Many homeowners are not aware that they can stop mortgage foreclosure on their own. But you can save your house. In most states, you can redeem your home up to an hour before it goes to auction. So, being able to line up new financing is key.

You have a number of options available to you if you are facing foreclosure. In this article, we will discuss bank refinancing, short sales, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

It used to be that banks would do nothing to stop mortgage foreclosure. They simply allowed you to go into default and then bought the home themselves or sold it at auction. Unfortunately for them, the housing crisis has meant that they now have hundreds of thousands of homes on their books. Many of these are sitting vacant in ghost towns and are virtually unrentable and unsaleable.

Knowing that something has to give, your bank may work with you on getting refinanced and keeping your home. For instance, they might lower the interest rates, tack delinquent payments onto the end of the loan, or provide other loan modification. You can work with the lender yourself or hire a loan modification company to do this for you.

Until the end of last year, the banks were unwilling to work with a homeowner until he or she was 30 days delinquent. Now, though, many banks want to keep people out of delinquency if at all possible. So, if you think you might miss a payment, let your bank know right away.

Another option to stop mortgage foreclosure is to sell your home through a short sale. This is a three way deal where all of the parties win. You find an investor who is willing to buy your home at a price that is less than what you owe. The bank agrees to waive the difference. The reason this plan tends to work for everyone is that the bank gets a non performing loan off of its books, the investor gets a good deal, and you get to walk away from your home. If you are pursuing a short sale, make sure that the bank has forgiven the deficiency so that you do not end up with a deficiency judgment against you.

The third option to stop mortgage foreclosure is to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure. A deed in lieu is similar to a short sale except it is just between you and the bank. The bank buys back your home and you walk away. The reason banks are sometimes willing to do this is because you guarantee that the property will be in good condition. Many foreclosed homes have been completely trashed, right down to having the copper pipes taken out and sold for scrap. So, a deed in lieu gives the bank a good deal as well. Again, you should make sure that the bank has wiped out the deficiency in such a deal so that you do not end up with a judgment against you.

There are solutions if you are looking to stop mortgage foreclosure.

First of all, we will look at avoid home foreclosures solutions that keep you in your home.

If your situation is temporary, you can ask the bank to do what is called a forbearance. This is where they reduce or suspend your mortgage payments for a short period of time (generally no more than 6 months) when you have extenuating circumstances. Generally, forbearances are granted when someone has been laid off and has a realistic chance of finding new work in the time period or when there has been a major medical situation.

If you got behind but can now catch up, you can make one lump sum payment and have your loan terms stay the same. This is called reinstatement.

If you can start making the monthly payments and also pay something towards the amount owed, you can do something called “redeem” the loan.

But, if you know you’re going to lose the house, you can still avoid home foreclosures by taking immediate action. For instance, can you sell the home either to a family or an investor? In these days of depressed home values, it may be difficult to get the amount you owe in the limited amount of time you have, so don’t dawdle on this point.

Selling your home to an investor through a short sale is another option. In this case, you and the investor work with the bank to lower the amount owed. The investor can then buy the home at the lower price. The bank recoups some of the money they’ve lent. And, you are able to be free of the house.

Something similar can happen in a two way deal between just you and the bank. This is called a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. What happens here is that the bank accepts the home for you and you walk away. The bank is typically agreeable to such a situation, even though it means a financial loss to them, because so many homes have been looted and destroyed by homeowners who are losing their homes. In a Deed in Lieu situation, you agree to leave the home intact with all of the appliances and piping in place.

In both a Deed in Lieu and a Short Sale situation, you will take a hit to your credit. Usually this is reflected in your credit score for about two years. A foreclosure, on the other hand, will pose far more serious challenges on your credit report and can affect your score for 5 to 7 years.

Also, you should get it in writing from the bank that when you use a Deed in Lieu or a Short Sale that the bank is waiving its right to collect a Deficiency Judgment. If you don’t do this, the bank can come back later and sue you for the difference between what the home was worth and the amount you owed.

