Foreclosure Help Blog

Do you need a lawyer to stop foreclosure?

Most people in foreclosure have enough financial troubles; people often wonder if adding to the bills and hiring a lawyer to help stop the foreclosure is necessary.  While it is helpful to have someone on your side that knows the ends and outs of the foreclosure laws, it isn’t mandatory to hire one.  You can actually be very successful at stopping foreclosure without a lawyer.

A couple facts to keep in mind, when trying to stop foreclosure without a lawyer.

1.    Banks hate foreclosure almost as much as you do.  It costs them time, money and financial losses.  Most banks will have to sell your house and take a loss on the money you owed them for your mortgage.  The bank also has a lot of fees that come with foreclosing on a home; attorney, real estate agent, property maintenance and other minor fees all add up, making it a pretty expensive deal.

2.    The bank lender can be your best friend, talk to them, they will help you if they can.  There is no reason to be afraid of telling them about your financial situation.  If you come to your lender early enough they may have several solutions for you.  If you are trying to stop foreclosure without a lawyer, it cannot be done without at least talking to your lender.

Tips on talking to your lender without a lawyer:

1.    Remember they are a person just like you.
2.    Don’t wait to the last possible minute.  The less time you give your lender a chance to help you, the less they will be able to do for you.  If you have missed one payment or think your going to miss one call them now.
3.    Call you bank to schedule a meeting with the highest possible person you can talk to.
4.    Go to the meeting prepared; dress up, have all you paperwork, have some idea of what you are going to say.
5.    Be honest with the person you are meeting with.  If you lost your job, tell them you did, don’t try to hide the fact that you are hurting for money.
6.    If you have huge bills, such as medical, bring in copies of them and show the lender what you are dealing with.
7.    If you know that your financial hardship is only temporary, bring them proof that you can get back on making your payments.
8.    Keep in mind what kind of payments you can afford in the future, most likely the lender will make you some sort of offer, make sure you can keep your end of the bargain if you accept it.
9.    Negotiate with the lender, if they make you an offer you know you won’t be able to meet, don’t be scared to ask for another deal, or counter offer with something you can afford.  Remember the bank really wants to avoid foreclosure as well.

If your bank just can’t help you or gives you an unaffordable solution, don’t give up yet, you can still possibly avoid hiring a lawyer.  Try going online and doing research on different foreclosure websites, here you can find most the tips a lawyer would give you.  Download foreclosure ebooks, most of these are free; gain the most knowledge you can.  Remember also to watch out for scam artist trying to get money from you; don’t pay into any “system” without doing thoroughly research about the company.