Are you thinking of packing and leaving because of being behind in your mortgage payment? At this point, any wrong move you take puts your home at risk of foreclosure. Therefore, you must follow the following steps to avoid foreclosure and protect your home.
- Seek For A Forbearance Agreement
Request that the bank grants you a forbearance. The bank will only give it to you if they verify that your reasons for missing payment are valid. These reasons might include sudden illness or unforeseen salary decrease. A forbearance will either lower your payable amount or suspend your payment for some time. There is a need to discuss with your lender to agree on these terms. Assure your lender that you will solely adhere to the new payment plan to cement this agreement.
Once the period you were given elapses, your lender might make the following arrangements. One option is for you to continue paying the initial amount with an additional amount to cover the missed payments. Secondly, you can pay the missed payments at once via a repayment plan. Alternatively, your lender may agree that you defer the unpaid amount up to when the loan ends.
- Ask For Help
It might be a very demanding time for you if most options you try are bearing no fruits. Ask for help because you will need it to make major decisions as you prevent a foreclosure. You can consider getting help from organizations. The folks at https://www.fight13.com/foreclosure-service from such organizations will help you find foreclosure defense from qualified lawyers. Moreover, once you are alerted of a foreclosure lawsuit, the organization will inform you on what steps to take.
- Opting For Mortgage Modification
Modifying your mortgage will give you chances of refinancing it or extending its term. There are many mortgage modification options that you can settle for. Talk to your lender so that they may allow you to make payments within your earnings. To reach this agreement, you must convince your lender that your financial constraints are temporary, and you will soon get back to your feet.
- Refinance
As a borrower, you have the right to refinance your mortgage by taking a hard money loan. However, your lender could be reluctant to refinance your mortgage if they consider you to be credit unworthy. It may be difficult for you since you have a pending closure. If these two reasons hinder you from refinancing your loan, you can consider seeking the help of a private lender. Unfortunately, private lenders have ridiculous interest rates but if it is your only way to avoid foreclosure, go for it.
- Short Refinance
Besides refinancing through the ways mentioned above, you can also ask for a short refinance. It involves your lender agreeing to forgive some parts of your debt and refinancing the remainder into a new loan.
- Reinstate Your Mortgage
Reinstatement of a loan involves paying it in a lump sum; paying the missed amounts plus the interest, fees, and expenses. If you have money at hand, you can consider reinstating your mortgage. Each country, according to the set laws, allows homeowners some time to reinstate. Do not solely depend on the state to give you reinstatement time because some lenders include it while agreeing on the payment plan. Interestingly, most lenders prefer making a workable plan for you to pushing for your home’s foreclosure. Consult your loan servicer to determine how much time you have for reinstatement.
- Consider A Repayment Plan
You can only qualify for this option if you are not way behind in your mortgage payments. It allows you to make arrangements to make up for the overdue payment while staying up to date with the current payable amounts. Therefore, you must prove the financial ability to cater for the missed and ongoing payment. Your lender will grant you a specific amount of time to fulfill a repayment plan according to the current circumstances.
- Should You File For Bankruptcy?
Some people opt to file for bankruptcy to prevent their homes from foreclosure. However, this is a very delicate step to take. Filing for bankruptcy does not fully make your home immune to foreclosure; it only delays the process. If things go sour and your bankruptcy instated suspension gets canceled, your lender is allowed to ask for full payment. At this point, you can think of refinancing your loan. However, your already declared bankrupt state won’t sit well with creditors.
Employ a chapter 13 bankruptcy to delay foreclosure. Do not use a Chapter 7 bankruptcy except if you are currently on the loan payment. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will give you some quality time up to when your lender can benefit from an automatic stay.
As established earlier, this should not be your first step in countering a foreclosure. However, you can consider filing for bankruptcy if it will eliminate your other outstanding debts. Take this action under the counsel of a bankruptcy lawyer to know its advantages and disadvantages.
In conclusion, if you want to avoid foreclosure, you have to keep off from its causes. Make sure you do not get into excess debt, have enough emergency solving resources, get a home you can afford, and insure it.