Foreclosures

What is a Foreclosure?

If you fall behind on your mortgage payments the mortgage company can use a legal process called a foreclosure to take possession of your home and sell it in order to collect the money you owe them. The mortgage company will advertise your home for sale on a specific date. On that date, an agent of the mortgage company called a "trustee" (usually a lawyer) conducts an auction. The highest bidder purchases your home. Often, the mortgage company itself is the highest bidder and sometime the only bidder.

What This Means to You

After the foreclosure and auction, you no longer own the house or property. The new owner can evict you and make you leave the property. If the highest bid is less than the amount you owe the mortgage company, you will still have to pay the mortgage company the difference between what you owed them and the highest bid.

How We Can Help You

If you contact us before the day of the foreclosure sale, we can stop the foreclosure and prevent the loss of your home. The bankruptcy laws make it possible for you to continue to pay your ordinary mortgage payment plus catch up your missed payments through a reasonable payment plan and keep your house.

Exceptions and Problem Areas

To stop a foreclosure through bankruptcy you must own the property; that is your name must be on the deed. Also, you cannot un-do a foreclosure by filing bankruptcy. If the property has already been sold, a bankruptcy will not help you get your home back.

If you own or are buying your home, you probably have a mortgage. The mortgage is the debt owed to the company that helped you purchase the home or, if you have refinanced, it is the debt owed to the company that paid off the first company. If you fall behind on your payments to your mortgage company, they can foreclose on your home.