Answers For Owners Blog

1. Do Not Avoid Your Lender

It is human nature to avoid any situation we feel we are not equipped to deal with. However, if you are behind on mortgage payments and need to stop home foreclosure to remain in your home, avoiding the situation is only counterproductive. Once the foreclosure process has begun, the only thing that will stop the foreclosure process is for you to do something. If you choose to avoid your lender and do nothing to stop the foreclosure, then the foreclosure process will inevitably take your home. Stay in touch with your lender, and provide them with current and accurate contact information.

2. When You First Fall Behind on Your Mortgage Payments, Write Your Lender a Hardship Letter

Lenders are people just like you and I. If some owed you money and could not pay, you would feel much better if they communicated with you and explained their current situation and when they may be able to repay you. Lenders are no different. Many homeowners who refuse seek foreclosure advice do not realize that by writing a Hardship Letter and sending it to your lender, you may me able to delay or even avoid foreclosure. If your financial situation will be improving soon, your lender may decide to give you some additional time to catch up your payments. The best way to stop home foreclosure is to avoid foreclosure altogether.

3. Ask Your Lender if They Can Offer You About Any Foreclosure Advice or Foreclosure Alternatives

You are not the first person to fall behind on mortgage payments, and you won't be the last. Many lenders have Workout Departments that can give free foreclosure help that can help you stop home foreclosure or avoid foreclosure altogether. Before you talk to an attorney or consider filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure, find out if your lender can offer you free foreclosure advice and get you back on track.

4. If You Get Foreclosure Advice From a Third Party, Avoid Foreclosure Scams At All Cost

The big problem with a scam artist is that they look and sound like legitimate business people! There are more "Avoid Foreclosure" and "Pay Us To Stop Home Foreclosure" scams than ever more. As foreclosure rates rise and more and more owners seek foreclosure alternatives to help stop home foreclosure, the number of scams will only increase. The best way to avoid foreclosure scams to make sure you are dealing with a company that will at least provide an initial free consultation, references, and has been in business at least two years. Avoiding foreclosure scam artist that can ask for large amounts of money up front or promise to stop home foreclosure as soon as they receive payment can save you time and money.

5. If Possible, Keep Your Other Bills Current

There are many legitimate companies that offer financial help or loans for people in foreclosure. They can help stop home foreclosure by loaning the money you need to catch up on your mortgage payments or by refinancing your property with a new loan, thus paying of your lender and avoiding foreclosure. If you are behind on all of your bills, your credit score will most likely be too low to qualify for this type of loan, called a Foreclosure Bailout (a special type of loan designed specifically for people in foreclosure). I have seen consumers with a mortgage and several other small monthly payments (less than $20) lose their home because they stopped paying all of their bills. Avoiding foreclosure with a loan is one of the best ways to save your home, so if you can stay current on your other bills this is a viable option to stop home foreclosure and is some of the best foreclosure advice anyone can give you.

Tags : Foreclosure

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Posted In: Foreclosure

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If you are a homeowner who declared bankruptcy to stop foreclosure, you are probably sighing a sigh of relief. However you also may be feeling the pressure of making your new, larger monthly trustee payment. You may be asking yourself, "Can I sell my home even though I am in a Chapter 13 plan?" The answer is yes - But it is not as easy as calling us up and saying - "Rich, I want you to buy my home today".

There are a few things we can do to help. First, we can try and get the Trustee to lift the stay on your home and approve the sale. This is going to be hard to do, but not impossible. It all depends on you specific situation and on the total amount of secured creditors are listed in your case.

You also have the ability to voluntarily remove yourself from bankruptcy protection and we can try and negotiate a short sale with your lender.

Both of these options are available to homeowners who wish to sell their homes, but they also come with their own set of risks which must be weighed. It is important to understand the results of the decisions you make when selling your property, stopping foreclosure or declaring bankruptcy. You should always weigh all options available to you and consult with a qualified attorney.

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Posted In: Foreclosure , Bankruptcy

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Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 18 or so months you have to know that foreclosure rates across the nation have been skyrocketing. Many of the experts are blaming the low interest adjustable rate loans that people took out when the market was red hot. These great teaser loans allowed them to buy homes they normally would not be able to afford. Mortgage brokers that were writing inappropriate loans for home that they had to know people could not continue to afford are also to blame.

Thank goodness we have all learned our lesson and are changing our ways!

Then I saw this press release from First Atlantic Mortgage Services.

