Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Getting out of foreclosure is only half the battle. The other half is staying out.

After months or years of not making house payments and trying to avoid foreclosure, some homeowners have been able to reinstate their mortgage with a permanent loan modification that gives them the opportunity to keep their home and avoid foreclosure for good.

Unfortunately, some of these homeowners have stopped making mortgage payments again and ended up back in foreclosure.

That's called a repeat foreclosure, and it's been a big problem since the housing crisis began. ATTOM Data Solutions recently reported data on repeat foreclosures. The results show very high rates in some parts of the country.

If you've fallen behind on your mortgage, it's a good idea to save some extra money to help you get through whatever solution you eventually reach and your life afterward.

No matter what happens, whether it's the best case scenario, like a loan modification with a big principal reduction and low monthly payment and interest rate, or the worst, like losing your home to foreclosure, having a bigger financial cushion is always a good thing.

You can never have too much money. (If you can, that's the kind of problem we'd all like to have.)

Americans aren't the best savers in the world. 1 in 3 Americans has no retirement savings, and many households don't have enough cash savings to survive a $500 emergency, much less a mortgage crisis that costs tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The good news is that just about anybody can save some money with a little bit of effort. Here are a few suggestions on how to do that.

Even under the best circumstances, everyone needs a vacation to get away from the grind of regular life, recharge their batteries, and spend some quality time with their loved ones. If you're behind on your mortgage or in foreclosure, you could probably use a stress-relieving vacation even more.

But is it appropriate to go on a vacation when you aren't paying your mortgage?

It depends on your particular circumstances, and what kind of money you're going to spend on your trip.

People generally don't stop paying their mortgage unless something went seriously wrong with their finances and/or life. We hear their stories all the time, and they're often tragic. Loss of income, cancer, divorce, and enormous debt burdens are all common for people who default on their mortgage. Nothing good causes a person to stop paying their mortgage.

You need money to get by in the world, but most of us have not been formally educated on how to manage our personal finances. We hear things from people we know, the media, and in advertisements. A lot of what we hear is out of context or wrong, and money is so personal that we often think it's in bad taste to talk about it with other people. So the topic is avoided.

But it's clear that many Americans desperately need to improve their financial situation. A recent survey from Bankrate.com says that 63% of Americans don't have enough savings to cover a $500 unexpected expense. Worse, one in three families have no savings. That's a big deal because unexpected expenses are as guaranteed as death and taxes. They always happen.