| Free Tips to Prevent Foreclosure |
| By Credit Federal |
Published
07/20/2007
|
Home Loan
|
|
|
|
|
Free HUD Tips to Prevent Foreclosures
Calculate mortgage refinancing payments and interest.
Having trouble making timely mortgage payments? In light of predatory lenders who target bad credit people, HUD provides these tips to prevenue foreclosure:
1. Don't ignore the problem. The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.
2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem. Lenders have options to help borrowers through difficult financial times.
3. Open and respond to all mail from your lender. The first notices you receive will offer good information about foreclosure prevention options. Later mail may include important notice of pending legal action.
4. Know your mortgage rights. Find your loan documents and read them so you know what your lender may do if you can't make your payments. Learn about the foreclosure laws and timeframes by contacting the State Government Housing Office.
5. Understand foreclosure prevention options. Information about foreclosure prevention (also called loss mitigation) options can be found on the internet at www.fha.gov.
6. Contact a non-profit housing counselor. HUD funds free or very low cost housing counseling. Counselors can help you understand the law and your options, organize your finances and represent you in negotiations with your lender.
7. Prioritize your spending. Review your finances and see where you can cut spending in order to make your mortgage payment. Look for optional expenses-cable TV, memberships, entertainment-that you can eliminate. Delay payments on credit cards and other "unsecured" debt until you have paid your mortgage.
8. Use your assets. Assets-a second car, jewelry, a whole life insurance policy-can be sold for cash to help reinstate your loan. An extra job may bring in additional income. Even if these efforts don't significantly increase your available cash or your income, they demonstrate to your lender that you are willing to make sacrifices to keep your home.
9. Avoid foreclosure prevention companies. Many for-profit companies will contact you promising to negotiate a loan work out with your lender. While these may be legitimate businesses, they will charge you a hefty fee (often two or three month's mortgage payment) for information and services your lender or a HUD approved housing counselor will provide for free if you contact them. You don't need to pay fees for foreclosure prevention help-use that money to pay the mortgage instead.
10. Don't lose your house to foreclosure recovery scams. If any firm claims they can stop your foreclosure immediately if you sign a document appointing them to act on your behalf, you may well be signing over the title to your property and becoming a renter in your own home. Never sign a legal document without reading and understanding all the terms and getting professional advice from an attorney, a HUD approved housing counselor or trusted real estate professional.
Get personal finances under control and pay bills timely. Use our free personal budget software to track expenses so you can stop wasteful spending, and use our free bill reminder calendar so you send in your payments on time.
Free desktop software to balance checkbook entries, or use the software as a computer checkbook register.
|
Related Articles
Email this article to a friend - click here
Webmasters: Free Credit Content for Your Website!
Multiple ways to use our financial content:
*) You can use our RSS Feeds for automatic insertion and updates
*) You can simply link to this article
