Bankruptcy

When Lenders Want Home Foreclosure for You

By Meaghan Olson

The bank helped you purchase your home, surely they’ll help you keep your home? Right?

Sadly, this isn’t the case. When it comes to your home and your mortgage, many lenders are hoping for foreclosure, says this new report in the Washington Post:

Policymakers often say it’s a good deal for lenders to cut borrowers a break on mortgage payments to keep them in their homes. But, according to researchers and industry experts, foreclosing can be more profitable.

In case you thought banks were concerned about anything other than the bottom line, this story makes it clear. Whomever holds your mortgage has one interest: Getting paid.

(For a full breakdown of how lenders look at you, check out this chart from the post.)

And if they can make more money with your foreclosure then don’t expect them to offer any help when it comes to renegotiating  your terms, holding off on fees or stopping foreclosure.

One man shares a story where he went to his bank looking for help to stay in his house. He needed to cut his monthly payment by about $200. They provided $25 a month in relief.

So if you’re serious about staying in your home, you’ll need to take serious action, and you may need to take legal action.

Your mortgage rates probably won’t change quickly, and it may be a while before you have a significant increase in income. Filing bankruptcy, however, could stop all pending foreclosure action through the Automatic Stay.

This is a big step, for sure, but you may need to take big action to prevent foreclosure.

Full post as published by The Bankruptcy Blog on July 29, 2009 (boomark / email).