How to Stop a Home Foreclosure

If you've been kept awake at night by the thought of "how to stop a foreclosure on my home", you're not alone. It's been estimated that one in 200 homeowners are in serious risk of foreclosing on their properties. The good news is that there are actions that you can take to prevent foreclosure.

First of all, you should try to build up savings in case of emergencies. Every home owner needs at least one to three months worth of mortgage payments in savings just in case of hardship.

Secondly, make sure that you have established a home equity line of credit. This is a form of revolving credit in which your home serves as collateral. If something happens to come up that threatens you with foreclosing your home, you'll need to have money quickly. It's been estimated that at least 90% of foreclosures could be prevented or delayed if  home equity lines of credit were previously put in place.

Do everything in your power to not miss a mortgage payment. Skipping a mortgage payment is considered to be much more serious issue than missing any other type of monthly payment. So if you have to choose, skip a utility bill or credit card payment. Just missing one payment is a big blow to your credit. So take out a loan before you miss the payment, not afterwards. You might not be able to get a loan after one payment is missed.

Ask for help from friends and family. Yes, it is embarrassing--but not as embarrassing as getting kicked out of your home.

Discuss any problems with your lender. The lender seems to be viewed as the bad guy when a home owner had financial problems. But in reality, the last thing that your lender wants is for you to have to foreclose on your home. They will do what they can to help you make your payments.

Look your problem in the eye. The common tendency is to just pretend that this isn't happening and avoid doing anything about it, or just plain giving up. Face up to your problem and try to find solutions. And remember, you DO have options. In fact, there are quite a few options which will allow you to keep your house and stop the foreclosure proceeding without paying all of your arrearage (payments that you have skipped) at once. There is even the possibility to reduce what you owe on your property by significant amounts. The sooner you act, the more choices you will have.

If you do have money to spend, spend it on your mortgage payment. Once you've missed a mortgage payment for a few months, the lender may require you to make all your back payments at once. This is the start of going downhill. Make the choice to not pay other bills and pay your mortgage instead. When forced to choose, most people would pick losing their credit cards over losing their homes.

Hopefully these have given you some answers to your thought of "how to stop a foreclosure on my home".