If you are facing foreclosure on your home, you are
not alone! Millions of home owners will lose their homes
in the next few years.
Mortgage payments will skyrocket as $1 Trillion
dollars of adjustable rate mortgages adjust. Their
payments are based on indexes such as the prime rate
that will be 3 or 4 times higher than they were when the
loans were taken out. In spite of the adjustment caps
that most of these loans have, these homeowners will see
their payments jump 20-40%.
Once these new payments hit, budgets will be
stretched, banjo-string tight. The reason most people
took adjustable rate loans was because they could not
afford the payments they will now be forced to make.
On top of that, the housing market is already
slowing. In many parts of the country, unsold housing
inventory is doubling, homes remain unsold for 60 days
or more and stocks of home builders are down by 1/3 or
more. Prices are falling, even in New York and
California.
All this means that these cash-strapped people will
no longer be able to refinance to a lower payment. Also,
George Bush's new bankruptcy law will prevent them from
wiping out their credit card debt to free up cash to pay
their mortgage.
Therefore, the slightest interruption of their
incomes will put most of these people into a downward
spiral which will toss them and their families into the
street.
If you or someone you know is potentially in this
situation, listen up!
There is help available, if you act at the first sign
of trouble. One of the best sources of help, is your
lender!
They do not want your home. Industry statistics show
that it costs lenders between $30-$50,000 to foreclose
and dispose of a house. Banks also get demerits from
banking regulators for having non-performing assets
(your delinquent mortgage) on their books.
In fact, banks have staffers whose job it is to help
you avoid foreclosure. This may not be obvious to you as
you attempt to locate them and negotiate a resolution of
your problem.
That is mainly due to the fact that you may be
dealing with the wrong bank! Just because you send your
payments to your bank, does not mean that they own your
mortgage. They may be the "servicing" bank, merely
collecting payments on your mortgage, which was probably
sold the day after your closing. It may have been sold
many times thereafter, perhaps ending up in a bundle of
mortgages sold to Wall Street or even China!
These entities have their own requirements and
procedures for working with delinquent borrowers. Your
best bet to Save Your Home is to work with a
knowledgeable professional who will know which lender to
deal with and how to present your case in the best
light.
Your lawyer is a good place to start, but act
quickly. The earlier you take action, the more options
will be available to you.