If your home is in foreclosure, taking immediate action to stop the foreclosure process is critical if you want to save your home. Contacting a bankruptcy attorney that understand foreclosure defense is essential. If you have received the “Notice of Default” or a “Notice of Trustee Sale” from your lender, you should be considering these options and developing a plan to avoid foreclosure:

•  You can repay your missed payments in form of reinstatement or a forbearance agreement set forth by your lender. The payment to reinstate will probably be several thousand dollars and you probably would have already paid it if you had it. You then need to determine if you can still afford your home.  If borrowing the money from someone is an option you need to make sure you can afford to repay it. If you can’t, you might consider Chapter 13 to repay the arrearages. A bankruptcy attorney can help you crunch some numbers to see if this makes sense or filing bankruptcy might be a better choice.

•  You can apply with your lender for a loan modification if you have not already. Despite government initiatives like HAMP, lenders are only required to “consider” applicants for loan modifications so getting one is dicey at best. Lenders have been known to reject applications even when all requirements have been met and then take foreclosure action immediately. Additionally, many homeowners are making trial modification payments only to find their home sold at auction without their knowledge. If you have a loan modification in the works, be sure to have a back-up plan ready and read the fine print. We have seen many deceptive business practices from mortgage servicers and lenders alike. It’s still a good idea to talk to a bankruptcy attorney if you are in the process or considering a loan modification attempt.

•  You can sue your lender if you feel they have not acted in good faith or wrongfully put you in foreclosure. In addition to that, you may be a victim of mortgage fraud or predatory lending practices. There were many toxic mortgages issued from 2004 to 2008 that consumers should have never been sold. For Example: If you would have qualified for a fixed rate mortgage and were sold an ARM or Option ARM you might have a good case. If your HUD 1 does not match up with your GFE and disclosures you might have a good case as well.

•  You can file for bankruptcy Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 depending on if you want to surrender or keep your home. Whether it’s used as a back-up plan or initiated at the beginning of a foreclosure process, having a bankruptcy attorney file for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you keep your home and avoid foreclosure. The filing of the bankruptcy petition stops the foreclosure process for as long as the bankruptcy process takes to complete. The completion of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process will result in a payment plan of three to five years in length which will include your missed mortgage payments.  If you file Chapter 7 you can choose between retaining and surrendering your home. If you decide to keep your home in a Chapter 7 you must either bring your arrearages current or negotiate a settlement while in bankruptcy

If your home is in foreclosure, taking action to achieve the best result possible must start as soon as possible.