Creditor Pushing Foreclosure

READER QUESTION

We tired to get a loan modification with a mortgage company but it was too late. We are desperate to stay in our home, Help!

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Bills.com Resident Expert
Dec 12, 2011
BILL'S ANSWER

The best advice I can offer you is to consult with an experienced consumer rights attorney in your state as soon as possible. The regulations governing foreclosure actions vary significantly from state to state, but they almost all require that the consumer be notified in writing of the date of the sale and given an opportunity to pay the delinquent balance before the foreclosure sale can go forward. At minimum, it sounds like your loan servicer may have neglected to properly notify you of the foreclosure sale, which may be grounds to have the sale reversed, even if it has already been finalized. An attorney who is familiar with your state foreclosure laws should be able to review the facts of your case and tell you what recourse may be available to you.

To find an attorney in your area who has experience in consumer law, you can contact your county or state bar association; you should be able to find your area bar association's contact information in the phone book or by searching on the internet. To read more about foreclosure, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Foreclosure page.

Another benefit to retaining an attorney is that he can negotiate on your behalf with your mortgage company. Being familiar with the applicable laws will make it much easier for him to sort out scare tactics from the lender's actual plans; this is one of the major benefits of seeking professional assistance in this type of situation. Hopefully, your attorney will be able to work out an affordable repayment plan with the lender, allowing you to continue making your regular mortgage payments and either paying the delinquency at the end of your loan term, or paying it in small monthly increments over the next several years.

If your attorney determines that your mortgage company is legally entitled to proceed with foreclosure, and is intent on doing so, he may recommend that you consider filing for bankruptcy protection to prevent the foreclosure from proceeding any further. For example, if you filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you may be able to include your delinquent mortgage balance with any other debts you have, giving you up to five years to pay it back. In addition, the bankruptcy court is one of the few entities that can force a creditor to stop foreclosure actions, so this may be a viable last resort if no other solutions are available. Learn more about bankruptcy at Bills.com.

I wish you the best of luck in your efforts to save your home, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,

Bill

bills.com

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