What To Do When You Are Facing Foreclosure?

Banks hate foreclosures. They lose massive money on them. They want to do everything they can to help you stay in your home.

There are a lot of plans out there to help with mortgage modification. Sure, there's tons of paperwork. Not all banks are amenable to all types of mortgage modification. Some lenders are difficult to reach.

Still, about half of those who are foreclosed on appear to have had no direct contact with their lenders about their problem.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

For most of the growing legion of financially stretched families in danger of losing their homes, there is help available — as long as they don't bury their heads in the sand.

According to industry estimates, half of all owners who lose their homes to foreclosure have no contact with the "servicers" that mail out the statements and collect payments.

That's a mind-numbing statistic given the government's efforts to keep people in their homes. "Never in history have more resources been devoted" to solving the foreclosure crisis, says Faith Schwartz, executive director of the HOPE Now Alliance, a collaboration of housing counselors and mortgage-industry participants created to reach out to owners who cannot pay their mortgages.

But equally disturbing is the large number of homeowners who complain they hit a brick wall when they try to get through to their lenders.