How Can I Save My Home From Foreclosure?

If you are facing foreclosure and you are looking for an option to save your home there are a few options that are available to you. First of all the only way that you will be able to negotiate with your mortgage lender is to prove that you have steady employment. There are a few reasons why someone that has employment would be facing foreclosure. Some of the most common reasons are if the person has lost their job and had to take a job with less pay, if someone works on commission that has been affected by the economy, or if the mortgage payments have gone up exponentially due to a variable interest loan or loan with an arm.

If you are in a situation such as the above, however you can prove that if your mortgage payments can be met if they were lowered, you may be able to qualify for a refinance or loan modification. Both of these options would lower your interest rate; extend the life of your loan or both in order to make the loan payments affordable.

If you are able you should seek to do a loan refinance. The difference between refinancing a loan and doing a loan modification is the affect that it will have on your credit. A refinance will go on your credit as nothing more than taking out another loan. A loan modification will read on your credit report that you were unable to fulfill your loan agreement and the bank granted you the modification in order to cut their losses. However you will only be able to qualify for a refinance if you have not yet missed a mortgage payment and you have a good credit score.

If you have to try to do a loan modification it will adversely affect your credit, however it will not look as bad as a foreclosure on your record. If you are able to achieve a loan modification it will only mildly blemish your credit report and you will be able to rectify the damages within a couple of years.

The scenarios above are only available if you want to keep your home and you are able to prove that you have gainful employment. If this is not the case you may want to consider doing a short sale to minimize the damages to your credit report. Although you will still lose your home it will not look as bad a foreclosure and it will get you out from under your home to give you a chance to stabilize your finances.