Mar 01 2008
Real Estate In Bethesda- Behind on Payments
I have real estate in Bethesda. I am several months behind on my payments, what do I do?
Call your bank and explain why you are behind on your payments and how you would are planning to address the problem. If you are planning on selling the home or need them to refinance the home to make the payments more manageable let the bank know.
Stay in constant communication with the bank as this may prevent foreclosure.
There are three options you may want to consider. You can try to refinance so that the payments are more affordable or you can sell the home, sell the home or perform a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
Option I: Refinance: Banks are eager to help homeowners stay in their homes. They do not want to foreclose on your home, as this puts a lot of money at risk for them. Just because they foreclose on the home does not mean that they will ever collect on the full amount owed on the loan.
Lenders are holding onto a record number of foreclosed properties. Use this to your advantage.
They are refinancing loans for homeowners that they had previously turned down.
Option 2 Sell: You may want to sell your home. Even if you owe more than what your home will sell for. I have negotiated with banks to accept the purchase price of the home as payment in full to close out the loan and any debt owed to the bank.
Option 3: Deed in lieu of foreclosure. Few banks consider this as a definitive option. Typically, they will only consider this option if there is a significant amount of equity in the home. This is becoming a rarity. They would prefer to make the disposal of the property the homeowner’s responsibility.
In each situation the home owner must go through the effort of producing financial documents, which demonstrate their current financial status. This can’t be avoided.
If you think that you did not qualify for the loan that was made to purchase your home then tell this to the bank and see what they can do to assist you. The United States Comptroller of The Treasury is the governing authority, who oversees lenders. Contact them immediately to enlist their assistance. This will help you avoid being misled by your lender.
Caution! Many homeowners have come to me after being misled by there banks. When homeowners have fallen significantly behind on their mortgage and have called the banks, the banks have told them that they would use a partial payment to help them get current, and will allow the outstanding amount owed to be paid at the end of the life of the mortgage.
This is a trick! Unless this is put into writing, do not believe it. The lenders have used this technique to collect passed due mortgage. They use the payment that the homeowner sends to go toward the current mortgage so that the homeowner is still several months behind on back debts. This makes it easier for them to file foreclosure.
If you own real estate in any area and are behind on your payments be proactive. Contact the bank and get the date, time and name of the person you are talking to at the lender’s office. Ask them if it is okay if you record the conversation.