything you have to in order to keep up with your mortgage payments.

If you are considering refinancing your mortgage for lower payments, you should before your credit is damaged by late payments. It goes without saying that you should be sure and get a loan rate that makes the costs of refinancing worthwhile.






The last thing you want to do is tell your lender that you can’t meet your monthly payments. Many times this could be the discussion that saves your home from being foreclosed upon. You should ask which options are available to assist you once you have explained your financial situation to your lender. There are options available with some lenders; these options, called forbearances, allow you to make the interest payments or no payments at all for a certain period of time.

A couple of alternatives are a pre-foreclosure sale, which allows you the opportunity to sell the property to settle the mortgage, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, where you give back the property without credit damage.

Don’t let anyone talk you into believing foreclosure is inevitable. Foreclosure is never inevitable, and you should never think there is no way out.

About the Author:
As a single mom, Skyah Jamsen has learned her fair share about avoiding foreclosure. After short-selling her own home, she immediately started looking for Nevada County Real Estate. In doing so, her Penn Valley homes was able to show her many Grass Valley homes for sale in her price range, and she was able to find a home that fit her family’s needs.

Steps to Circumventing Foreclosure / Author: Skyah