Foreclosure Options
Everywhere in the media you will notice some sort of headline or story about the slowing real estate market. Interest rates have slowly ticked up the past months while buying has slowed down to almost a halt in some parts of the country. Some people who spent too much on their homes betting on a never ending housing boom are now facing foreclosure.
If you are behind on your mortgage or already facing the foreclosure process, it is important to learn about the process and know what your options are. Time is of the essence when you are behind on your mortgage.
Legally, lenders are able to start the foreclosure process after 30 days of non-paying (just one miss payment). However, nowadays, most lenders wait till you missed 2 payments to contact you. The lenders will start reporting the late payments to the major credit bureaus that will no doubt decrease your credit score. That makes it harder to refinance or get a loan in the future.
After 90 days, lenders usually will file a notice of default with the local county courthouse saying the foreclosure procedures will be starting unless you pay all the owed mortgage missed. Some lenders wait as long as a year to file a notice of default.
After a lender has filed a notice of default, borrowers only have about 90 days to make up the owed mortgage or else the lender will sendout a notice of sale which sets the date for when the home will be auctioned off or sold.
So what options do you have if you receive a notice of default or are behind? We have some options, not all listed below:
If you are behind on your mortgage or constantly finding it difficult to keep up with the monthly payments, it may be a good time to consider examining your budget to see if you really can afford the home.
Some people are very tied to their home even if they can't afford it. Sometimes it may be a good idea to simply sell the home to prevent the home from being foreclosed and just move on to a cheaper home with payments you can afford or simply rent for a while.