Foreclosure
Why Work With Stephanie?
"I can help you. I understand the helpless, numb, paralyzing feelings. You know, 80% of people do nothing. Don't make this mistake. It will only get worse as you procrastinate. It is important to partner with extremely experienced professionals; like a foreclosure realtor, lawyer, and tax accountant. Choose carefully. Don't get stuck in a situation whereby your professionals are learning on the job. Hire wisely, even if it costs a little more, you will save in the long run. Also know that inexperienced professionals will end up feeling helpless along with you. You don't need this.
It’s important to know what will happen once your situation becomes public record, and your property is flagged as a distressed sale. It complicates your situation and devalues the perceived value of your property. We are experienced in dealing with pre-foreclosure, notice of default, auction, notice of sale, tax liens by state, federal and private entities, abatement lien, mechanics lien, and more.
It’s also important to understand what can happen if you fail to take action and foreclosure becomes unavoidable. The process can be stressful, embarrassing, and it can have long-lasting consequences.
Once it becomes public record that you are in financial distress, it becomes very difficult to get the value for your home in a home sale. There are professionals that work in this space, but most of the new home buyers don't want to deal with liens, creditor's claim rights to equity, and especially bankruptcy courts. So don't wait for things to get worse. Jump while you can - unless you can reorganize.
So take a self check
Loosing your home or property is full of pain. It's so painful, it can eat your gut and the fear paralyzes you into denial. Your options will include:
1) File bankruptcy, to postpone the sale while you get your bearings;
2) Sell fast, and you walk with your equity money, if you have equity;
3) Short Sale if you have negative equity;
4) Just simply, walk away, and let your secured creditors deal with the property.
Walking away from your home voluntarily, may seem like the best solution; especially when your home is valued lower than what you owe. However, this action may lead to financial consequences in the future. In some states, you may be required to pay a portion of your mortgage debt even after the home has entered foreclosure. If you owe state or federal taxes, these will also not be forgiven after the sale. In some states, you may be able to negotiate a debt reduction, but you will still owe something. Also, the impact to your credit may make it difficult to rent or purchase a home in the future. It may be best to explore other options to foreclosure with your mortgage company before making a decision to leave your home. Again, we can help you with the best decisions, pending your circumstances.
Keep in mind, your mortgage company doesn’t want to foreclose on your home.
This may be hard to believe, but just like there are consequences for you, the foreclosure process is time-consuming and expensive for lenders. They want to work with you to resolve the situation. However, some homeowners simply don’t take advantage of the help available and foreclosure becomes the only option.
For example, foreclosure could result in you:
owing the mortgage company the deficiency balance of your mortgage (the deficiency balance is the remaining total mortgage balance after the sale price of the home)
lengthening the time you could receive a Fannie Mae mortgage to purchase your next home for at least 7 years (Ch. 11) or 10 years (Ch. 7).
still owing IRS and State taxes. The liens are not forgiven upon the liquidation of your assets.
damaging your credit for 7-10 years
And just to be clear, Deed In Lieu, is a very bad idea 99% of the time. Don't get trapped by bad advise.
What is a Foreclosure?
A foreclosure is the legal process where your mortgage company obtains ownership of your home (i.e., repossess the property). A foreclosure occurs when the homeowner has failed to make payments and has defaulted or violated the terms of their mortgage loan. A foreclosure can usually be avoided—even if you already received a foreclosure notice. Some other options: Short Sale and Mortgage Release (Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure). No matter the option, you must take action as soon as you can.
What are the consequences of a Foreclosure?
Eviction from your home—you’ll lose your home and any equity that you may have established.
Stress and uncertainty of not knowing exactly when you will have to leave your home
Damage to your credit—impacting your ability to get new housing, credit, and maybe even potential employment, for many years
May owe a deficiency balance after the foreclosure sale
Lose any relocation assistance or leasing opportunities that may be available with other options
Forfeit ability to get a mortgage to purchase another home for at least 7 years (Fannie Mae guidelines)
What is the process for a Foreclosure?
There are two main types of foreclosure:
Judicial – supervised by a court with formal legal proceedings (civil law suit)
Non-judicial – non-court supervised
In both types of foreclosure, the homeowner receives the legal notice of foreclosure, the legal notice is published in the local paper (in most cases), and the home is sold at public auction. (For judicial foreclosures, you’ll be served with legal notice of the pending action, and the court will approve or set the foreclosure date and sale.)
The process and timing of a foreclosure can vary by state laws, and many other factors. However, your mortgage company can begin preparing the default notice/foreclosure proceedings on your home as early as 60 days after you have missed your first payment. That’s why you should take action early to begin working with your mortgage company to resolve your payment problems immediately.
How Do You Avoid Foreclosure?
I cannot stress enough how important it is to act now. You have nothing to lose (and everything to gain). Call your lender, and get information. Then, call us. If foreclosure is imminent, we still might able to help. You may still be able to leave your home without having to go through foreclosure. This means you won’t have a foreclosure on your credit history and you may qualify for relocation assistance to ease your transition.
Step 1
Gather your financial information—Make sure you have your basic financial and loan information on hand when you call your mortgage company. You’ll need:
your mortgage statements, including information on a second mortgage (if applicable)
your other monthly debt payments (e.g., car or student loans, credit card payments), and
your income details (pay stubs and income tax returns).
Step 2
Explain your current situation—Be ready to outline your current hardship and explain why you are having trouble making your mortgage payment, why this is a long-term problem and confirm that you are ready to leave your home to avoid foreclosure. Your mortgage company will need to understand the reasons why you are having difficulty in order to find the right solution for you.
Step 3
Contact your mortgage company—Tell them you are interested in a Mortgage Release and you want to see if you qualify.
Note
Your mortgage company wants to help you avoid foreclosure and, in most cases, will be willing to work with you. The biggest mistake you can make is to wait any longer to take action. Contact your mortgage company today to determine if you can avoid foreclosure. If you need further assistance (before or after contacting your mortgage company), call us. We are experienced and trained, and can advise you on preventing foreclosure, buying a home, protecting your credit, and other issues.
Remember
This is all just advice. We need to pull together your circle of experts to discuss the best decisions for you and your family.
Why only get advice from a HUD Counselor?
In my experience, the counselors at HUD are well-intended but not very effective. Don't get trapped asking for help that drags out and loses you precious time. Use this resource only to become more well-informed, but don't let it derail you with false hope. Here is the information on this resource.
HUD Office of Housing Counseling
(Source: https://apps.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm)
Foreclosure Avoidance counseling?
(Source: https://apps.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/index.cfm)
Why Choose Stephanie?
The number one reason — is Stephanie cares.
I can offer "Honesty, Integrity, Transparency, and Compassion"