Fighting for Your Foreclosure Rights

As a homeowner, you always have rights in your foreclosure. Getting a straight answer or an accurate answer on what they are is not always easy. Your mortgage company can be of some help in this area but do not depend on them. It is quite likely that they do not know how foreclosure works in your state and that you have rights that are not in their best interest to disclose to you.

How foreclosure works in your state plays a large part in what your foreclosure rights are. Every state has unique laws when it comes to foreclosure. Knowing what they are and finding a way to use them to your benefit can be difficult. But even if your bank will not work with you, there are still legal options for you to save your home. And there are also people out there who can help you work with your lender. If you have an FHA or VA loan, there are certain rules that your lender must follow. You can contact people who can help you force your lender to work with you. There are also resources available from HUD to help you understand your rights and work with your lender.

Communication With Your Mortgage Company When They Are Foreclosing on Your Home

I had a difficult time making certain that I realized what my bank was expecting throughout my foreclosure procedure. There were just a couple of times where I actually figured out what they were needing of me. The remainder of the time, I supposed I realized what they required but discovered after the fact that I was incorrect.

A couple of vital affairs that you need to be positive you are absolutely clear on is what needs to be fulfilled for your financial hardship documents and any workout arrangements. If information is filled out wrong or if you are uncertain of the terms of your arrangement with them, the cost could very simply be your place. I understand that you do not desire to lose your place due to an oversight so please make certain that you understand the facts on these. Not being clear on some of your documentation when your mortgage company is foreclosing on your home can be awful.

The area that could be an problem in your financial hardship documentation is making sure that you furnished them with everything that they wanted. While I was working through foreclosure, one of my mortgage companies invariably lost documentation on a repeated basis. They did this with my financial hardship documentation also. I had to fax them the same paperwork twice. You may have to do the same thing. It depends on your mortgage company and on how well organized they are. Be positive that you understand what precisely it is that they want on your fiscal paperwork and what backup documentation they want. Ask questions if you do not get or are not clear on something. Also make positive to call them to verify that they received all of the necessary documentation.

Your workout understanding with them will also be another vital area. Be positive that you know exactly what it is that you are agreeing to. Again, ask questions if you do not understand something. There was some documents that my bank asked me to sign that I did not understand so I called and inquired of them what precisely it was for. Something that I wish I had completed and that I advise that you do is ask your mortgage company the name of every piece of documentation that they will be mailing you and what precisely it means. Do this before the paperwork is actually mailed to you so that you completely know what it is that you are handling.

In general, communication with your mortgage company while they are foreclosing on your home can be a challenge. That is why I recommend that you use the echo technique when you are speaking with them. It is fairly simple. Whenever you believe you know what the representative is trying to state and what it is that they want from you, repeat back to them, in your own words, what it is that you think they are saying. This helps in forestalling misunderstandings and will spare you headaches in the long run. May wish to even try this one out in your personal relationships.

Foreclosing Procedures on Your Home

Going through a foreclosing on your home is never easy. But you can be better prepared and at least know what to expect in your foreclosing procedures if you are armed with some knowledge about what you can expect during the process.

Each situation is unique but no matter what your situation is, you can expect to get legal documents from your lender's lawyer letting you know that foreclosure proceedings have been started. In my situation, it was a document that my bank's attorneys had filed with the court. In it they basically asked the court to establish a sale date for my house.

After this point, I was sent more documents that indicated when my sale date was scheduled for and gave me at least some info about what my rights were. If your state has a right of redemption period, this information may appear on this paperwork.

Your sale date gets published and then, unless you are able to stop it, your home gets sold. The foreclosing procedures themselves are not that complicated. The part that's difficult is finding a way to stop the foreclosure sale from happening.

Good News on the Foreclosed Homes Front

According to information reported by Realty Trac, the number of foreclosure filings for January 2009 is down 10% from December 2008. Does this mean that the efforts of lenders and of the government are working? Maybe yes and maybe no. Time will tell. If the downward trend continues, there may be hope that the efforts so far have at least stopped the bleeding. But more needs to be done. Just stopping the bleeding is not enough.

Developing a plan to figure out how to get rid of all of the foreclosed homes already on the market needs to be a priority and needs to be one sooner rather than later. And not everyone who wants to and who can has been able to get their home out of foreclosure. While banks have been better about working with homeowners, they still have a ways to go. Personally, I think that the banks need to or maybe should even be forced to look at their foreclosure policies and how they work with homeowners. In my own foreclosure, lies, half truths and deceit was abundant. Honest help was often difficult and sometimes impossible to get.

Hope for Short Sale Homes

If you are in foreclosure and are trying to get a short sale done on it, there may be hope for you. Legislation is currently in the works to provide an up to $15,000 tax credit to people who buy a home. Some of the restrictions on this would be that it would only be in effect for one year, it would only let people use it for purchases of a principal residence and if the house is sold within 2 years of the purchase, the credit would have to be recaptured.

But all in all, this looks like a good measure that will hopefully help jump start the struggling housing market. If you are in a home that you can no longer afford and are trying to sell your home through a short sale, this may help get you more willing buyers. For those of you who are losing your home to foreclosure but are trying to sell it through a short sale, this may be the light at the end of the tunnel.

The bill has not yet been signed into law and still needs to go through the House and be approved by President Obama.

