FAQ

What Should I do when I get behind on my Mortgage?

Don’t ignore the phone calls and letters from your lender. This is the best way to wake up to a knock from the Sheriff telling you to vacate your home. Take this matter very seriously and work to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Keep track of all correspondence you receive for later reference.

Stay in your home. You may not qualify for foreclosure help if the house is vacant. Your home, if proved vacant, can be seized. Stay in your home!

Contact The Castle Law Group to discuss which modification solutions are right for your situation. We will negotiate on your behalf with the Mortgage Company to get your loan back in good standing. We understand the system, the foreclosure laws and the chain of events necessary to help you keep your home out of foreclosure. We will gladly walk you through them in a non-threatening way.

What lenders and servicers do you work with for client loan modifications? We work with almost any lender in the nation private or public. Here is a list of some of these lenders/servicers: 1st Nationwide Mortgage 2nd Mtg-Bk Of America 5th 3rd Bank Aames Home Loan Abn Amro Accredit Home Lenders ADAK Advanta Aegis ALANTIC MORTGAGE Allfirst ALLIANCE Altegra America Servicing Company American General American Home Servicing Ameriquest AMC APCO credit union Associates Home Equity Astoria Federal Savings Atlantic mortgage Aurora Aurora home loans AURORA LOAN SERVICE Aurora Loan Services Avelo Bank of America Bank of Suffolk Bank One Banko Popular Bay Financial BB&T Blue Ridge Savings Bank Branch County Federal Calmco Calmco Servicing Capital City Bank Carolina First Cendant Cenlar Centex Home Equity Central Mortgage Company Champion Charter One Charter One Mortgage CHASE Chase Manhattan Chevy Chase ank CIT Group Citi Financial Citi Mortgage City Loan Financial City Mortgage Columbia National Commercial Federal Conseco Consumers National Bank Countrywide Home Loans E Jean Crown Bank Downey Savings and Loan East Carolina Bank EMC Mortgage EquiCredit Fairbanks Fannie Mae Farmers and Mechanics Farmers Home First Alliance Mortgage First American First Franklin First Horizon First Mortgage Corporation Firstar Home Mortgage Flagstar mortgage GMAC Great American Federal Greenpoint Greentree HFC-Household Finance Corp. Hibernia National Bank Homecoming Homeside Homeq Household Finance HSBC Independent Bank IndyMac Interbay Funding Irwin Mortgage Jim Walters (Walters Mortgage) JMFC Funding Land sale contract Leader Mortgage Lenders Liberty Lending Litton Loanworks Long Beach Mortgage M&I M&T MORTGAGE COMPANY Matrix Finance Meritech Midland Mortgage MID-STATE HOMES Morequity Money Store Morgan Financial Mortgage Lenders Network MVB MORTGAGE National City Mortgage National Lending Center Navy FCU Net Bank New Century North American Mortgage Norwest Novastar Ocwen Option One Pacesetter PCFS Pelican National Bank Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency PHH Mortgage Services Pine State Mortgage PNC Popular Financial Principal Provident Qwest Financial Regions Mortgage Royal Bank Sawyer Savings Bank SBA Scotiabank Select Portfolio Servicing SPS SN Servicing Source One Sterling National Mortgage Suntrust Superior Bank Synovus TD CanadaTrust Travelers Trustmark National Bank Union Planters USDA USDA Rural Housing USDA-RHS VHDA Wachovia Washington Mutual Wells Fargo Wendover Wilshire Credit Corporation World savings

What is a Deed-in-lieu of Foreclosure?

The deed in lieu of foreclosure offers several advantages to both the borrower and the lender. The principle advantage to the borrower is that it immediately releases him from most or all of the personal indebtedness associated with the defaulted loan. The borrower also avoids the public notoriety of a foreclosure proceeding and may receive more generous terms than he would in a formal foreclosure.

If you have been unable to make your monthly mortgage payments and have also been unsuccessful trying to sell your home at the market value, this form of foreclosure may be what is necessary to get you back on track. This procedure allows you to transfer your property voluntarily to your lender or Mortgage Company and your debt or deficiency is often forgiven. This will not save your home, but it will help you with your chances of getting another mortgage loan in the future and it will help you avoid the lengthy legal process of foreclosure. Although it is a negative strike on your credit rating, it is less harmful than a mortgage foreclosure.

