Should you be experiencing a financial problems and fear losing the house, understand you aren’t alone. Just like millions of other homeowners, you might have lost a job or suffered a pay cut, your adjustable rate mortgage may have reset and you can’t afford the payment, or falling property values mean you can not refinance. It might seem that bankruptcy, foreclosure and loss of your abode is inevitable. One answer doesn’t deal with every scenario, and you will have possibilities that include keeping your home while you work through financial challenges. Explore all options before concluding that all will be lost in foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings.
Your mortgage payment, that may include amounts for property insurance and taxes, is perhaps the largest single bill you spend each month. The check covers your housing needs, also it symbolizes an investment for most homeowners – you’ll find financial and emotional aspects at the same time. If you can’t make your home loan repayments, you’ll want to have a hard review of your situation, financially and otherwise, and come to a decision on an option that’s good for you. Consulting a bankruptcy or real estate lawyer in your area can help with your decision-making process.
Consider All Options
This is a set of options and factors you will have to consider:
• What is the level of your financial crisis – is there a principal element, like a job loss, or is paying one particular debt at the bottom of the financial problems, like medical bills or your mortgage?
• Is your financial crisis short-lived, such as a short period of unemployment or underemployment, or is there a lasting change, such as a disability that will affect your earning power on a long-term basis?
• How much equity is in your house?
• How does the value of your house compare to the debt it secures – do you owe more than the house is worth?
• How does your current home meet your housing needs – is it the right size, what are the ongoing maintenance and ownership costs, and does the location meet your lifestyle, family, and employment needs?
• Is home ownership the best way to meet your housing needs? Do you have the abilities and resources needed to own the place in which you currently live?
• If you want to keep your home, have all options for loan modification been explored?
• If you don’t want to keep your home, have you tried to sell it, either through conventional means or through a short sale?
• Is your lender willing to pursue foreclosure alternatives, such as accepting a deed in lieu of foreclosure?
• Have foreclosure proceedings started, and if so, how far along is the process?
• Would you qualify Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy
relief?
• Do you have other debts, and could those debts be discharged or restructured through bankruptcy?
Making Home Affordable Relief
In advance of reaching the final stage of bankruptcy or foreclosure, find out if refinancing or changing your mortgage is an available option. Reacting to widespread economic crises suffered by lots of homeowners, the Making Home Affordable program offers relief. Financialstability.gov is a government Website that has information on eligibility as well as the process for getting help. The Internet site has an interactive tool for helping see whether you’re a candidate for relief.
Making Home Affordable has two kinds of relief:
1.Home Affordable Refinancing for homeowners who have loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This program targets people that haven’t got the capacity to refinance their mortgages at today’s historically low rates because of decreasing home values, leaving them “underwater” with a mortgage balance that’s higher than the house value
2.Home Affordable Modification for homeowners who can’t afford their mortgage payments because of loss or decrease in income, increased mortgage rates or who don’t get a Home Affordable Refinancing. The program aims to modify your mortgage terms and bring the payment within a low priced range
Start by contacting your lender or loan servicer, but be patient and persistent. These programs are new, and lenders must work to quickly implement the programs and the demand is high. Despite the fact that you don’t qualify for these programs, work with your lender to pinpoint a solution. Avoiding foreclosure is usually best for all parties.
For help with Queens County New York Bankruptcy, call a bankruptcy attorney in Queens New York. A bankruptcy attorney in Queens New York could give you the help you need.