I have cancer and missed alot of work. Al. sent me a foreclosure letter!! What can I do? I need answers Fast.?
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It's good that you at least talked to an attorney. Bankruptcy looks like it might be a good option for you if you're unable to pay your bills otherwise. It will obviously affect your credit for a number of years afterward, but at least you will be cleared of most of your debts. Taking out more loans obviously isn't the answer. If you have a copy of one of the payments the lender said you didn't make, submit a copy in writing to the company and send a confirming letter to that effect. Also, consider changing your phone number or just using a cell so that they aren't constantly harassing you.
You may also want to consider government assistance to help you. I'm sure your attorney can give you information about that option, or you could research the different available programs online. Unfortunately, sometimes you may have to swallow your pride and take help where you can find it.
don't you have some kind of disability insurance that they made you take when they approved the mortgage?
Here's what Dave Ramsey has to say about bill collecters:
"If their mouths are moving, they're LYING." You really need to check out his website and get some good advice. I don't have much in that area, but you know what - if your stuff goes into collection, so what? But you do want to save your house, which I don't think they can take. Also according to new legislation, bankruptcy as far as medical bills is going the way of student loans - bankruptcy does not protect you from them. But if it's just missing work and late house payments - try talking to them BUT ONLY WHEN THEY WILL ACT LIKE AN ADULT and not threaten you. That is illegal. If that happens then hang up after explaining to them that when they can talk like an adult and have an adult conversation then you can talk. But trust me, they do not want you in forclosure any more than you want to be in forclosure. EVERYBODY looses that way. The bank, them, you, everyone. It sounds like it was good you kept your paperwork... they obviously relize they were wrong. Can you get a roommate to help with bills for a while? Rent space out for storage in your house? Something low-impact job wise while you are recovering? I hope so - God bless you - I hope everything turns out ok. Can you get any help from your church?
Here's a list of various ways that you might be able to stop foreclosure. The chances of any of them working will depend on all of the circumstances: how much money you have, the amount of equity in the property, etc. But hopefully, it'll give you some better ideas than just bankruptcy (which may be an option but certainly isn't the most beneficial from your situation).
1. Save up and get current on the mortgage by paying back the payments you've missed, plus the interest, late fees, attorney fees, etc. Understand that there are often thousands of dollars of extra charges that are added once you start missing payments and especially if the lender hires a law firm to pursue the foreclosure.
2. Work with the lender to put together a repayment plan, which would require you to put down part of the amount you are behind now and pay back the rest over a period of months, along with you current monthly payment. Usually, repayment plans can be worked out through your lender's loss mitigation department, and will result in you paying almost twice as much per month as your regular mortgage payment. This is to help you get caught up on the payments you missed while you are paying your original monthly obligation.
3. Work with the lender to modify the terms of the loan to say that the missed payments are spread out over the life of the loan or put on the back end of the loan. This is called a mortgage modification or loan modification. Some lenders will not do this because they do not hold the paper to be able to modify it. This is especially true for mortgage servicing companies, who only service their loans and collect payments, but who do not own the loans.
4. Refinance -- find a hard money lender or traditional lender that will consider foreclosure refinance loans. Qualifications include lots of equity and lots of income, since your interest rate will probably be over 10%. Foreclosure refinance loans can be difficult to qualify for and may result in higher monthly payments, but they are a good way for homeowners to get a fresh start with a new note and new lender.
5. If you have an FHA loan, you can get a one-time loan from the FHA that will bring you current and is placed as a lien on the property that you would have to pay back if you sell or refinance the home. This is called a partial claim. You would have to contact the FHA directly for this one time payout to get you caught back up on your mortgage.
6. Sell to a private investor or friend/family member and lease/rent the property back from them. That clears off the foreclosure loan on the property and uses someone else's good credit to get a new loan and allows you to stay in the property. Investors can also work out short sales on properties, allow they usually do this in the hope of flipping the property by reselling it quickly at a profit.
7. Bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure process, but is usually an expensive alternative to setting up a repayment plan, mentioned above. Attorney fees, trustee fees, court costs, and high monthly payments cause a lot of people to fail their bankruptcies. Only consider bankruptcy if you desperately want to prevent foreclosure and if you have a significant amount of income you can dedicate towards the bankruptcy payments.
8. Short sales are a good option if you owe more on the property than it is currently worth. A short sale means the bank accepts less than what they are actually owed, and would allow you to get out of the loan, at least. The bank would not be able to come after you for the rest of the loan amount, since, by accepting a lower amount, they forgive the rest of the debt owed on the mortgage.
9. Sell outright if the property is worth enough and you have a willing and able buyer. List the house yourself of through a local real estate broker. In some cases, it is the right decision just to unload the house to stop foreclosure and focus on repairing your credit until you can purchase a new, more affordable home in a few years.
10. If 1-9 do not work, you can offer the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which means you're voluntarily giving the property back to the bank and they are agreeing that the property is payment in full of the loan. This is not much better than a foreclosure, and you have to leave the property anyway, but it will prevent the sheriff sale and eviction process. The bank will not be able to ask for any extra money or sue you for a deficiency judgment, because they accept the property itself as satisfaction of the loan.
11. If 1-10 do not work, you can just move out and walk away and forget about the property. This is definitely not recommended if you care about your credit and plan to borrow money for several years, but foreclosure should teach you not to rely on banks to help you out when you face a hardship. All they really do is promise great deals when you think of going with them, and then throw you to the foreclosure dogs if you miss a payment. Many homeowners simply walk away because the foreclosure situation is so intimidating, but, as listed above, there are numerous options that are better than just giving up on the property.
Hope that explains what options you might have to be able to stop foreclosure and save your home. Good luck.
ForeclosureFish
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