Preventing Foreclosure Proceedings

Every year there are over 8 million homeowners that find themselves fighting foreclosure. Many experts found that 12 million people are on the verge of foreclosure. Many of these people who are fighting foreclosure do not educate themselves on the process and do not realize that you can prevent foreclosure and you can save your home.

As a homeowner facing foreclosure you may various options that are available to you. Begin by checking on if you can have the loan reinstated. Just because you have missed a couple payments does not mean that that is the end of the road for you as a homeowner. By paying what you are behind on plus any fees and late charges that may have occurred you can efficiently stop the foreclosure process.

Foreclosing is an expensive endeavor for the bank. They would rather work with you then proceed with foreclosing on your home. Talk to your lender and see if they would be willing to work out a forbearance plan with you. If you have a FHA or VA loan, you may have even more options available to you. The bank can temporarily reduce your payments or suspend them all together if necessary.

Other more drastic options include selling your home. This does not always work because selling a home can take a considerable amount of time. If your home is listed with an agent it is still able to go into foreclosure. Time will still be working against you and you will need to be able to sell your home quickly. Many people will use a process called a "short sale." A short sale is when an individual offers to buy the house and pay the bank a certain amount of money that the house is worth although the bank may lose some money they are often happy to get paid what they can in such a situation. This may also be termed a "short payoff."

You may also be able to discuss with your lender about simply giving them the house back to cover your debt. In this situation you would give them a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. The bank, however, is not obligated to take the home and if they refuse to do so then you should file a Notice of Non-Acceptance with your county.

Many homeowners make their biggest mistake by not doing anything at all. They ignore the lender, they don't mention their problems and they simply lose their home. Many people believe that they don't have any options when they have many options that could avoid the foreclosure process all together or at the very least lengthen the process. Many people believe that bankruptcy is the answer but this is not necessarily true either. Bankruptcy may cover your other debts, but the home can still go into foreclosure and it will definitely not prevent you from going to foreclosure. Bankruptcy should only be used as a method to resolve the issue if you need more time, but not to simply stall from taking care of your problem.