dispose of. In the long run, most legitimate lenders realize that helping
you to avoid foreclosure will be to their own benefit. (Lenders are not charitable institutions, however. They might view the totality of circumstances, including your long term prospects,
the amount of the loan versus the equity, your payment history, etc, in a way that might accelerate the foreclosure process.)
In any case, it is important to notify your lender ASAP if you want it to help you avoid foreclosure.
To Avoid Foreclosure: Important Dates
The most important date to remember when it comes to being able to avoid foreclosure is the 16th day after the mortgage payment is due.
Even though the payment statement states you have until the 16th to avoid late fees,
what it really means is that you have until the 16th to avoid the onset of the foreclosure process. This is how it works:
Your payment is due on the 1st.
If you miss it, then between the 16th and the 30th the lender will levy late fees and attempt to contact you. It
is easy to see that if you want to avoid foreclosure, contacting the lender before they contact you can be important.
Sometime between the 45th and 60th day after the payment is missed (and possibly 2 payments) a notice in the form of a letter and possibly email goes out to the borrower. This
notice tells the borrower about the breach of the mortgage agreement and gives a period of time, generally 30 days for the borrower to
avoid foreclosure by paying the delinquent amount, including late fees, etc.
Between the 90th and 120th day, the loan is referred to the foreclosure department and foreclosure proceedings are started. You can still avoid foreclosure at this point or at least salvage
some money, by going back to the first step above: contact your lender. You are not alone in falling behind, but
the sooner you contact your lender, the more distance you put between yourself and those folks who cannot avoid foreclosure.
At this point, the state law of where your house is located becomes important. The timing of the foreclosure, the redemption
period, if any, the notice provisions and other dates and procedures are governed by state law and can vary from 150 days after
missing the 1st payment to 415 days or even longer. If you are caught in a foreclosure situation, please check with an attorney
or other legal counsel such as local legal aid to determine what, if any, the period of time you
may have to avoid foreclosure sale.
Lender Options to Avoid Foreclosure
Repayment Plan: Some lenders will agree to spread out repayment of
the missed payments over some period of time to enable you to avoid foreclosure if you are experiencing or have experienced a temporary setback, such as a medical emergency other unforeseen financial problem.
Loan Modification: Mortgage lenders have the ability to adjust the terms of your loan in order to help you avoid foreclosure. Common adjustments are lengthening the amortization schedule, in other words, lowering
your payments by extending the length of your mortgage. Some lenders may also allow you to roll the delinquent payments into the loan
amount and reamortize the new total to avoid foreclosure. Obviously, the interest rate may also be changed.
Short Sale: This method of trying to avoid foreclosure depends on a lender willing to forgive the remainder of the debt by allowing you to sell the house for less than the debt and forgiving the balance.
Short Refinance: This is a combination of some of the debt being forgiven and the rest refinanced into a new loan.
Bankruptcy - Be Careful: The Cure Can Be Worse Than The Disease
Homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes can stop the foreclosure instantly by declaring
bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is called the home saver because filing for it stops foreclosure
proceedings and allows the homeowner to stay in her or his home. However, (isn't there always a
however these days), a schedule of payments set out by the bankruptcy court must be adhered to or
the foreclosure may be started again.
REMEMBER: Once more state law governs such issues as how much equity a homeowner can keep and what percentage of her income can be allocated for payments to creditors.
Avoid Foreclosure with FSBOComplete™
We wrote the book, FSBOComplete™ in order to give sellers the confidence to
sell their houses by themselves.
This can be especially helpful when trying to avoid foreclosure, because we show you how to sell your house in the shortest possible
time with the least possible inconvenience to you and for the most amount of money, while saving
the commission. The last thing you need when trying to avoid foreclosure is to pay a real estate agent's commission.
There are 3 additional reasons why selling your home by yourself is especially helpful when you are trying to avoid foreclosure:
1. Economists have shown that despite what the National Association of Realtors has said, FSBO'S get more money for their homes.
Why? Because FSBO'S are more motivated than realtors to get that last $1,000
or $2,000 or even more. Realtors want the deal done and a certain X amount rather than hold out for that extra;
2. While real estate agents may have more experience selling houses than you do, they have no more experience selling your house than you do; and
3. Foreclosure is a scary place to be and it also undermines a person's confidence no matter how the
threat of foreclosure came a bout. Wouldn't it be just great to be able to regain the control and
confidence you deserve by taking the bull by the horns and avoiding foreclosure by selling your
house by yourself.
Is It Easy To Sell Your House Alone? The numbers say no. The National Association of Realtor's did a survey a few years ago. The results suggest that most people who try to sell their homes alone, end up
contacting a realtor and listing with them. Of course, this survey was not conducted by the National Association of For Sale By Owner's,
but of Realtors. In any case, we can surmise that the majority of people who try to sell their house alone,
fail. Does that mean you will fail? No! By looking for and then buying this book, you have already taken your first step to success!
We have analyzed everything you need to know in order to sell your house alone and broken it
down into our proven 8 Steps to Success System™. Also, we know you already have the
following keys to success:
You have access to a computer;
You have the computer skills necessary in order to achieve success; and most importantly
You are motivated to succeed!
We wrote the book, FSBOComplete™ in order to give sellers the confidence to
sell their houses by themselves.
Even if you have tried to sell a house by yourself and failed, it may very well have been you were using techniques that weren't
designed for you. We know from having done it ourselves, from our own experience that you have what it takes to be successful.
You may not recognize it now, but by that time you work your way through our program, you will be successful!
Before leaving FSBOComplete, why not take a minute and download our FREE Get Started Guide to get you
started as a for sale by owner seller.
see also Stopping Foreclosure NOW
