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Resources on Foreclosure, Credit & Debt, and Bankruptcy

How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work for You?

Selling Your House in a Tough Market

Foreclosure: Articles and FAQs

Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure (HUD)

Avoiding Foreclosure: State Resources (HUD)

Foreclosure Survival Guide

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Foreclosure Survival Guide (1st Edition)

Can a Housing Counselor Help You?

Housing counselors can do a lot, but they are limited by lenders’ policies regarding what are termed loss mitigation measures.

If you’ve missed a payment or two but haven’t received a notice of intent to foreclose (or something similar), you have a decent chance of working something out with the help of a counselor or with the servicer or lender directly. You may be able to keep your house, and perhaps get a more affordable mortgage payment for the future.

If you are way behind on your payments (four or more months) and have already received a notice of default (in states that require them) or even a notice of sale, your chances of working something out aren’t very good. At this point, the lender is unlikely to consider you a good candidate for keeping current in the future, whatever your payments may be.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

A housing counselor can help you determine whether you might get help from a brand-new federal program, described in Ch. 1, designed to provide refinancing for at-risk mortgages. Refinancing would convert your current variable-rate mortgage into a 30-year fixed-term mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Because these new loans will be backed by a federal agency, investors will be more likely to participate, and more money should become available for refinancing.

Your lender doesn’t have to go along—the program is voluntary. There are also eligibility requirements for borrowers.

For more about this new program, see Ch. 1 and also “Mortgage Reform: The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008” in the foreclosure area of www.nolo.com.