In recent years, countless homeowners have faced the dreaded prospect of a foreclosure. Unfortunately too many homeowners have actually lost their homes. One thing a lot them had in common was they just didn't know what to do about it. Quite a few might have lost their jobs or had some sort of financial crisis. Perhaps an illness and medical bills, or they signed for mortgages they couldn't afford. Each situation has its differences and no one person or company can guarantee they can stop every foreclosure. Foreclosure proceedings generally wont officially start until the homeowner is at least three months past due on their payments. Once the homeowner gets to that situation, they should:
Contact the lender. This is probably the one most important thing the homeowner can do. It will inform them of your situation and what plans you might have to correct the situation. You must understand that it does not profit the lender to take the home from you. They actually don't want it. They want the payments. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the situation. They might not even know if you are still occupying the property or if you left it. By contacting them, you let them know you are serious about trying to keep your home. Speaking with the lender will also let you know where they stand and what kind of time frames they are working with.
Ask for a revised payment plan. If you have any funds or income available, see what they can accept from you on a temporary basis. As long as you have some reasonable amount of funds to offer, it works in your favor. The lender might allow you to skip a payment and add it to the end of the loan. They can possibly modify the terms of the whole contract so you will have lower monthly payments.
Consider putting the home up for sale. Don't forget, your home still has value. If you can sell it at market value or close to it, you might be better off. The biggest problem with that is you will have only a short time frame to get it done. You cannot put the property on the market without the lenders approval once foreclosure proceedings have begun. This would not be considered a short sale if the lender gets all funds that are owed to them.
Think about a short sale. A short sale is the sale of the property for less than what is still owed on it. You would need the lenders approval for this to happen. A short sale and a foreclosure are pretty close in negative consequences. If you do pursue a short sale, it would be best to obtain the services of a realtor or someone who is experienced in doing short sales. That is because there is a lot of complicated paperwork involved.
In any case, the best thing to do when a foreclosure is pending is to become pro active immediately. Time will be a crucial factor.