need a specialist or someone who has experienced foreclosure and bankruptcy?
Aug.21, 2009 in
Bankruptcy
OKAY I AM IN FORECLOSURE ON MY HOME I AM A SINGLE MOM AND I CANT AFFORD PAYMENTS THE MORTGAGE CO LIED TO ME AND SAID THEY WOULD WORK WITH ME BUT NO THEY SAY THEY CANT SO MY QUESTION IS SHOULD I FILE BANKRUPTCY BEFORE THE HOUSE IS SOLD OR AFTER AND HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY CREDIT?
August 21st, 2009 at 4:21 am
The list of various methods to stop foreclosure that is presented below is a nearly comprehensive accounting of the most common ways homeowners can use to save their homes, either by staying in them and avoiding foreclosure, or by getting out of a bad situation with as much of their financial lives intact as possible. There are really no magical ways to end the foreclosure process — but there are enough tools that homeowners have available, that they can choose from a number of options to help them out of their hardship situations.
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.
Those are the most common options that can be used to stop foreclosure. There are a few others (suing your bank, etc.), but they involve much more cost and legal involvement and may not end up stopping the foreclosure process in the end.
Hope that helps.
ForeclosureFish
August 21st, 2009 at 4:21 am
If you are not going to keep the house and file a chapter 7, you can file before or after the sale. It might be slightly less bad on your credit if you file before the sale if that somehow prevents the foreclosure from being reported on your credit. Otherwise it won’t make much difference. Now if you wanted to attempt to save your house with a chapter 13 (which it sounds like you don’t plan to if you can’t afford the mortgage) you’d have to file before the sale.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:21 am
If you want to keep your home, it would be good to immediately file bankruptcy. Yes filing would affect your credit. The foreclosure will also be reported to the credit bureaus. If your home is already in foreclosure, you need to hurry contact an attorney. They will be able to issue an automatic stay. That will prevent the foreclosure, allowing you to stay in your home and make the mortgage payments thru the bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is a repayment plan. Money will be taken out of your payroll to make all monthly payments to your creditors. Chapter 13 is a 5years plan at the max. Once the bankruptcy is discharged all your payments should be current, if not paid off. Of course, everything in life has it pros and cons. The main thing to consider is your home, do you want it or not. If you have being in your home for a long period of time, I will try to save it. Being that you are a single mom, I understand what you are facing. I am also currently in Chapter 13, trying to save my home. I have two years to have it paid off. My children are now 22, 19 and 16years old. Only the 16 year old left at home. If you loose your home, it will be rather hard to get another one. Your family will be without a home unless you can go back to your parents. The foreclosure will bring down your credit score as the bankruptcy. Darn if you do and darn if your don’t. Good Luck, on whatever you decide to do.