Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure

Due to a job layoff and problems with unemployment insurance, we recently found ourselves in danger of foreclosure. All of our savings were depleted, and after numerous calls to the mortgage company, we became desperate. Five unanswered phone calls, two emails, a contact to our senator and a complaint submitted provided nothing. Working with your company can prove to be very difficult. It is said they do not wish to foreclose, but they don't seem eager to help. We had almost resigned ourselves to losing our home, when I got creative and did some research. I have discovered a few things that work to help you to either avoid or halt foreclosure.

1) First of all, document all conversations with your mortgage company and their loss mitigation department. They will claim they have called you or talked to you on a certain date. Keep records of all phone calls, whom you talked to, and a synopsis of the conversation. This will go a long way to helping your case if you should go into foreclosure. If an attorney is needed later, he will ask for your contact records.

2) If you call your company and they refuse to respond, or lie and say they have responded, contact HUD. They have a counseling line for foreclosure prevention called HOPE. Their phone number is 1-888-995-HOPE. You will be assigned a counselor who will go over your budget. They will then ask what you would like the solution to be. In my case, I was asking for a forbearance until a modification could be worked out. The counselor will then contact your lender, and they have access to foreclosure prevention specialist that you yourself can not contact. They will try to work out a preliminary plan with you and your mortgage company. In my case, it did not work. It was not HOPE's fault, but my lender, who couldn't find the application for the modification after we filled it out on thre phone. Calling HOPE is at least a start in the right direction.

3) After keeping notes of phone calls, and calling HOPE, your next step should be to lodge a complaint. I actually lodged three complaints, 1 via phone and 2 via email. Of course, you have to have a complaint. In my situation, my mortgage companies refusal to talk to me or return phone calls constituted a complaint. Since, I have received a letter, stating they were trying to call me. However, I have no calls recorded on my phone or messages waiting. If they called, they simply called when I was away from home, received no answer, and hung up. In my book, that doesn't constitute an attempt to get in touch with me. Be persistent. If you don't get a response the first time you lodge a complaint and try again until you get a response. After three weeks, I now have the name and number of the person who was trying to contact me.

4) Goggle your mortgage company and see if you can come up with the email or name of a higher up in the company. I am either extremely luck or blessed. I found a Fannie Mae PDF file that was emailed to a person of authority at my mortgage company. I wrote her via email, and never received a response. However, after writing my story down and emailing it to her, the next day my complaint was expedited, and my loss mitigation specialist finally returned my call after one month. I truly believe I contacted an important person who forwarded my request.
5) if you are facing foreclosure, don't hesitate to play rough with them. After all, you are ready to lose your home, so don't be afraid of the mortgage company. I always felt like, if I didn't do what they requested, I would be in trouble. Well, I'm in trouble anyway, so I gave being tough a try. In all of my complaints and my email to the higher up at the company, I told them what I would do if they didn't respond. I advised I would run off every negative review of their company and send it to my local television station or newspaper as I was sure they would be happy to do a negative story on them. I advised I would also send the same letters to my state attorney in Florida. I will never know if this worked. All I know is they are working with me now to formulate a modification

Be realistic in your expectations. Figure out if you can afford your home. In our case, we sat down and figured out rent would be about as much as our mortgage payment, so it is in our best interest to keep our home. We reworked our budget, and gave up some extras such as cell phones and dinners out. Vacations are a thing of the past, at least for the next couple of years. Your priority should be to keep your home. Fun can still be had cheaply at dollar menus, free outdoor concerts, or family picnics. Everyone has to reward themselves for their hard work. Just remember, that if you decide to keep your home, your mortgage company can be fought.. Hopefully, a few of these tricks can help you to at least get your mortgage company to talk to you.

My last threat to my mortgage company was that I would do a review of them on Associated Content. I advised that what the review said depended on their resolution of my mortgage problem. I told them that articles on AC show up high on Goggle search and anyone could read how unwilling they were to help customers. Within a few weeks, that review will be here. What it says depends on the outcome. Hopefully mortgage company x will have a positive review.