Saint Clair Homes

There are many individuals and families that are struggling financially during our economic crisis. Whether the struggle is due to job loss, decreased wages or the rising cost of living; the end result can be devastating. As a Realtor, the devastation that I see is the loss of one’s home. There is hope. If you find yourself in jeopardy of losing your home, don’t wait until you can’t make your mortgage payment, to get help. Call a Realtor. There are several options available to either help you keep your home or at least to help your credit from being totally destroyed. The rest of this article will be dedicated to the foreclosure timeline to give you a window into the future should you be facing financial difficulty. This is to help you plan before you have to dig yourself out of a big hole that could have possibly been avoided.

First Missed Payment

your mortgage company will most likely send you a letter or call you to let you know that you are now delinquent.

Second Missed Payment

Your mortgage companies will most likely start calling you at any of the contact numbers that you gave them, to discuss what might be the problem. Do not avoid these calls. This is your chance to calmly explain your situation and how you may be trying to resolve it. At this time you still may be able to make a payment and keep yourself from falling three months behind.

Third Missed Payment

This when you will most likely receive a “Demand Letter” or “Notice to Accelerate”. In this letter it will state the amount that you owe, and that you have 30 days to satisfy your account. If you decide to ignore this letter, either by not paying the amount or not making some type of arrangement by the given date, they can and probably will refer you to foreclosure or accelerate your mortgage. Less than the total amount due most likely will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made before receiving this letter. ***Foreclosure/Acceleration: your account has been forwarded to the attorneys. It’s still not too late to work something out with the mortgage company.

Fourth Missed Payment

Usually close to the deadline in your Demand Letter or Notice to Accelerate. If you have not “taken care of business” when this time expires – not only will you be referred to the attorneys: now you will incur all their fees as part of your delinquency. At this time the attorney will schedule a Sheriff sale, which becomes the documented date of foreclosure. You will be notified of the date by mail and with a notice taped to your door. NOTE: you do not have to move out at this time.

Sheriff Sale Date

Scheduled for approximately six weeks after your file is sent to the attorney. Up until this date you can still work out a solution with your mortgage company or pay the total amount of delinquency (reinstatement amount).

After the Sheriff Sale, if still have not resolved the situation, then you will enter the Redemption Period. State Law mandates that this be no less than 30 days and no more than one year: usually being 6 months. You will be notified of the time frame on the Sheriffs Sale notice. During the redemption period may stay in your home.