If you have a situation where you can no longer afford your home, look at ways in which you can avoid home foreclosures.

First of all, you might want to start by talking to a foreclosure counselor. Now, when you want to avoid foreclosures, time is of the essence, so don’t put things off thinking you can call the counselor “tomorrow.” Do it today!

There are a number of different foreclosure avoidance counselors. Some of these charge you a fee – which can be quite hefty. But there are also foreclosure counselors who are paid through non-profit organizations or by the government.

Avoid foreclosures counseling services are provided for no cost by nonprofit housing counseling agencies which work in partnership with the Federal Government. These agencies are funded, in part, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and by a non-profit organization called NeighborWorks® America.

But, at some point, you will also have to talk to the bank. Again, you should do this sooner rather than later.

If your mortgage problems are temporary, there are a number of solutions that your lender can help you with. For instance, to avoid foreclosures, they will often do a “forbearance” which is a reduced or suspended payment for a limited period in order to let you catch up.

If you have a deficiency, but need to catch up and have the money to do it in a lump sum payment, the lender will often reinstate your loan under the old terms

If your situation is long term, you also have some options. For instance, mortgage modifications can take many forms to help you avoid foreclosures. For instance, the bank can add the missed payments to the back side of the loan. They can change the interest rate including changing an adjustable to a fixed interest rate loan. They can also extend the number of years on your mortgage making your monthly payment lower.

Other options to look into when you are trying to avoid foreclosures include selling the house. If you have equity in or are even on your home, you might be able to sell the home directly, assuming you can find a family or investor who wants it.

If you are “upside down” on the house, consider solutions such as a sort sale or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. Both of these situations have you turning the house over to either an investor or the bank and walking away. While this will negatively affect your credit, it won’t be nearly as bad as having a foreclosure on your record. If you pursue one of these programs, make sure that you get in writing that the bank is accepting the deal as satisfaction in full for the debt so that they don’t hit you for a deficiency judgment later.

There are several ways to avoid foreclosures. But, the important thing is to get the information you need and then act on it right away.

Now, a stop foreclosure loan is not something that a person with an upside down recently modified interest rate loan can get. In this situation, the homeowner truly cannot afford the property. They should be looking for a solution that either re-sets the mortgage or gets them out of the home.

Instead, a stop foreclosure loan can sometimes be obtained when a homeowner has a temporary setback, but can assume the responsibilities of the loan within six months. Some examples of this include:

· The homeowner has become unemployed but has reasonable re-employment options shortly.

· The homeowner has a temporary disability which renders them unable to work for a limited amount of time.

· The homeowner has major expenses in another area, usually healthcare, which must be met. Once these expenses are met, the homeowner can resume payments on the loan.

· Major, unexpected repairs must be made on the home. This can happen to only the home in question such as a roof collapse or can be the result of a natural disaster where a number of homes in the area have been affected.

It is also easier to get a stop foreclosure loan if there is a little bit of equity in the house itself. In this case, you can simply take out a home equity line of credit to cover the period in question. But, even if you don’t have equity, you can still sometimes get such a loan because banks have a lot of incentives to not let your home fall into foreclosure.

A stop foreclosure loan can protect a homeowner’s credit. A foreclosure is one of the worst things that can be on a person’s credit report. It can also protect the interest rate from re-adjusting due to late payments.

Banks are increasingly willing to work with homeowners on these kinds of lending solutions. One example of such a loan is where the bank simply tacks the payments due onto the back of the loan. A 360 month loan becomes a 366 month loan with a half year grace period.

Banks and financial institutions are also willing to work with homeowners in this situation because they don’t want to assume any more homes than they already have. Bank owned homes number in the hundreds of thousands and many cannot be rented or sold. This has left many neighborhoods as virtual ghost towns.

They are also willing to issue a stop foreclosure loan because the federal and state governments are giving them both a carrot and a stick for doing so.

If you have a temporary situation which leaves you unable to make your mortgage but think that a solution might be found soon, contact your bank about a stop foreclosure loan.