Contact Your Lender

Many people avoid calling their lenders when they have money troubles.  Many people believe that if lenders know they are in trouble, the lender will rush to collection or foreclosure.

However, the truth is quite the opposite.  Lenders want to help borrowers keep their homes.  Foreclosure is expensive for lenders, mortgage insurers and investors. HUD/FHA and private mortgage insurance companies require lenders to work aggressively with borrowers who are facing money problems.

Lenders have options to help you keep your home.  However, these options work best when your loan is only one or two payments behind.  The longer you are late on your payments, the fewer options are available.

Contact your mortgage lender to discuss your circumstances as soon as you realize that you are unable to make your payments. While there is no guarantee that any particular relief will be given, most lenders are willing to explore every possible option.

How to contact your lender:

The contact information should be available on your monthly mortgage billing statement or on your payment coupon book.

Information to Have Ready When You Call:

1. Your loan account number 

2. A brief explanation of your circumstances

3. Recent income documents (such as Pay stubs; Benefit Statements from Social Security, Disability, Unemployment, Retirement, or Public Assistance. If you are Self-Employed, have your tax returns or a Year-to-date Profit and Loss Statement available for reference) 

4. List of household expenses 

Typically, your lender will mail you a "loan workout" package. This package contains information, forms and instructions.  If you want to be considered for assistance, you must complete the forms and return them to your lender quickly. The completed package will be reviewed before the lender talks about a solution with you.

REMEMBER: The sooner you call; the sooner help is available.

Do Not Ignore Mail from your Lender

If you do not contact your lender, your lender will try to contact you by mail and phone soon after you stop making payments. It is very important that you respond to the mail and the phone calls offering help. If your lender does not hear from you they will be required to start legal action leading to foreclosure. This will substantially increase the cost of bringing your loan current.

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