Looking to become a home owner? First Atlantic Mortgage Services (www.[URL INTENTIONALLY REMOVED].com) offers two new loan plans to help mortgage applicants buy the house of their dreams -- no matter what the cost.

Nice job - keep throwing new people into the foreclosure pool for the sake of making a buck. There is surely a special place in hell for these people.

Tags: Foreclosure : Mortgage : New Jersey

UPDATE: 4:55 PM 7/19/2007: At least these guys are starting to get it.

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Recently the New Jersey Appellate Division issued a decision that is important for family members who inherit property when their relatives pass away. What did the Court say? When you inherit property, make sure you keep the mortgage payments current or lose it at sheriff sale.

The Chancery judge did not abuse his discretion in denying appellant’s motion to vacate the sheriff’s sale on her deceased mother’s property, as the motion was not based on allegations of fraud, accident, surprise, mistake or irregularities in the conduct of the sale. Appellant’s sole claim is that she did not know the sale was scheduled for the date on which it was held. However, her own affidavit negates that claim. Moreover, the mortgage fell into arrears two and one-half years after appellant was appointed administratrix of her mother’s estate, and she had ample notice that the foreclosure was proceeding. Finally, the record demonstrates that appellant was given an extension of time to redeem even after the sheriff’s sale, but failed to take action, other than moving to vacate the sale. Far from being “misled by a realtor,” as she claims, the record reveals that the realtor presented her with several opportunities to redeem and sell to a willing buyer, but she declined the offers.

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Posted In: Foreclosure , Court Decisions & Legislation , Estate / Probate

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Remember back in 2004 / 2005 when the market was red hot and if you owned a home you were constantly receiving solicitaions to refinance your existing mortgage into an low interest ARM? The come ons were all the same: Cash Out Your Equity - Pay Off Credit Cards - Take A Vacation - Remodel Your Kitchen/Bath. Nobody believed that the market value of their home was so off and was also no way that when the market corrected itself the amount they had mortgaged would be more than the home's value.

Unfortunately for many homeowners lured into borrowing cheap, low interest money, that is exactly what has happened. From the Consumerist - Subprime Meltdown: Doomsday Coming in October For The Subprime Mortgage Industry

Many consumers who signed up for adjustable rate mortgages in 2004 and 2005 will see their mortgage payments jump this October, according to CNNMoney. With foreclosure rates already as high as one foreclosure filing for every 656 households in the US, this can't be good news.

From CNNMoney:

"In October alone more than $50 billion in ARMs will reset," according to Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody's Economy.com. That's a record, according to Zandi.

So, what exactly will happen to the more than two million homeowners whose ARM's will reset in October?

A buyer in 2005 with poor credit and limited means might have signed on for a $200,000 2/28 hybrid ARM, locking in a fixed rate of 4 percent for two years. After paying $955 a month, his bill would now be set to spike to $1,331, a 39 percent increase.

The chief economist for the Mortgage Banker's Association estimates that about 600,000 of these homeowners will get into trouble, and about 300,000 of them will lose their homes. How did this happen?

"There were increasingly poor quality loans made starting in the spring of 2005," he said, "with the poorest of all made during the fall of 2006."

Lenders approved many borrowers who had little chance of being able to afford the payments two and three years out. They approved applications without any proof of income or assets ("liar loans") and others that barely could make the low teaser-rate payments. Some borrowers chose interest-only ARMs, which left the principal of the loan untouched

For an insider's look at the shady techniques subprime lenders used to foist ARM loans on unsuspecting people who did not know they couldn't afford them, check out this story from NPR about mortgage lender Ameriquest.

If you are a homeowner who has an ARM that already has, or is about to reset to a higher interest rate, and you do not have enough equity to refinance, talk to us about possible solutions that will prevent foreclosure and ruining your credit.

Technorati Tags - ARM : Subprime : Mortgage : Foreclosure : Credit

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Posted In: Foreclosure , Mortgage , News

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If you are a homeowner trying to stop foreclosure, your lender may be able to arrange a repayment plan based on your financial situation and may even provide for a temporary reduction or suspension of your payments. This is known as a special forbearance. You may qualify for this if you have recently experienced a reduction in income or an increase in living expenses. Things To Know: (1) You must furnish information to your lender to show that you will be able to meet the requirements of the new payment plan. (2) Forbearance is a temporary solution only lasting about 3 months on average and the suspended payments are added onto the loan.

Contact us if you would like to know more about special forbearances and other ways you can stop foreclosure.

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Posted In: Foreclosure

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