Foreclosure is a serious step that can throw you out of your own home. It can happen when there is not enough money to pay for property taxes, mortgage payments, and other homeowner’s association charges.

Many homeowners think it is too late to save their homes and they will eventually lose everything. While it is true that foreclosure proceedings have a fast-moving process, a reliable attorney can help you to stop foreclosure. Learn what options are available for you, and how hiring an attorney for foreclosure help can benefit you.

Foreclosure Process Timeline

Foreclosure usually begins with a missed payment. This missed payment makes it difficult to get caught up on your mortgage payments and leads to more missed payments. Then, about three to six months after the first missed payment, the lender has the ability to file a Notice of Default in court, which will inform the court and you that the lender plans to take legal action if you do not pay for the missed loan payments.

Next, after receiving a Notice of Default, you will have about 90 days to either pay the missed amounts or to work out some other type of option with your lender. If you do not take action, you may find yourself in the middle of foreclosure proceedings.

Government Help to Stop Foreclosure Process

Two common ways the Government can step in to help resolve the foreclosure is through sponsoring programs and loan modifications. Modifications are realized when one or more components of the mortgage agreement get negotiated in the borrower’s favor, such as:

• Lengthening the life of the loan
• Reducing the loan principal
• Decreasing the interest rate

Depending on the borrower’s situation, there are government-sponsored programs that provide loans to help stop the foreclosure process.

Contact local housing counseling agencies to see which options are best for your case. Below are five common programs offered by the government for foreclosure prevention.

Second-Lien Modification Program (2MP)

This type of program supports homeowners who used their property to take out a second mortgage. This pertains to homes where the original mortgage has been revised under the HAMP Program (Home Affordable Modification Program).

Principal Reduction Alternative (PRA)

The PRA program supports the mortgage lender to scale down the amount of principal that is owed. Currently, there are over one hundred loan servicers taking part in this system.

Home Affordable Unemployment Program (UP)

This Program interrupts or reduces the borrower’s payments who are unemployed for at least 12 months. Those who qualify, get their mortgage payments reduced up to a third of their income or even entirely suspended.

Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) Programs

The US Treasury manages the Hardest Hit Fund, this program supports states that were heavily affected by the economic crisis.

Every state has local agencies that work with homeowners, covering mortgage payment help for the unemployed, transactional assistance, and principal reduction.

This saves people in the homes they live in, or relocate to affordable housing.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program

They cater this program towards borrowers who might meet the necessary requirements for the government Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), but cannot avert foreclosure or secure a loan modification.

The HAFA program brings funding and protection to qualified borrowers that decide to do a Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure or a short sale.

How Can Government Use Loan Modifications To Stop A Foreclosure

Government seeks loan modification to get the borrowers a more affordable monthly payment plan. They interpret an “affordable” debt payment for the borrower to be less or equal to 31% of their monthly gross income.

Mortgage Refinancing

Refinancing is a loan to stop a foreclosure from happening.

Mortgage companies might require a waiting period in the time between refinance and foreclosure. We refer to this as a “seasoning period.”

The length of this period depends upon your specific loan type and the creditor’s internal controls.

Refinancing your mortgage highly depends on your loan terms.

The primary 3 reasons that lead to mortgage refinancing are the following:

1. A borrower can refinance your mortgage to include unsecured debt.
2. A borrower could refinance to lower your interest rate and pay a lower monthly payment.
3. A borrower could refinance to an even lower interest rate with a shorter loan term to finish paying off your mortgage sooner.

The third choice requires higher income, and the first choice involves sufficient equity.

However, most choose to refinance for less costly monthly payments.

Making Home Affordable

Your current loan terms will decide if you should refinance.

Refinancing your mortgage to owe less on monthly payments without increasing the borrowing amount will make for long-term savings.

How a Lawyer Can Help to Stop Foreclosure?

The most interesting part of the article is what an attorney for foreclosure help can do for you. The first thing is that attorney is familiar with the foreclosure process and will always offer the best solution for your situation. The second thing is about paperwork. You need to deal with foreclosure quickly until it’s too late.

There are fewer basic options for the property owner who is facing the early stages of foreclosure. If the home is sold for more than was owed, a qualified NYC lawyer can stop a foreclosure by assisting in putting a pause on property.

Getting legal help to stop foreclosure and or eviction is essential to upholding the negotiation process and to avoiding an earlier eviction.

Appointing lawyers to help stop foreclosure is pivotal to entering a negotiation. Whether filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the court issues an ordinance called “automatic stay”. An automatic stay ceases your creditor’s collection operations immediately.

Advocates still have an array of tools they can use to elongate the time of the foreclosure, one of them is loss mitigation. Using “loss mitigation” applies to the duty of the loan servicer to reduce or mitigate the loss to the investor (the loan owner) arising from a default from the borrower. With the high costs investors bear throughout the process of foreclosure, loss mitigation is a useful negotiation tactic for the investor.

Loss mitigation may benefit the borrower too, by providing options:

• Loan Modification
• Forbearance Agreement
• Reduced Repayment plan

These options let the borrower remain in their home. Other choices, such as a deed in lieu of foreclosure or a short sale help the borrower hand over the property without progressing through foreclosure.