How to Avoid Mortgage Foreclosure Scam

Are you facing problems with mortgage payments? Is your house slipping away from your hands? According to the data from RealtyTrac, more than one million homeowners have faced foreclosure this year, 27% more than this time last year. The following basic tips will help you to avoid mortgage foreclosure scam before it happens:

• - Do not ignore your problem.
• - Before making any decision of mortgaging your property you must know the mortgage rights.
• - Be on guard by reviewing your finances and see where you can cut your spending to be able to make your mortgage payments regularly.
• - Pay your mortgage debts before any other household expenditure or credit cards' payments or unsecured debts.
• - When you are not able to pay your mortgage payments use your assets. You can sell your car, jewelry or a whole life insurance policy to help you reinstate your loan.
• - Preserve your good credit. As your future ability to purchase item, property or rent requires a credit check. Keeping your credit rating from getting blemishes is very important.

Besides the above-mentioned basic tips the Federal Housing Administration, US Department of Housing and Urban Development have recently framed out the following guidelines:

Immediately contact a house-counseling agency if you are not comfortable to talk with your lender. Most FHA counselors are free of cost or cost very little. A counselor can help you review your financial situation, learn which workout arrangement is suitable for your family, protects you from future credit problems, provides you information on services and programs available in your area. Determine the ideal options available and negotiate with your lender.

Contact your lender as soon as possible. A lender will help you prepare a budget plan to ensure that you meet your monthly payments and see that you follow it strictly. This plan will show how much money is available to meet your mortgage payments. Do not hide any form of information from your lender. Make sure you read all the mails and letters send to you.

FHA loans also provide alternatives and ways for borrowers to get help. These loans include mortgage modifications, special forbearances allowances, and other actions you can take to avoid foreclosure. Your lender has to follow FHA servicing guideline and regulation when it comes to dealing with FHA loans. You can report to the FHA's National servicing Center if the lender is not responsive.

Explore loan workout solutions with your lender when your problem is temporary. If it appears that your situation is long-term or will permanently affect your ability to bring your account current, if keeping your home is not an option, your lender will be willing to discuss and make arrangements to bring your loan current.

A forbearance option is often combined with a reinstatement when you know you will have enough money to pay, to bring the account current at a given date. The money may be from a hiring bonus, investment, insurance settlement, or tax refund. You can also make an agreement to pay the portion of the past dues plus your regular monthly payment each month until you are caught up.

One should be very careful with predatory lending schemes, as there are many frauds that will try to deceive you. Borrowers facing unemployment and or foreclosure are targets of predatory lenders because here the borrowers are desperate to find any solution.

Real Estate Mortgage Tips

Your own Real Estate is your greatest Investment. You might have heard the idea of making extra major payments to decrease interest and payoff your mortgage early. The concept might be simple, but it is frequently overlooked and seldom practiced. A typical promissory note amounts to absurd interest over thirty years. For example, on a thirty year $100,000 loan at 9%, you would pay over $189,000 in interest.

If you have a positive cash stream on your hire properties, deem using it to make extra principle payments. By making additional principle payments, even small ones, you could save drastically on interest. This is because interest is charged on the exceptional balance owed. For example, if you paid an additional $50/month the loan explained above, you will save $49,000 in interest and pay off the loan balance six years earlier. If you paid an additional $100 per month, you would save over $75,000 in interest and pay off the balance ten years earlier.

Save Money on Late Fees

If you are in risk of paying your mortgage late, send your payment via overnight mail. The cost of doing so is most likely much less than your late payment. For example, a 5% late fine on a $1,000 payment is $50. Sending the imbursement via Federal Express would cost you less than $15.

Tips when in Default

Watch for Bankruptcy. A borrower in evasion could run into federal court and file for insolvency to stop your foreclosure proceeding. Once the federal bankruptcy appeal is filed, the state court foreclosure taking place is subject to an automatic "stay". Simply have your lawyer march into federal court and ask the judge to have the wait lifted against you. However, if the debtor files for chapter 14 reorganization, he might be able to ask the court to force you to recognize a payout plan. Either way you would get paid, even if it means having to wait.

Think of "Deed in Lieu of." If you are in a mortgage state, a borrower could delay the scheduled for months by just filing an answer to the complaint, lifts any number of defenses, as well as improper service of the summons. If you are on speaking terms with the borrower, try and work it out. It might be cheaper for you to give up the back payments and even pay he to give you a deed in lieu of forecloses. That is, he gives you the property back and you spare him the discomfiture and credit damage of a foreclosure (as well as a possible lack judgment against him). Time is money when it comes to foreclosure, so use it wisely!

