Avoid Losing Homes to Foreclosure

There are 147 houses in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure in the Springfield, VA area. What could those folks have done to avoid losing homes to foreclosure? What can you do in the future if you get in financial trouble?

Foreclosure doesn’t arrive like lightning on a cloudy day. Like a thunderstorm, there are signs of approaching trouble:

• Are you are having difficulty paying the mortgage payment on time?
• Do you have very little savings for emergencies?
• Do you use credit cards to get to the next pay day?
• Are you only paying the minimum on your credit cards?
• Are you neglecting doctor and dental visits?
• Do you shrink at the ring of the phone?

What can you and your neighbors do to avoid losing homes to foreclosure?

• Contact your lender and level with them. Your banker does not want to own your house. When you come clean about your financial situation, he may be able to modify the loan, offer forbearance or give you repayment options.
• Know the Process and avoid losing homes to foreclosure. If you miss a few mortgage payments, you are in default. Your mortgage servicer will probably send a letter or two reminding you to get caught up, as well as call you to try to collect the payments. Don’t ignore your mail. Those first envelopes will contain helpful suggestions to get things under control. Then will come legal action. Ignoring those notices can cause you to lose everything When the lender issues a notice of default, you will have 60 to 90 days to cure the default to avoid losing homes to foreclosure. You can cure the default by bringing the loan current with the lender and paying the late fees
• In Virginia, foreclosures are judicial, which means the lender (the plaintiff) must file a lawsuit in state court. Here you have another opportunity to avoid default by responding to the court. If you file an answer, the lender cannot obtain a default judgment. Instead, the lender will either: seek a summary judgment or go to trial.
• Contact a credit counselor. The objective of most credit counseling is to help the creditor avoid bankruptcy, as well as provide basic education on financial management. Many counseling services also negotiate with creditors on behalf of the borrower to reduce interest rates and late fees.
• Contact a bankruptcy attorney. That sounds contrary to taking responsibility, but you need to know your options so you can make informed decisions.

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