Get Help With Foreclosure with HOPE for Homeowners

You can get help with foreclosure from a new program that was started this past fall called HOPE for Homeowners. The basis of this program is that you can get refinanced into a new loan that you are better able to afford.

As with all things with foreclosure, there is no guarantee that you will qualify for this program or that your lender will be able to provide this as an option in your particular situation. Before you get your hopes up that this may work for you and help with foreclosure in your situation, there are some things you should know.

There is an upfront mortgage insurance premium that you will have to pay and a yearly one after that. There is an equity and appreciation sharing clause. You will have to share part of the equity that you gain in your home with the federal government. So chances are that this is not going to be a permanent solution to help with foreclosure for you unless you want to share the equity you earn in your home with the federal government. You also cannot get any other kind of loan on the property (like a home equity loan) as long as you have this loan. The only exception to this is if the new loan is being used only to maintain the property. So you could not get a home equity loan to help you pay off other bills, you could only get one if you are using it fix your home.

The other thing you need to be aware of if you want to use this as a way to help with foreclosure is that there are some pretty strict requirements for even getting this kind of loan. You have to have gotten the loan on or before January 1, 2008. The mortgage payments that you have right now has to be more than 31% of your gross monthly income. You cannot have intentionally not made your mortgage payments. And you cannot own any other houses or other kinds of residential properties.

So why would you want to get this kind of loan to help with foreclosure? You obviously get to keep your home. You also get payments that you can more easily afford. If you are currently in an ARM, this will get you into a fixed rate loan. Because of how this program is structured, you will also automatically get a 3.5 percent equity in your home. If you currently owe more than what your home is worth, this may be a good option for you, provided that your lender will offer it. If you do owe more than what your house is currently worth and the lender agrees to this option, they end up taking a financial hit. Because of that, this may not be an option that your lender gives to you.

Free Help to Stop Mortgage Foreclosure

You are going to require help from others if you wish to stop mortgage foreclosure on your place. There is simply no way around it. It is alright to lean on others and learn from them throughout your foreclosure. Take advantage of the sources that offer free aid to stop mortgage foreclosure on your home. That is why they are there.

Obviously an effective place to start is within your own circle of friends and family. They may be able to aid you, either financially or with ideas or resources that you do not have. Or possibly you have friends that could aid you with things within your house so that you do not have to hire a handyman to fix something for you. If you desire to stop mortgage foreclosure, you are going to require other people to aid you. And who better to aid you than the people who love and care about you.

Another effective source of info is HUD counselors. They offer free advice and help on paths that you can stop mortgage foreclosure. There are local counselors in just about every major metropolitan area in the US. You can find out what counselors are close to you by either calling 877-HUD-1515 or at www.hud.gov.

Many areas have local foreclosure resources also. Your local county or government office may provide free courses on ways to stop mortgage foreclosure. Some states also provide a free hotline so that homeowners can talk to consumer credit counselors about their fiscal issues. These individuals can assist you in working out how to stop mortgage foreclosure on your house and can also help you in establishing your budget.

If you are having a tough time emotionally with your foreclosure and are thinking about suicide, another good resource is your local free suicide prevention hotline. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-TALK can direct you to your local suicide prevention hotline. They provide you someone to speak to you and to help. As someone who has considered suicide at various times in my life, I can tell you that no matter how awful things look now, they will get easier. You can survive this.

There is plenty of free help out there to help you stop mortgage foreclosure. You simply need to make sure that it is the right kind of assistance. People who ask you for money right away are generally not the true kind of help.

Costs of a Foreclosure Procedure

The money you will have to pay your mortgage company and the emotional toll involved are the greatest costs in a foreclosure procedure. You do not get to rewind time after foreclosure has already begun so if you are on the brink of foreclosure, I encourage you to do everything that you can to stop it. The costs involved after it has started are large and best averted.

The financial costs in a foreclosure procedure come in numerous ways. Once foreclosure has been started there are lawyer fees that start adding up. Bringing attorneys into it means that court costs are not far behind. Because I let my foreclosure procedure get as far as it did, I wound up having to pay for the publication of my foreclosure in local papers. This was just one of many of the prices that the county evaluated that I wound up having to pay. I also wound up having to pay the attorney fees for my lenders. All of these fees ended up being well over $4,000.

The other fees that my lenders assessed in my foreclosure procedure were "miscellaneous fees." My banks never did tell me why I had to pay any of those fees or even what they were for. These "miscellaneous fees" all by themselves cost me well over $2,000.

I highly recommend you to seek legal advise to to try to avoid some of the fees in your foreclosure procedure. A good lawyer can assist you in protecting your rights in a manner that you just cannot by yourself.

You know what the emotional toll is in your foreclosure if you are already in your foreclosure procedure, I do not need to tell you what they are. You live with them on a daily basis. If the foreclosure is on the house that you are residing in, the price is extremely high. Because then foreclosure is not only worrying about losing a house but it is about losing a home. You are concerned about where you will go if you lose your home. The battle for enough money to live and pay the bills is a daily struggle and it can often feel like a continuous uphill struggle. But no matter what your foreclosure procedure situation, there is sure to be a constant worry and stress over money.

Finding a way to manage all of these emotions during your foreclosure can be tough but you have to come up with a solution. One of the greatest paths to aid you in dealing with the emotional repercussions of your foreclosure procedure is to have family and friends close by who love and back you.