Choosing A Foreclosure List

A good forclosure property list can make the difference between you getting a property that you really want and having someone else take it before you can get your hands on it. Investors know that they need a foreclosure list if they want to be successful, but the problem is that there are so many of them available that making a choice can sometimes be a bit tricky. If you are in this position, there are a few tips that you can follow. Use this guide and you will be able to find the home you are looking for a whole lot easier.

1. First and foremost, deal only with companies that are run by people that have been in business for at least ten years. There are a lot of companies that offer foreclosure lists that have no clue on what the real estate industry is all about. You want to make sure that you are only dealing with a company that has professionals compiling their lists. This will put your mind to ease from the very start.

2. Ask the company that you are considering how often they update their foreclosure list. You will not want to join up with a service that only updates their foreclosure list once or twice a year; this means that you will be chasing after stale leads. Make sure that the company you choose to work with has professionals who updated the foreclosure lists on a daily basis. By doing this you will ensure yourself of only seeing the properties that are available.

3. Test out the customer service department before you sign up with any service. Just like in any business, .the level of customer service is very important. You will want to make sure that you are dealing with a company that will meet your needs. If you have a question, it is important that you get a prompt, accurate response.

4. The company will have to have plenty of positive testimonials and references in order for you to consider them. This is important because if you can speak with somebody that has had success with a certain foreclosure list, you will be able to ask any specific questions that you may have. Top notch services usually have a strong following of investors that use them time and time again. Not all companies offer the same kinds of lists, so be sure you are dealing with a company that carries the types of lists you are looking for.

Financial Help to Stop Foreclosure

When a person falls upon financial difficult times often through no fault of their own and they are behind on interest payments, they may need specific financial help to stop foreclosure on their homes. Nobody wants the sheriff to deliver a foreclosure notice so there are some things you can do that will assistance stop the foreclosure.

Often, you can avoid foreclosure through difficult work and not by sitting back and giving up. Here are particular steps that could help you get financial assistance to stop foreclosure.

Never ignore letters or phone calls regarding your delinquent mortgage bills. Contact the lender and explain your situation, as they may be able to work with you and know that you are really trying to make things right so offer you financial help to stop foreclosure. You may not qualify for aid if you abandon your piece of real estate so remain in your house.

When you work with the lender and your financial problems are temporary, the lender might be able to help with financial help to stop foreclosure. Often this is an one time loan, bringing your financial payments up to date.

Often a person can either extend the loan or refinance to stop foreclosure when interest payments are too high. The upside is that the monthly interest payments are smaller but the lender interest rates are higher. This could allow you to catch up on missed loan payments. Always be honest and upfront with the lender and they will work with you.

After examining your monetary position and the reason for your nonpayment, the lender could diminish the monthly payment or suspend payments temporarily.

Nobody wants to lose his or her home or have a lender foreclose on their homes. Be honest with your lender and by working with them and examining the opportunities available as it is possible to get the financial help to stop foreclosure.

Foreclosure Law 101 For Homeowners

Foreclosure laws vary from state to state but here is some general tips about foreclosure laws. When a person falls behind on their mortgage payments and they have defaulted on their debt, the bank may foreclose on their property.

The bank does this by filing a lawsuit in order to get a court order to foreclose. Once the court declares foreclosure on the property, they auction it off, with the highest bidder buying the property. There is a waiting period between the date of the lawsuit and the foreclosure sale, which is often between three and twelve months based on the foreclosure law in the destination. They publish a foreclosure ad according to foreclosure law at least thirty days before the auction, once a week for up to three weeks. Before they position the first ad, the homeowner must acquire a sheriffs notice of foreclosure sale. Immediately after the sale, the sheriff gives the title/deed to the new owner.

If you have fallen on hard times and missed some mortgage payments, there is still a possibility to save your home especially if you have not received a foreclosure notice yet. Return all phone calls and answer any letters regarding your home. Go in and talk to the lender or bank. Often they would much rather work with you instead of foreclosing on your house.

Bringing in an attorney familiar with foreclosure law is often a wise move as they can not only act as intermediary at this very stressful time and cover your rights but also work with you on saving your home from foreclosure.

You may be able to pay some of the missed payments and/or set up new monthly payments. At times, the bank will even allow you to refinance to reduce your monthly payments. As stated earlier, banks really do not want to foreclose on a home if they do not have to. Ask queries, seek help on foreclosure law and be aggressive about keeping your home.

Learn more about fundamental foreclosure law basics and other advice if you or someone you know is in a potential foreclosure situation.