If you listen to the news, you know it can happen to anybody. Of course, you hope it won't be you, but the inability to pay your bills, right down to your home loan, is more common than you might believe. Even if you day you think you have solid financial footing, the unexpected can turn your world upside-down. A car accident for example, could be as harmless as a fender-bender that leaves your car in the garage for a day or two. Or, it could result in serious injury to your or a family member. While you are kept out of work, or your spouse is unable to work his or her usual hours, bills from the hospital begin to mount. Meanwhile, you regular utility and grocery bills continue to pour in every month. Then one day it hits you that there is simply not enough money in the bank to take care of all the bills you need to pay. Certain things you can live without, but your home is not one of them.
If you fear foreclosure on your home, it's a good idea to think about all the options. The easiest thing to do might be to ask a friend or family member to loan you the money to continue to make your mortgage payments on time. During these tough financial times, however, you aren't alone in having a hard time paying the bills. It's hard to think about asking your parents for money when they're having a hard time taking care of their prescription costs, and are dipping into their savings and retirement funds jut to pay the phone bill and buy the groceries they need to live on.
Perhaps the worst thing you could do would be nothing. Doing nothing gives the impression to your lender that in addition to not having sufficient funds to pay your mortgage, you also just don't care that much about the home you and your family live in. If you want to avoid foreclosure, and who doesn't, you have to make the effort to keep your home. That means talking to professionals who can walk you through the steps you need to take in order to save your house from being foreclosed on. These professionals can also answer questions about loan modification. Maybe you didn't even know that this was an option for you. If your income has changed due to medical reasons, job problems, separation or divorce, there's a good chance that having the terms of your loan restructured could be the thing to pull you back up off the floor. A lot of times, all you need is a reprieve from the constant stress of having to make ends meet. With your financial and emotional reserves built back up after a long period of depletion, it may be possible to continue paying your loan at a newly negotiated rate.
