Saving property from foreclosure

Legal foreclosure is the  process in which a bank or other creditor takes over the borrower’s property in lieu of the debt they have to pay, using legal means. A foreclosure step is normally taken by the creditor only when the borrower has not paid the loan dues for a very long period. There are two types of foreclosures – strict foreclosure and foreclosure by sale.

When a debtor defaults on his loan due, that is fails to pay the debt, a default foreclosure case arises. In this case, the plaintiff is the bank or creditor while the defendant could be the borrower or borrowers. The plaintiff issues a summons on the debtor applying for foreclosure. The defendant can file an appearance within two days of the Return Date of the summons and file and send an answer to all the concerned parties in the case, before fifteen days of the return date. If the defendant is eligible for protection under unemployment or underemployment head, then protection from foreclosure can be sought.

It is possible to save home from foreclosure by following a few important steps. The first step is to ask for more time from lenders. Creditors are usually willing to wait for the loans to be paid off before plunging into foreclosure – this is known as forbearance. It is also rarely possible to get forgiveness on the debt, in special cases. Banks and other creditors usually are ready to work out a repayment schedule with the debtor (which the debtor can satisfy given his or her current financial position). It then becomes the responsibility of the borrower to stick to the modified repayment plan.

Creditors are also agreeable to modifying the loan terms like decreasing interest rates, waiving some fines for late payment or other types of defaulting etc. Rearranging the loan terms may help the debtor substantially enough to get back in track. Selling the home or property is another option to prevent foreclosure. By getting an idea about the market value for the home from real estate agents, it is possible to sell the property for a good price. By resorting to this step, the loan can be paid off and the home owner is likely to have a considerable amount left over from the sale. During foreclosure, the property may not always fetch the best price as the creditor is only interested in getting their debts paid off.

Another possible way is called pre-foreclosure redeemed. This happens when the home’s worth is less than the pending debt – the lender might be willing to agree to a short sale of the property to pay off at least part of the debt. From the borrower’s point of view, this is better because a short sale has a lesser impact on credit compared to a foreclosure. Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is another method to avoid actual foreclosure. This is also known as deeding the property back to the lender where the debtor gives the creditor a notarized deed and the creditor forgives the mortgage dues and cancels the foreclosure.