Buying a home can be a frightening experience. Imagine owning a home for 3 years, all payments have been made on time and in full. By the fourth year, your job is cut and you are out of a job and without a paycheck. If this is your fear, you may be one of the millions of Americans at risk with a subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). Which means your interest rates will go up to a much higher percentage later this year. On the other hand, it may be a primary borrower who chose a non-traditional mortgage. You may be up to date on your mortgage at this point, but you fear that your company layoffs and expenses will increase.

The odds of avoiding foreclosure in Florida are improving. Today, there are many “We Buy Florida Homes” companies that specialize in saving homeowners from foreclosure. In addition, there are new refinancing programs, government solutions, and lenders who are willing to freeze interest rates depending on the mortgage.

1.) How can I avoid foreclosure in Florida? Do your homework.

The reason many homeowners end up with unaffordable loans is that they understood the terms of the loan or were scammed by loan sharks. “A lot of the people we see are people who got loans that they should never have gotten,” says Phyllis Salowe-Kaye of Citizen Action, a large mortgage crisis counseling agency. Are you someone who was not informed at the time of formalizing your mortgage? Now is the time to make sure you don’t make that mistake again. To avoid foreclosure in Florida, here is a list provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Many other websites provide free advice for distressed homeowners on the websites of your attorney general, banking department, or housing finance agencies.

2.) Contact your lender immediately

If your credit has already gone down the drain, you will lose leverage power. Also, for those who don’t have a credit problem yet, there are new programs to avoid foreclosure in Florida. Project Lifeline has six major lenders (Bank Of America, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, JP Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo) who have agreed to suspend the foreclosure process for 30 days for qualified borrowers looking to keep their homes in the state. of the sun. .

3.) Open all emails from lenders

Sub-prime lenders offer an ARM reinstatement through the mail months before the interest rate reinstatement is scheduled.

4.) Be patient

“Too many people are trying to solve the problem with practical advice,” says Salowe-Kaye. “The fastest way to get mortgage relief is through” We Buy Homes in Florida. “For more information, click the link. For those willing to wait forever for a resolution, William Sanchez of Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation in Clearwater, Florida has a piece of advice for you. He advises, “You can’t solve this with one phone call.” Helplines are jammed, it can take forever to get to the person servicing your loan, and it’s impossible Know How Many Homeowners Will Stay However, “lenders are definitely more willing to come up with plans.” Be prepared to be chased by your lender’s experts and options.

5.) Contact a free or low-cost housing counselor

For HUD-certified counselors to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in Florida, visit the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

6.) Get a qualified expert to help you navigate the foreclosure process

Don’t stop at a housing counselor, the next number you should call is a foreclosure attorney. Ignore attorneys who advertise “quick fixes” on television, the Internet, or phone calls. The only quick fix is ​​to sell your home quickly to a “We Buy Homes in Florida” company. They are the only company you can trust to provide you with a free consultation and help you navigate the foreclosure process. To find an attorney you can trust, contact Legal Services Corp.

If your income level is low enough, you will be connected to an affiliated agency. Call the Florida State Bar and find a county bar association for further assistance.

7.) You may be eligible for special assistance.

The federal FHASecure program can provide a fixed rate refinancing option for homeowners with an adjustable rate mortgage and good credit ratings. Current and former members of the military who have served in the past 90 days may be eligible for the Civil Relief Act for Service Members, which offers protection from foreclosure.

8.) Bankruptcy is not the easy way out

Under current Florida state law, bankruptcy can stop or delay foreclosure. Seek legal advice from a trusted source before proceeding. Bankruptcy judges cannot restructure mortgage debt that covers a primary residence. “Borrowers can file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which will temporarily suspend a foreclosure action. The problem is that in order to maintain the Chapter 13 plan, a borrower on a high-cost mortgage has to be able to make mortgage payments in the future, and also to pay off a percentage of arrears and other debts each month, “says Josh Zinner of the New York Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project. Furthermore, consider that assistance programs, such as Project Lifeline, are not available to borrowers who have filed for bankruptcy.

9.) Keeping payments current is the most important factor in avoiding foreclosure in Florida

Mindy Wright, a housing counselor in Elyria, Ohio, says people often make the mistake of paying credit card bills before making their monthly mortgage payment. People do this because credit card companies call them right away and often use threatening tactics to get the borrower to pay. Banks, however, take a long time to communicate and only communicate through the mail. Once the borrower receives the notice of default in the mail, it is too late. The borrower now owes interest and late fees in addition to past due payments. Lenders generally won’t contact their borrowers for 60 to 90 days. Credit card companies will harass you day and night until your late payment is up to date. Wright advises homeowners to put off credit card companies and pay the mortgage payment first. “If you don’t pay your credit card bill, it could ruin your credit score, but a foreclosure will affect your credit score much more negatively, plus you won’t have a place to live,” he says.

10.) Fasten your seat belt.

Ditch the luxuries like cable and Netflix. Doing so will give you negotiating power when you sit down to negotiate. Being willing to bring money to the table and willing to collect assets like jewelry or a car will work in your favor. “Providers want to see you make sacrifices. Show some effort,” says Michael van Zalinger, director of homeownership services for Chicago Neighborhood Housing Services. When you talk to the bank, be sure to gather pay stubs, profit statements, and tax returns.

11.) Familiarize yourself with foreclosure avoidance exercises in Florida

The best solution would be to refinance into a long-term mortgage by spreading the late payments over time and slightly increasing the interest rate. This option requires good credit and rarely applies to the average Florida homeowner. You may also not be able to pay the fees involved. The alternatives would be a payment plan or a loan modification.

The first resource that really pays you would be to sell your home to a “We Buy Houses Florida” company.

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