Posts Tagged ‘auction’
Foreclosure Help – Are You At Risk?
Anyone who owns a home worries about foreclosure at one point or another. This leads you to wonder how you get foreclosure help. There are services out there to help stop foreclosure. But the first step is recognizing when you might be at risk of being foreclosed on in the first place.
The most obvious sign that you might soon need foreclosure help is if you miss a payment. The time line for foreclosing and notifying you of a foreclosure varies by state, so you may not have as long to catch up as you think. As a general rule, you are sent a letter and telephoned the first time you miss a payment. By a second missed payment your lender will likely be calling consistently for an explanation. Give the best explanation you can. Be sure to explain what you are doing to resolve the situation. Making contact with a housing counselor at this point can help stop foreclosure, you may still be able to make a payment to avoid any further action.
A third missed payment is where problems really start. You will get a “demand letter” or a ‘notice to accelerate”. Basically this means that you have 30 days to bring your mortgage current or make payment arrangements or the lender will start foreclosure. Lenders are unlikely to accept anything less than the total amount due if you haven’t made other arrangements by now. If you haven’t sought foreclosure help by this time, this is the time to do so. When a fourth payment is missed and the 30 days in the demand letter expire, you will be referred to the lender’s attorney. Keep in mind that you incur all the attorney’s fees. Don’t feel hopeless though, you can still get foreclosure help.
The attorney will now schedule a sale of your home. This is the actual foreclosure date. The time between the demand letter and the sale varies; it can be as little as a few months. You will be notified by mail of the date of the sale. More than likely a notice will also be taped to your door, and the sale publicly advertised. You still have until the end of the sale to make payment arrangements and try to bring your mortgage current. A housing counselor can help stop foreclosure even at this late stage. If no arrangement can be made you will be required to vacate the property by the end of the sale.
Getting foreclosure help as early as possible is important. If your financial situation has changed recently, it may be good to seek some advice before the problem presents itself. Are you using your credit cards to buy necessities? Is your debt becoming unmanageable? Is it becoming more difficult to pay your monthly bills? If these things are becoming difficult, your mortgage likely will too. Seek assistance then to avoid needing foreclosure help.