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Not meeting the loan modification requirements that the federal government has exacted is not exactly a news item. A majority of troubled home owners did not meet the terms. Before the plan there were already requirements difficult to meet and the administration just compounded them. Thus, the plan did not have nearly the effect the government thought it would.
Strategy Beyond Loan Modification
Anyway, in spite of that, it is still possible to hold on to your home even in the face of foreclosure. A working knowledge of the foreclosure process, along with a few not-so-secret strategies, can keep you in your home for the foreseeable future even if you cannot make your mortgage payments. This should tide you over until you have the wherewithal to finally land a loan modification.
Multiple Applications
A large majority of home owners who applied for a loan modification were initially declined. Many received denials on subsequent applications. These same applicants were then instructed to apply for an entirely different sort of loan modification plan. This became more and more difficult. At this point, with a little procedural smarts, it could be possible to get an approval on a new application or at least eliminate many of the hassles.
Remain On the Property
This is most important: The minute you walk away from the property, you have lost everything, even a few last stabs to remain the owner. You have lost the interest of the lender to work with you, you have lost the interest of any government involvement or relief. You have abandoned the situation along with all hope of alleviation.
Scrutinize Your Contract
Typically, contracts that are three to seven years old have any number of errors and these errors can be a good way to forestall your lender. Even the smallest error can become a powerful legal tool for putting up a fight to keep your property. News regarding robo-signers and rubber-stamp notaries do tend to make the efforts of lenders to foreclose quite a bit more complicated.
Letters of Distress and Foreclosure Hearings
Composing a letter of financial distress and giving it to your lender in a certifiable way is another method to forestall foreclosure. Be candid in it and tell the why and the how of your financial distress and how you propose to overcome it. You could file for a foreclosure hearing with your local court so you can explain to the judge and the lender, and for the public record, the details of your financial difficulties.
No Attorney Necessary
Moves such as this could put you in a good legal position to maintain hold on the property for a good length of time. And you do not need a lawyer to do this. In fact, being the lone citizen against the establishment will gain you time, and perhaps even sympathy. Just have a good working knowledge of the process and keep your strategies imbued with intelligence and thoughtfulness. Lenders are required to have expensive attorneys and this cuts into their bottom line and their time.
A Process Subject to Delay
No matter what financial misery has befallen you, foreclosure is a process and with some time, energy, thoughtfulness, that process can be delayed. Even if you presently have little or no income at all. Go to work for yourself to keep your home.
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