Avoid Foreclosure in Cleveland and Akron
There are many reasons for falling behind on loan payments if you live in Cleveland or Akron. The troubling times due to the pandemic, the loss of a job, or crushing medical debt. Whatever the reason, you need some quick help to find foreclosure solutions.
Don’t be embarrassed.
You’re not alone in this. Millions of people are behind on their payments from medical debt to credit cards, and it can be hard to pay for everything when you’ve fallen a month or two behind on mortgage payments.
If you have been served with a foreclosure notice, please contact your lender immediately if you live in Cleveland or Akron Ohio.
Options to Save Your Home
Here are several options for people who have been unable to keep up with their home loan payments:
Foreclosure Bankruptcy Attorney
One of the best foreclosure solutions and a way to avoid foreclosure is a Cleveland or Akron Bankruptcy attorney. They can take your phone call and give you advice that will eliminate much of your debt and save your home. While there may be fees, they are generally very reasonable and well worth the price to save your home from foreclosure. At our law firm, we normally put your fees in your bankruptcy plan so you pay zero legal fees up front.
Talk to the Bank before Losing Your Home
Bank of America has, in some of our cases, been willing to work out some very good new loan repayment terms. Other lenders have deals where they will even forgive part of your mortgage.
Other options include short sales, where the mortgage lender agrees to take less than the balance you owe, so you can sell the house and avoid foreclosure.
Reinstatement through Forbearance Agreement
Reinstatement of the original mortgage depends on many factors. If you can get your loan current again and stay that way, it may be an option with some relief from penalties. You should seek out a foreclosure attorney or a bankruptcy attorney to help you understand all of the terms and conditions for reinstatement first though before making any decisions on this subject.
Forbearance Agreements can cause problems
Forbearance is very common now but often causes problems. It is not always a great foreclosure solution, but it can help keep your home for a while. In this case, the bank agrees to work with you on payment arrangements that allow you to be current again without penalties. The catch here is there may still be late fees and other charges that will need to be paid back eventually.
In Ohio you have three to five years to catch up missed payments that were caused by a forbearance. So that might be an option to consider.
After filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy petition, the automatic stay goes into effect.
This will stop a foreclosure even if you do not intend to try to cure the arrearage and save the home from foreclosure.
A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy petition can stop the foreclosure process or buy time to come up with relocation plans is a common strategy to keep a roof over your head, and discharge other debts as well.
Before filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, it’s a good idea to talk with a attorney who is very experience in Chapter 13 law, as you may find you have more options in Chapter 13 than if you file a Chapter 7, no matter what your plans are for the home in foreclosure.
Repayment Plan “Short Sale”
The “short sale” is another way to avoid foreclosure and save the money spent on attorneys fees for bankruptcy. The short sale is ideal in situations where people can no longer afford their home, but they want to stay there. It allows them to sell their property for less than what’s owed and then have the lender forgive the difference.
It’s much like a foreclosure, but it’s better in most ways.
The lender will often agree not go after the borrower for the difference and they may forgive some of the property debt as well. Depending on where you live, this may be an option that could save your home without filing bankruptcy. IMPORTANT! Note that you may have to pay taxes on the amount forgiven in a short sale.
This can also work if you have refinanced your home mortgage, but the new lender is not willing to work with you on loan modifications. The short sale might be your best option to avoid having a foreclosure on your record.
Restructuring the Mortgage
If you’ve been making your mortgage payments on time for a while, there is hope that the lender will work with you to restructure your loan in order to lower monthly payments and interest rates. If you have good credit history, this may be an option that helps you keep your home.
There are private mortgage companies that will help homeowners lower their monthly payments if they’ve been making their payments on time for a while. If you have been unable to make the higher payments, these lower payment plans may be what’s needed to save your home from foreclosure. You should check with these companies before filing bankruptcy.
Mortgage Modification
The lender may be willing to work with you on interest rates, reducing the number of late fees and charges. They may lower your monthly payments or extend the payment schedule if you’ve been making regular payments for a while. If they can get their money back in full from you, they would rather have your money than your home. Many lenders will offer loan modifications that help you avoid foreclosure.
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition can stop the foreclosure process while you work with a mortgage modification specialist to see if lowering your payments is a possibility. They may be able to get your payment reduced so you can afford them and still stay in your home.
If you qualify for a loan modification, they’ll review your file and determine if you qualify for a modification. You may not have any extra money to pay extra payments or late fees, but you may be able to make the right changes in your budgeting that will allow you to get help from them.
This is just one of several options that are available if you need help keeping your home from foreclosure. If you are thinking about filing bankruptcy, you’ll need to look into these options too, along with your bankruptcy options.
Claim Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, convert to Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Another way to stop foreclosure, is to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy and have it converted to a Chapter 7 after the process has begun if it does not work out.
The lender will have to stop the foreclosure while you try to cure the missed payments. If you are successful in your Chapter 13, then you will have saved your home and avoided foreclosure.
But, if the payments are too much to handle, you do have the option in most cases, to convert your Chapter 13 to a Chapter 7, and discharge the mortgage deficiency.
You will eventually have to move. There will eventually be a foreclosure. But all the while this is going on, and it takes time, you will not be making mortgage payments.
The amount of money you will be able to save could be considerable.
Pre-Foreclosure Sale
If you’ve been struggling to pay your mortgage, you might consider giving the lender the option of selling the home at a pre-foreclosure sale. You will need a realtor to assist with this in most cases.