Typically your Mortgage Company will require that your home has been listed with a Real Estate Agent for at least 90 days and there are no other liens on the property for them to approve you. Some Companies may also require that the property be vacant, an interior appraisal of the property and a minimum of 60 days prior to a Foreclosure sale. If we cannot negotiate a loan modification, then this option may be considered which we can also negotiate.

What exactly is bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy is a federal court process designed to help people eliminate their debts or repay them under the protection of the bankruptcy court. Bankruptcies can generally be described as “liquidation” or “reorganization.”

Will filing for bankruptcy protect me from creditors’ efforts to collect what I owe?

When you file bankruptcy, an “automatic stay” goes into effect. The automatic stay prohibits most creditors from taking any action to collect the debts you owe them unless the bankruptcy court lifts the stay and lets the creditor proceed with collections.

What is the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you ask the bankruptcy court to discharge most of the debts you owe. In exchange for this discharge, the bankruptcy trustee can take any property you own that is not exempt from collection, sell it, and distribute the proceeds to your creditors.
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you file a repayment plan with the bankruptcy court to pay back your debts over time. The amount you’ll have to repay depends on how much you earn, the amount and types of debt you owe, and how much property you own.

Will bankruptcy stop a foreclosure?

Yes and No… A home is an asset usually secured by a mortgage note. The mortgage company is entitled apply to the court for relief from the automatic stay, the order preventing creditor action by virtue of the bankruptcy. Depending upon several factors, you may be able to prolong a foreclosure until you have received your discharge from bankruptcy. Usually, to keep a home that is in foreclosure you will have to make a deal with the Mortgage Company. This is the key, you still must work something out with the Mortgage Company to repay the past due amount. This is why we say filing for Bankruptcy is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound… it may help you at first but major surgery is still required.

The Bottom line is that Bankruptcy may buy you a small amount of time but negotiations will still need to be made with the Mortgage Company to enable you to keep your home. Most people who file Bankruptcy to save their home from Foreclosure wish they had not because in most cases they are in a worse position that when they started. Filing Bankruptcy removes your leverage and places your fate in someone else’s hands. Your best option is for you to stay in control, and allow The Castle Law Group to negotiate with your lender(s) prior to filing.

How long will it take before they sell my house?

The Mortgage Company will likely begin the Foreclosure process within 90 to 120 days from the first missed payment. However, there remains plenty of time to complete a loan modification with the lender. Time Lines and Rules vary by State.

Can you postpone the sale of our Property?

We will aggressively attempt to postpone the pending sale to give you more time to come to a resolution and get an approved workout with the Mortgage Company. In many instances the Mortgage Company will agree to postpone the sale to allow us time to negotiate a loan modification. Remember the Mortgage Company does not want to foreclose on the property and will only do so as their last alternative.

What about my Second Mortgage and Equity Line Options?

You may not only have arrearages with your first mortgage, but also outstanding issues with a second mortgage or home equity loan. We can help you with these financial difficulties as well.

As we are negotiating with your Mortgage Company we will do the same with any other creditors that have placed liens on your home. If you are past due with any creditor that has a lien on your home you are in jeopardy of foreclosure with them as well. For instance… if you are past due with a second mortgage and not with the first mortgage, the second may buy out the first and then foreclose. We understand how these processes work and we will move quickly to resolve any late mortgage issues.

In most cases, the second will just stay in position and either offer a settlement for pennies on the dollar with the client to close out the second and remove the lien or some clients chose to stop making payments on the second all together. The problem with this choice is that most banks are writing these loans off and selling them to collections agencies which mean a lot of harassing phone calls for the borrower.

What is Loan Reinstatement?

The Reinstatement amount is total amount that is past due amount including late fees and Attorney costs. This amount will get your Mortgage caught up immediately. Because of your financial circumstances in the past, you may be facing a sizable amount of past-due fees, including back payments, late fees and legal expenses. We can negotiate these fees capitalized into the loan balance so there is no out of pocket expense to reinstate the loan.