• How Can You Delay the Foreclosure Process and Stay in Your Home, Payment-Free, For Over 2 Years

The foreclosure process, basically speaking, is the steps through which your bank or lender repose your property.

• Mortgage Loan Modification - Stop Foreclosure Program

Homeowners who are having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments are looking towards mortgage loan modification programs for help. But many are on confused about which loan modification program is right for them and what they can qualify for.

• Find HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies to help

HUD sponsors housing counseling agencies throughout the country that can provide advice on buying a home, renting, defaults, foreclosures, credit issues, and reverse mortgages.

• Will I be responsible for any out-of-pocket expenses if I am approved for a workout option?

You may have to pay expenses such as recording fees for a loan modification. Because every situation is different, contact your lender for more information.

• Precautions you must take to avoid being taken by a foreclosure scam artist

If you're selling the house yourself to avoid foreclosure, check to see if there are any complaints against the prospective buyer. You can contact your state's Attorney General, the State Real Estate Commission, or the local District Attorney's Consumer Fraud Unit for this type of information.

• Steps to take if you cannot pay your mortgage

Look at your monthly mortgage coupons or billing statements for the lender's name and contact information. You should also know what kind of mortgage you have. Look on the original mortgage documents or call your mortgage lender.

• Avoiding Foreclosure

If you don't pay your mortgage, foreclosure may occur. This means your lender can legally repossess (take over) your home. When this happens, you must move out of your house.

• Relief Options for FHA Loans

If your home was damaged or your income reduced because of a hurricane, tornado, flood, wildfire, or other natural or man-made event -- and your home or job is in an area that the President declared a disaster area -- your lender will not start foreclosure for 90 days.

• Mortgage lenders may not foreclose the property when a service member is on active duty

Mortgage lenders may not foreclose, or seize property for a failure to pay a mortgage debt, while a service member is on active duty or within 90 days after the period of military service unless they have the approval of a court.

• 5 Signs of a Mortgage Rescue Scam

5 Signs of a Mortgage Rescue Scam: Promises to Stop a Foreclosure or Modify Your Loan. Guarantees Your Home Will be Saved 97% Success Rate. Requires Fees in Advance.

• Here’s What to Do if Mortgage Payments Sending You Reeling?

The possibility of losing your home because you can’t make the mortgage payments can be terrifying. Perhaps you’re having trouble making ends meet because you or a family member lost a job, or you’re having other financial problems.

• Know Your Mortgage

Do you know what kind of mortgage you have? Do you know whether your payments are going to increase? If you can’t tell by reading the mortgage documents you received at settlement, contact your loan servicer and ask. A loan servicer is responsible for collecting your monthly loan payments and crediting your account.

• What to do If You’re Behind On Your Mortgage Payments

If you are having trouble making your payments, contact your loan servicer to discuss your options as early as you can. The longer you wait to call, the fewer options you will have.

• Contacting Your Loan Servicer

Before you have any conversation with your loan servicer, prepare. Record your income and expenses, and calculate the equity in your home. To calculate the equity, estimate the market value less the balance of your first and any second mortgage or home equity loan.

• Housing and Credit Counseling

You don’t have to go through the foreclosure prevention process alone. A counselor with a housing counseling agency can assess your situation, answer your questions, go over your options, prioritize your debts, and help you prepare for discussions with your loan servicer. Housing counseling services usually are free or low cost.

• Be Alert to Foreclosure Scams

Scam artists follow the headlines, and know there are homeowners falling behind in their mortgage payments or at risk for foreclosure. Their pitches may sound like a way for you to get out from under, but their intentions are as far from honorable as they can be. They mean to take your money.

• Phony Counseling or Phantom Help

The scam artist tells you that he can negotiate a deal with your lender to save your house if you pay a fee first. You may be told not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit counselor, and to let the scam artist handle all the details. Once you pay the fee, the scam artist takes off with your money.

