If Foreclosure Looms
Posted at 2:45 PM, Sep. 14, 2006
Moving into a new home is so exciting! Even if it is an older home which needs work and is not brand new, it is exciting. And sometimes we stretch to make the payment to get the sparkling, new home we love, or for the home that is in a wonderful school district, or for the one with enough bedrooms for all the kids.
But if a buyer has stretched a little too much, sometimes a few months or a few years down the road, when the mortgage payment is due on the first of the month , there is not enough money in the bank account to pay it, and the payments start to be sent off later and later in the month, until there is not one payment, but TWO payments are due. And it may be difficult or impossible to catch up.
This can be due to unforeseen bills due to medical treatments, repairs on house or car, loss of a job, loss of a big contract by a self-employed person, bad money management, and for numerous other reasons.
Usually the mortgage company will start calling, sometimes as early as the 16th day after the payment is due. It is never pleasant to have bill collectors call you. And it may be tempting to ignore them...and not answer the phone. And you may be thinking that 'your ship will come in' and you will get money and be able to make up the payments. Can you spell D-E-N-I-A-L?
The brutal truth is that if you miss a mortgage payment, you may lose your home. The lender can foreclose, take your home away from you, and you will have to find a new place to live. And that is not pleasant, because your new lender/landlord will want a reference from the old one, and that will likely be impossible, when you have left your last home under bad circumstances. And you will have to start all over with rent deposits and new utilities on the new home.
What can you do to avoid losing your home? Read all letters from your lender. Contact your lender and explain the situation. Don't hide out! That only makes it worse!
The lender may be able to use some creative methods to help you keep your home. But you have to communicate with them. And you can't make empty promises to them. You have got to deliver what you promise, or tell them why you were unable to deliver.
Our next post will have some ways that some lenders work with an owner who is behind on payments.