Joe Hafner tells us what to do when your home is going into foreclosure.

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Transcript

JOE:  Hi, Joe Hafner here with another episode of Inside Distressed Properties.  Today, we’re going to be talk about something that’s really a big problem with a lot of people facing foreclosure.  Let’s say you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage.  You haven’t paid in a month or two and you get that first letter from the bank saying hey, if you don’t pay up, we’re going to start the foreclosure process.  There’s a couple of things I want you to do.  If you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage or you’ve gotten a letter from the bank or you’ve gotten a letter from an attorney setting a foreclosure date or you have a foreclosure date next week.

 

Here’s the three things you need to do.  Number one, don’t panic.  It might not be as bad as you think.  You probably have more time than you realize.  The second thing is do not move out of the house.  A lot of people, and this is a huge problem, a lot of people they get worried, they get upset, and they think that someone’s going to come and kick them out of the house.  And they immediately pack up their stuff and move out of the house.  When you move out of the house, a couple of things happen. 

 

Number one, there’s certain short sale programs where you can sell that house and have the bank forgive the difference of what’s owed that you are not eligible for unless you live in the house or if you had to move the house for job purposes, transferred a certain distance away.  So if you move out of the house and move into a rental property, if you had an FHA loan, you may not be eligible for an FHA short sale.  Foreclosure might be the only option you have left at that point.  The other thing too is the bank, they want to see someone maintaining that house.

 

They want to see the utilities on.  They want to see the yard maintained.  They want someone living in there.  An abandoned house deteriorates much quicker than a house that’s being maintained.  If the bank sees that that house has been abandoned, they will likely foreclose more quickly.  If they see that someone’s there taking care of it, they’re more likely to work with you on modifications, on short sales, on all the things you can do to avoid foreclosure.

 

So do not move out of the house.  You lose some of your rights.  And if you’re worried that they’re going to show up in the middle of the night and tell you you have to move out, that’s not the case.  You have rights where there is a due process that has to be gone through before you can be removed from the house.  You’ll have plenty of notice to know.  You’ll know when they can come in and force you out and do what’s called an eviction where they literally set your stuff on the curb.  There is a lot of notice before that.  So you have more time than you think.

 

The third thing is talk to an expert.  Get with somebody who knows the process, someone who knows about foreclosures, who knows about short sales.  Get with somebody who can help you understand your options.  Like I said, most cases it’s not as bad as you think and in most cases, you have more time than you think.  So if you’re in that situation, don’t panic, don’t move out, and do talk to an expert. 

 

And if you are experiencing any problems where you need to talk to someone about you’re behind on your mortgage, you’re facing foreclosure, give us a call at the number on the bottom of the screen and we will give you a free consultation where we can talk about your options and help you figure out where you’re at and what you can do to avoid foreclosure.  Thank you for joining us and we’ll see you again next time.