If this strategy doesn’t work, they can then proceed to seek a foreclosure, and you can then file a Chapter 13 to stop the foreclosure.
Post-Foreclosure Sale
If you don’t take action to stop foreclosure, your lender can initiate a court sale in order to recover any money that is owed on your mortgage. This will put you out of your home and leave you without any equity. The bank who holds the loan will pay off all debts and costs, and you will normally get nothing.
The foreclosure process usually starts with the lender sending you several delinquency notices and warnings. Eventually, however, they will turn the matter over to a foreclosure lawyer.
If you’re able to come up with the money, they may work with you but once the foreclosure is filed, the chances of this are quite low.
You’ll be able to stop foreclosure before this happens if you file for a bankruptcy.
Deed-in-lieu foreclosure
The last resort, is when you can’t find a way to avoid foreclosure no matter what you do. The lender wants its money but also realizes that the foreclosure process is expensive too.
They may offer to take your voluntary deed to the property and agree to write off the balance owed. You may have to pay taxes on the amount written off.
Deed-in-lieu in foreclosure – A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is when you completely give up all your rights and ownership on a property, and turn it over to the lender without any exchange of funds.
This will be the last thing that the lender wants to do, but they may do it because it is cheaper and faster than a foreclosure.
They may even give you money to do this. This is called a keys for cash offer.
This will basically eliminate any equity that you might have had in your home and leave you with nothing except a bad credit rating. You might even decide to file a bankruptcy as a better way to wipe out the debt and as it turns out filing bankruptcy is a faster way to rebuild credit.
There are two ways for this process to happen. Either you can sign a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure before your lender forecloses on your home, or you can sign a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure once you’re served the foreclosure papers.
And, in some cases, you may be able to rent the home from the lender after you do a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or if you just wait it out and contact the lender after the foreclosure is over.
You should also know that there can be serious consequences if you ever want to purchase real estate in the future.
If you want things to work out differently then it behooves you to contact a reputable foreclosure rescue specialist as soon as possible. These are the people that can help you in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. If you’re able to get to work with one then they should be able to point out any of your options, no matter how desperate the situation may seem.
You’ll want someone who’s going to take the time to look over your situation, and who can then advise you on any options so that you know what’s going on. They’ll be able to explain everything from a step-by-step perspective, and even if your lender doesn’t want to work with them they should still be able to help inform you about your other options in Ohio.
A foreclosure rescue specialist should explain to you what the process is going to look like, and let you know how they’re going to work on your behalf. They’ll be able to tell you if it’s even possible for them to help you in the first place, as well as what might happen if things go worse than planned.
Unfortunately, there are professionals out there who will take your money without doing anything at all to help you in Ohio.
While others won’t be able to do much, it’s a good idea to find someone who is familiar with the foreclosure situation and how they can help you.
A foreclosure rescue specialist might also be able to help you if your lender has already started the foreclosure process and you don’t want it to go through. You should know how their fee structure works. There are different ways this can be accomplished, they don’t work for free, of course, so have them explain how they get paid and get it in writing before you start working with them.
The foreclosure specialist should also be able to explain who the company is that’s foreclosing on you, since they might know them or have dealt with them in the past. The lender may be willing to accept a settlement if they think it will save them money and get them out of your situation as fast as possible.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Cleveland and Akron Ohio foreclosure prevention specialists then start by contacting one of them today.
The specialist will ask you a number of questions in order to understand your situation, which will give them an idea if they can do anything at all for you or not. They may even be able to look over the foreclosure documents if they’re already available to you.
They will be able to tell you what steps are necessary to take in order to complete the transactions, and how long it’s going to take as well.
If you can’t wait around long enough for a foreclosure rescue specialist in Cleveland or Akron, then it may be time to look into your other options. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure might help get your house back eventually, but it will take a few months for you to get back in your home.
You might also be able to work with the lender yourself, but this is something that both sides are going to have to agree on. In my experience, homeowners seldom are able to get an agreement with a lender once a foreclosure has been filed.
Cleveland Foreclosure Prevention Tips
You may be able to avoid foreclosure with the help of a specialist. It may even be possible to get the lender to lower your interest rates, reduce late fees, get rid of penalties and offer other solutions that will keep you in your home for good. This is something that can often happen if you’re working with a reputable company.
You should always look for a foreclosure rescue specialist who is respected in the industry and has worked with several people from the Cleveland, Akron area before. They’ll be able to give you a realistic idea of your options before they begin negotiating on your behalf.
To avoid foreclosure entirely, you may have to make some difficult decisions. You’ll probably need to do things like eliminate your extra debt, and bankruptcy is an excellent way to do just that. In fact, filing bankruptcy on other debts is often the key to keeping your home from being lost through foreclosure. Not having to pay other debts frees up money to keep your home from foreclosure.
There is a good hand out provided by the City of Cleveland detailing these issues located here.
https://www.clevelandohio.gov/sites/default/files/forms_publications/HowtoAVOIDForeclosure.pdf
It’s always a good idea to find an attorney who has experience working with banks and lenders in these situations. That way you know they can negotiate on your behalf to get the best possible deals and save your home.
Richard West Law Office works with people in the Cleveland, Akron and surrounding areas of Northeast Ohio to help avoid foreclosure, save your home, save your car, eliminate debt, and get a fresh start. Call us at (330) 333-5771 or fill out our free no-obligation bankruptcy evaluation.
