Dear Steve,
I would like to know who I could speak to about foreclosures?
My bank; Chase has stopped taking payment from me and has started the foreclosure process.
How can I avoid this?
I talked with them and they said that if made all my back payments they would resubmit me.
Can you help with some information?
Chris
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Dear Chris,
So let's start with the obvious answer first. If you are delinquent on your mortgage payments and you bring them current that will stop the sale. If your case has been assigned to an outside attorney to collect I've see the addition of up to 5 percent of the loan value as legal fees. It's the exception though. However, if it has been sent to a local attorney you should expect to pay some additional amount for legal fees to snatch it back from foreclosure.
If you can afford to make your regular mortgage payments and then some but want to stop the sale to let you get caught up then you should meet with a local bankruptcy attorney and talk about a chapter 13 bankruptcy.
You will need to be very careful of a whole host of scams that operate out there. Many will promise all sorts of magical solutions tell you you are a victim of the bank. Unfortunately the norm is people pay and get little relief and wind up getting foreclosed on or file bankruptcy anyway.
To help protect yourself you should become familiar with the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule from the Federal Trade Commission. Most advanced fees for foreclosure avoidance by non-attorneys are illegal. Even in some states attorneys are limited on what they can charge. However, that has not stopped many for taking advantage of consumers in trouble.
If you want to arm yourself with information to better avoid being scammed, read this guide.
Other options include reaching an agreement with the bank to sell the house for less than you owe. This is called a short sale. You would need their permission first and if you go this route you should find a local real estate agent familiar with the short sale process.
Some banks offer a cash for keys program where you hand back the keys to the house and they pay you to move out, saving them the headache of having to foreclose.
Calling a HUD Housing Counselor can help as well. These counselors are subsidized by the government agency HUD. Their services are free to you and they can assist you with any other current programs they might know of that Chase Bank might have just rolled out.
And finally, you could always consult with a real estate attorney that is licensed in your state to see if their is any legal basis for stopping the sale. This can get expensive.
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