Contact Your Lender

Lenders do not want to take your home! Contact your lender as soon as you realize you may have a financial challenge that might delay your mortgage payment.

Open and respond quickly to all mail from your lender or their agents. Delay will reduce the options lenders may make available to you.

Never agree to repay money that you do not owe unless you can work out a compromise of the amount in dispute or you can obtain an agreement to eliminate the improper charges. Workout options usually take at least 30 days to complete. If you are within 30 days of a scheduled sale date, always obtain a written agreement from the mortgage lender to postpone the sale as one of the first steps in the workout process. Without the agreement, you will be better off filing bankruptcy since you will get the benefit of an automatic 'stay' of the foreclosure sale.

Workouts should generally be considered prior to filing bankruptcy, as once filed, lenders may be unwilling to negotiate or possibly not offer an agreement better than what you could get in bankruptcy.

Keep a record of all contacts you have with your lender, including all phone calls. Keep a log that tracks, at minimum, the name of the individual you speak with, the date, the time, brief overview of what was discussed, and if there is anything pending that either of you need to do at that time (i.e. send documents, receive overview of new terms in writing, etc.)