By: LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ.
The Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve, recently announced new policies aimed, in part, at assisting homeowners to avoid foreclosure.
Highlights of the interagency programs include encouraging, and supporting, banks to do the following:
- Have sufficient mortgage servicing personnel on staff to work proactively with borrowers in resolving problems;
- Adopt streamlined mortgage loan modification protocols;
- Review delinquent mortgages and troubled loans by analyzing whether loan modification is available before proceeding with foreclosure;
- Seek loan modifications that will result in payment terms borrowers will be able to sustain over the remaining maturity of their loan.
The federal agencies stressed in the press release the importance for “all banking organizations and their regulators work together to ensure that the needs of creditworthy borrowers are met.”
If you’re having difficulty with your mortgage payments, contact your lender about whether you are eligible for loan modification or other help with your mortgage. If you’ve defaulted on your mortgage, an attorney may be able to assist you in dealing with your lender in an effort to avoid foreclosure. Whether mortgage modification is available to you will depend on a variety of circumstances including your credit history, income, mortgage terms, applicable federal programs, and other factors about your financial situation. One thing is for sure: An attorney will know exactly how to deal with your lender and will be able to advise you about your rights. Going through it alone can be overwhelming and you might unknowingly jeopardize your rights in the process. For more information about avoiding foreclosure, contact a real estate attorney or debt relief attorney in your area today.