• Foreclosure Scam - Bait and Switch

You think you’re signing documents for a new loan to make your existing mortgage current. This is a trick: you’ve signed documents that surrender the title of your house to the scam artist in exchange for a “rescue” loan.

• Rent-to-Buy Scheme

You’re told to surrender the title as part of a deal that allows you to remain in your home as a renter, and to buy it back during the next few years. You may be told that surrendering the title will permit a borrower with a better credit rating to secure new financing – and prevent the loss of the home.

• Where to Find Legitimate Help

If you’re having trouble paying your mortgage or you have gotten a foreclosure notice, contact your lender immediately. You may be able to negotiate a new repayment schedule. Remember that lenders generally don’t want to foreclose; it costs them money.

• Foreclosure Help Red Flags

If you’re looking for foreclosure prevention help, avoid any business that: guarantees to stop the foreclosure process – no matter what your circumstances; instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit or housing counselor.

• Foreclosure Rescue Scams

The possibility of losing your home to foreclosure can be terrifying. The reality that scam artists are preying on the vulnerability of desperate homeowners is equally frightening. Many so-called foreclosure rescue companies or foreclosure assistance firms claim they can help you save your home.

• How do Foreclosure Scams Work?

Foreclosure rescue firms use a variety of tactics to find homeowners in distress: Some sift through public foreclosure notices in newspapers and on the Internet or through public files at local government offices, and then send personalized letters to homeowners.

• Alternatives to keeping your home

If keeping your home is not an option, you may want to consider these alternatives: Sale, Pre-foreclosure sale or short sale, Assumption, or Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

• 5 Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Scams

If you are looking for help to prevent foreclosure, be sure the counseling agency is on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's list of approved agencies.

• Putting Your Home on the Loan Line Is Risky Business

If you are a homeowner who needs money to pay bills or for home repairs, you may think a home equity loan is the answer. But not all loans and lenders are the same--you should shop around.

• Think about Your Options

Talk with your creditors or with representatives of non-profit or other reputable credit or budget counseling organizations to work out a plan that reduces your bill payments to a more manageable level.

• Do Your Homework

Contact several lenders--and be very careful about dealing with a lender who just appears at your door, calls you, or sends you mail. Ask friends and family for recommendations of lenders. Talk with banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and other lenders.

• Think Twice before You Sign

Have a knowledgeable friend, relative, attorney, or housing counselor review the Good Faith Estimate and other loan papers before you sign the loan contract. Be sure the terms are the same ones you agreed to.

• Know that You Have Rights under the Law

If you're using your home as security for a home equity loan (or for a second mortgage loan or a line of credit), federal law gives you 3 business days after signing the loan papers to cancel the deal--for any reason--without penalty. You must cancel in writing. The lender must return any money you have paid to date.

• Foreclosure Avoidance Counseling

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are available to provide you with the information and assistance you need to avoid foreclosure.

• Explore Loan Workout Solutions with Your Lender

First and foremost, if you can keep your mortgage current, do so. But if you find you are unable to make your mortgage payments, you might qualify for a loan workout option. Check with your lender to see which option may be available. Some options may not apply to your loan if it is not insured by FHA.

• OCC Consumer Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Foreclosures are increasing nationwide, and so are scams that promise to “rescue” homeowners from foreclosure. What these scams do is take your money, ruin your credit record, and wipe out any equity you have in your home.

• Avoiding Foreclosure: When a Lender Won't Work with You

You've done all your homework, talked to a housing counselor and tried to talk to your lender. But, the lender won't work with you. What do you do now?

• Protecting Your Home from Foreclosure

Several options are available to you. Some options provide temporary solutions for short-term problems, such as being one or two months behind in your mortgage due to illness. Other more permanent solutions address long-term financial difficulties, such as job lay-offs or long-term unemployment.

• 5 Tips for Protecting Your Home from Foreclosure

If you are unable to pay - or haven’t paid - your mortgage, contact your lender or the company that collects your mortgage payment as soon as possible.