How to Stop Foreclosure in Orlando
There are several ways to stop foreclosure on your home in Orlando, and most lenders are happy to help, according to the Florida attorney general. The key is to stay in close contact with your lender as your financial troubles mount, and to always respond to the lender's letters and phone calls.
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Instructions
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Contact your lender once you realize you no longer can make your mortgage payments or you have already missed a payment. According to the attorney general, studies show that at least 50 percent of all consumers facing foreclosure never contact their lender and refuse to answer the lender's telephone calls and letters. The attorney general says that is a huge mistake--lenders have options for keeping you in your home and would rather work something out than foreclose.
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Ask your lender about programs that may be available to you. The attorney general says lenders have many ways to work with you including a program called reinstatement. Reinstatement allows you to pay the total amount you are behind, in a lump sum payment, by a specific date. This program, which would stop foreclosure proceedings, is especially useful when you have a tax return or some other windfall on the way. Reinstatement and plans like it are offered solely at the discretion of the lender.
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Ask about other programs, including forbearance, repayment plans, and loan modification. All will stop the foreclosure proceedings. Forbearance allows the lender to temporarily reduce or even suspend your mortgage payments until your financial situation improves. A repayment plan gives you a fixed amount of time to bring your account current by allowing you to pay make your regular monthly payment plus a little extra until you're caught up. Loan modification permanently changes one or more of the original terms of your mortgage to make the payments more affordable.
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Reach an agreement on reinstatement, forbearance, a repayment plan or loan modification. All foreclosure proceedings will stop as you follow the terms of the agreement. Remember to be cordial yet persistent, because according to the attorney generals, these programs represent the least painful way to stop foreclosure in Florida. Don't give up if your lender turns you down. Move on to the next step.
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Contact a real estate agent skilled in selling homes facing foreclosure. Work with your agent to determine if leasing the home to someone else would make sense in your situation. Put the house up for sale if that seems a better option. Or ask the agent to help facilitate a short sale, which would allow you to sell the home for less than what you owe the bank. A short sale also would stop the foreclosure proceedings, and you could walk away with no responsibility to pay the remaining balance, although their might be tax implications. However, the lender would have to agree to the short sale.
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Keep working until you have a solution. With all of your options now clear, keep calling your lender on a regular basis. Keep calling even if the lender keeps turning you down. In the meantime scrape together as much money as you can, and keep making the lender offers. There is a chance the lender will admire your grit and determination and will offer you a plan that stops the foreclosure proceedings and and allows you to stay in your house.
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References
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