Facing Foreclosure? Don’t Panic
By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | March 5, 2008
Today’s Wiki Wednesday Feature: Facing Foreclosure? Don’t Panic
Way back in August, we did a post “Help in Avoiding Foreclosure,” and now, seven months later, it is clear that the topic isn’t going away any time soon. As a matter of fact, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures will continue to rise, further eroding home values in the process.
My feeling is that we can’t talk enough about this topic since it affects us all. You might not be in foreclosure, but a home next to yours is. Or, perhaps several homes down the street. Their reduced values affect your home’s value, too. Today’s Wiki Wednesday feature article “Facing Foreclosure? Don’t Panic,” by Wendy Smith, a broker in Clearwater, FL, lists things to do and not to do. If you are in trouble, and you’re having problems making your mortgage payments, the numero uno thing you should not do is nothing. Weird as it is, lots of people who are facing foreclosure take no action whatsoever. Whether it’s embarrassment, sheer avoidance, or perhaps even a bit of denial, you must contact your lender to try to work out an agreement.
The Fed is working on several strategies to try to slow the foreclosure flood, but in the meantime, foreclosure victims need to:
1. Ask for help
2. Contact your lender
3. Beware of scammers who arrive on your doorstep to “help you”
4. Do #1 and #2 ASAP
As Wendy summarized in her article:
“The truth is that your lender does not really want to take your home from you. They are motivated to bring your loan current, not own your house. But you must be able to afford the payments. They will foreclose - they want their money and do not care if you lose your equity in the process. They want their payments, not your property. ”
Don’t hit that panic button. But, DO start taking action, if you need to.
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- Categories: Real Estate, Wiki Wednesdays, Zillow
Comments
5 Comments so far
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Free Foreclosure Help on March 5, 2008 10:50 am
I agree that this is a topic that needs to be out in the public eye 24/7 since it is affecting litterally millions of Americans.
I wanted to give your readers some tips also since I have been offering free foreclosure help online and counseling homeowners for the past 9 months, with 29 verified “loan modifications.”
1. You can do this yourself
2. Be prepared to make at least 30-100 phone calls, emails, faxes, letter etc. in order to get their attention. Lenders and servicers are bottle necked and you cand and will get lost in the loss mitigation system, if you do not keep on top of your negotiator.
I spoke with a Countrywide rep yesterday and she said they she has 600-700 cases that she is handling. That is about 500 too many. Now you know what you are up against. Be the one out of the 700 that she remembers.
3. If you think you might be the victim of predatory lending then you most likely are. Contact an attorney right away. They can use legal violations to help fix your loan and save your home.
4. Beware of Realtors and loan officers that have reincarnated as “loss mitigation specialists”. Many will take an up front fee and do absolutley nothing.
Like Mike said, “Just DO IT!” and like Moe says, “If you can afford your home and just not your loan, Then you can save your home!”
Regards,
Moe Bedard
Joe Scrofani on March 6, 2008 4:32 pm
I am a REALTOR and a pre foreclosure specialist. I have “loss mitigators” and we take NO FEE at all to assit people. I give them several options. Some options are to refinace, bankruptcy and short payoff. So, I agree you must be aware of some people who want to take advantage of this Real Estate.
Take Care,
Joe Scrofani
James Orr @ Analyzed Deals on March 7, 2008 4:59 pm
There are quite a few title companies now offering services to do short sales to assist people with selling their homes (if that is what they want to do) instead of foreclosure.
If your best option is to sell and go back to renting, which is the case for quite a few homeowners that only qualified because of the teaser rates, then this might an option to research.
James
Condo on March 7, 2008 11:12 pm
The scammers out there are ridiculous. How serious can you take hom made signs on the street corner? I talked to a lady last week who was told by an “investor” that they would take care of everything… Surprise surprise, they didn’t, and by that time the foreclosure auction was the next day. Too late.
Loan Modification on March 29, 2008 2:18 pm
Great info for those facing foreclsore.