When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Even if what's sour is something as consequential and life-altering as foreclosure. There are countless examples of people experiencing a terrible event in their life and turning it into a positive. It's hard for anyone in the middle of a difficult situation to imagine how something bad can be good in the long run. And to be fair, it may not. But you can maximize the chances of making your sour situation sweet by turning your attention to what you can do to fix it.
Foreclosure has a tremendous human cost. Families get kicked out of their homes, have their credit wrecked, and must find a new place to live. It's very difficult for the people who go through it, but there's also a nonhuman cost. Cue the Sarah McLachlin music, get your tissues ready. One of the most heartbreaking results of the foreclosure crisis is the effect it has on pets of some foreclosed homeowners.
Your lender has been watching you all year, and knows if you've been naughty or nice. But if you make their naughty list by not paying your mortgage, they don't come down your chimney and leave you a stocking full of coal. They'll do something much worse and take your home, chimney and all. Unlike Santa Claus' naughty and nice lists, you should know for sure which one you are on. What is harder than knowing is getting off of the naughty and onto the nice list so you can stay in your home.
Your mortgage lender has a very simple rule for determining whether you're naughty or nice. It's determined by whether or not you pay your mortgage on time every month. If you pay on time, you get to be on the nice list. Keep up the good work. What's your reward? Keeping your home, and not being threatened with the 'f' word. That's not the four letter 'f' word, it's the one with 11 letters: foreclosure.
People have difficulty paying their mortgage for a variety of reasons. They lose their job, get divorced, or incur costly medical bills, to name a just a few common hardships. To make ends meet when a hardship happens, some are able to reduce spending on nonessential items like entertainment, vacations, and eating out. If that's not enough, things that are necessary, but can be put off, are. If reducing spending does not free up enough cash to pay for essentials like mortgage, car, and utility payments, tough decisions have to be made.
Foreclosure can be a confusing subject that mystifies all but the most well-versed professionals. All the ins and outs, the what have yous, and esoteric legal language make it difficult to understand the benefits and requirements of various options. However, there are ways to stop foreclosure that are simple and easy to understand for any homeowner. One of the easiest ways is a revolutionary concept that involves paying the money required to bring the loan current. It's called reinstatement.
Each Thanksgiving we're all supposed to give thanks for the good things that have happened to us over the course of the year. It's a time to show appreciation and gratitude while enjoying a big meal with family and friends. A turkey is pardoned by the president, and we're all encouraged to relax and enjoy ourselves. But the troubles and difficulties of life don't take a day off just because you do. Concerns about bills, career, and relationships remain even as the focus is supposed to be exclusively on the positive.
Foreclosure starts were up 12% from the previous month in October 2015, according to real estate information company RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. RealtyTrac says the October increase in foreclosure starts is not a surprise this year since it has also happened the last five Octobers. What is a surprise is how much of a rise there was this October, which was more than twice the average rate of 5%.
If your lender is threatening to foreclose on you for missed mortgage payments and you don't have the money to get current, and aren't eligible for a loan modification, you may be a candidate for a deed in lieu of foreclosure agreement. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure agreement is when the borrower agrees to give ownership of their home to the lender in exchange for canceling their mortgage.
Beginning in 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) established new rules to protect homeowners facing foreclosure from unnecessary expenses and surprises. Among the rules are restrictions on the mortgage servicer's ability to pursue foreclosure while reviewing your application for a loan modification, a practice known as dual-tracking.
Foreclosure does not just impact the place you sleep and keep all your belongings. It could also have a negative effect on your physical and mental health. Studies have shown that people who have fallen behind on their mortgage are more likely to report symptoms of depression and skip medication because of a lack of money. Sadly, the sharp increase in foreclosures since the Great Recession began has also coincided with an increase in suicide.
So, literally and figuratively, foreclosure can kill you. Though tragic, it shouldn't come as a great surprise. The threat of foreclosure is extremely stressful and often occurs following a severe hardship such as loss of employment, death in the family, or a medical problem.
Experiencing a hardship like a serious medical problem can be outrageously expensive, and cause a person to miss work or lose their job. The cost of the medical care and lost income can lead to trouble making mortgage payments, and the stress of potentially losing your home can be severe enough to cause depression, which makes getting out of the hole you're in even more difficult. It's a viscous cycle that's hard for many people to get out of.
