If you’ve gotten a foreclosure notice of default and want to know what the heck is going on, keep reading.
Having this protection can make it harder for a lender to take your house.
However, with so many homes going through foreclosure, the default notice may not even be read by a human being. In fact, some companies have been known to send out thousands of default notices without ever sending a letter directly to the homeowner telling them they’re in default or giving them any information about how to deal with their loan problem.
In most states, lenders aren’t required to give you proof that they sent the foreclosure notice of default until after it’s been foreclosed and sold at auction. This means that you could lose your home months before you find out there was even a problem with your foreclosure notice.
Back before US law required a notice of default, people were sometimes foreclosed on without any warning.
Taking action during the foreclosure process can allow people to save their homes from foreclosure. However, you need to act quickly before it’s too late and your chances of saving your home are reduced or even eliminated.
The first thing that a person should do is present a home loan modification application to the bank. There have been reports of banks taking months just to figure out whether a homeowner qualifies for a mortgage refinance, which would allow them to stay in their home longer with affordable payments. The worst part about this is that many times homeowners never find out why they were turned down when they apply for a loan modification.
Here are a few key steps you should take:
1) Stay calm and don’t panic.
Don’t make any rash decisions that could throw your life up in the air.
Your main goal should be to throw out any and all rumors you hear about short sales and foreclosure, and focus on the facts: whether you can qualify for a loan modification (that’s right I said “loan modification”), if you need to sell your property, or if waiting will solve your problem. If you truly do not know where you stand, ask questions until you do. Don’t let people tell you what to do without knowing all of your options first. Unless they read this blog (ha). These are choices that ultimately have to feel right for YOU!
2) Educate yourself.
Learn everything you can about the foreclosure process in your state so that you know what’s happening and what’s coming up next.
3) Gather your resources.
Don’t wait until you have 100% of your training and funding in place before building community interest! A lot of people think they will just build it and they will come. Well, that doesn’t really work as anyone who has tried to start a Facebook page or an e-mail list knows. You need people! And if nobody knows about your idea, then how will they support the project by sharing knowledge or contributing money? So don’t go for this “build it and they will come” business…you gotta be out there talking about your plans long before the day comes when you ask people to pony up their hard-earned cash for something that does not exist yet.
4) Learn your options.
Exploring these options carefully is going to be the best thing you can do for yourself. We’ll give you a fair All-Cash offer if you need to sell your home quickly, but there are many other options that may be available to you.
What can I do about foreclosure? The solution that often works best is a short sale. However, the bank has 2 options on how they choose to handle it which are either by “Forbearance Agreement” or “Sale of Property” (Fannie Mae) or “Delegated Authority Sale Approval” (Freddie Mac). This will dictate how long before the property goes back to them and the process of actually selling it.
5) Communicate.
The banks involved don’t want your property. They want money, and what you say matters a lot. You can slow down or stop the foreclosure process if you take the appropriate action.
Want to know more?