With hundreds of homes across the state of Texas going into foreclosure each month, it’s important for both buyers and mortgage holders to understand the process.
So what is a pre-foreclosure in Fort Worth anyway?
If you have found yourself in a Pre-Forclosure status you are not alone. Many homeowners across America and Fort Worth are facing difficulties making their monthly mortgage payments.
When a homeowner misses 3-6 consecutive months of mortgage payments, the lending institution will issue a notice of default. This is a public notice filed with the court stating that the loan is in default. The notice of default is the final action the lender takes before activating the lien and seizing the property in a foreclosure. In many cases the homeowner will still have the opportunity to pay the missed payments or to negotiate another agreement. If they are unable to do either of those, the lender can and will reposes the property. This period of the first phase of the legal proceeding when a borrower is in default is known as “pre-foreclosure.”
Banks and mortgage lenders typically provide three months for the homeowner to become current. Of course this number can vary by bank and situation sometimes.
If a homeowner fails to make the necessary payments, the bank will foreclose on the home, assuming ownership, and evict the homeowner. Thankfully, during this stage of the foreclosure process, a mortgage holder has the opportunity to take advantage of several options to prevent losing their home.
Pre-foreclosure Options for Borrowers
You have options that can delay or even prevent losing your home:
- Call your mortgage company and work with them: Most banks are very willing and ready to work with you… if you can show that with their help you can get back on track and save your house. Or, if you just want out of the house but you owe more on the house than it’s worth… see if the bank has any programs to lower the mortgage burden so you can get out from underneath it without it going through an expensive foreclosure. While you are still in the pre-foreclosure designation you still have options.
- If your mortgage is “above water,” (meaning you have equity in your house) you may be able to refinance your mortgage, receiving lower monthly payments. Check with your local Fort Worth mortgage broker… or contact us and we can connect you with a reputable one. Ask your mortgage company if you might be able to refinance into a lower payment before you go into foreclosure. But don’t wait too long to call the mortgage company because once you are in the foreclosure process you won’t be able to refinance.
- A second option if you aren’t able to refinance is to apply for a Mortgage Loan Modification. If you qualify it will change the terms of the original loan by lowering your interest rate or by changing the length of the payment terms. Either or both of these would lower your payments. A Mortgage Loan Modification might also include Principal Forgiveness where they agree to forgive a portion of your principal on the loan. Principal forgiveness is only considered if you owe more on your home than it is worth.
- Another option might be to request forbearance from the mortgage company. If approved this will pause your mortgage payments. But before the forbearance period is over you will need to have a new agreement with the lender. Unless you can pay the missed payments in a lump sum, the mortgage company will likely set up a plan to either increase your monthly payment or to extend the life of your loan.
- Talk with a local real estate expert, like Texas Best Home Buyers: We know the local Fort Worth real estate market well and are very experienced in the foreclosure process here in TX. Give us a call at (817) 808-4911 and we can help you understand your options such as loan modification, short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure. We can guide you toward the resources that can possibly help you.
- Sell your house: If you’d rather find a way to sell your house and avoid the foreclosure all together, great! We buy local Fort Worth houses for cash… and would love to look at your situation and make you a fair all-cash offer on your house. Just call us at (817) 808-4911 or shoot us your details through this website.
- You may be able to quickly sell your home to a real estate investor that’s reputable in Fort Worth like us at Texas Best Home Buyers, using the cash acquired to pay the months of back-payments owed (or we *may* be able to work out something with the lender that relieves all or part of your back payments. We can buy your Fort Worth TX area home quickly, often in just a week or two, will pay in cash, and take the stress out of trying to find a buyer.
- You can contact the bank and ask them to permit a short sale. In a short sale, you’ll sell your home for less than it’s worth, and the bank will take the loss as a tax write-off. In some short sales you may still be required to pay the difference to the bank if the house doesn’t sell for what is owed on the loan.
- You may be able to declare bankruptcy, which can buy you time to pay your debt. However, bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for years, and can cause significant damage.
Lenders are very much aware of the widespread financial troubles across the country and they’re willing to work with borrowers a lot of the time.
If you’re honest and communicate with your lender, you’ll often find that there are options that will allow you to remain in your home, or at least salvage your credit rating.
A foreclosure can often negatively affect your credit score by 200-400 points and can prevent you from obtaining a loan of any sort for 5-7 years, so be very responsive and take action if you’ve received a Notice of Default from your lender.
But if you’re not able to find a solution with your lender working directly with them… connect with us. We may be able to help.
Ways We Can Help If You’re In Pre-Foreclosure
- We can potentially help with a short sale – Submit your info on this website so we can evaluate your situation to see if we can help.
- We can buy your Fort Worth area house – We buy houses in Fort Worth and would love to make you an all-cash offer on your house too. Just fill out the form here to get started >>
- You can ask us questions and we can provide you FREE guidance and resources so you can make a well educated decision. This costs you nothing. There’s absolute no obligation in reaching out to us. Let us see if we can help with your situation. We’d be happy to discuss it with you.
If you’re in the pre-foreclosure stage… you’ve still got time to fix this situation.
Just connect with your bank to see if they’re willing to work with you… or contact us if you’d like to see what we can buy your house for or to tap into our free foreclosure resources.