San Antonio residents who are having trouble making their mortgage loan payments are often at a loss as how to proceed. Mortgage lenders are often willing to work with homeowners who come to them at the first sign of trouble. Therefore, if a homeowner wants to avoid foreclosure, it is essential that he or she finds out what his or her options are as quickly as possible.
A San Antonio attorney who deals with foreclosure defense will be able to tell an individual what the options are. There are numerous ways to find some relief from high mortgage loan payments, but the longer a homeowner waits to deal with this issue, the fewer options will be available, as the number of missed payments increases. Once the loan is in default, a lender might not be as willing to work with an individual.
If the inability to pay is temporary, it might be possible to negotiate a reinstatement in which the lender and homeowner agree that all payments, including penalties and interest, will be caught up by a certain date. Forbearance is another option for a temporary financial problem. Payments are either suspended or reduced for an agreed upon amount of time. Once payments resume, any past due amounts are either paid in a lump sum or as part of the regular mortgage loan payment until the loan is brought current.
A modification to a loan might be possible as well. The terms of the mortgage loan are altered in a way that will make the payments more manageable. If that is not possible and the homeowner only missed a couple of payments, the lender might agree to add a fixed portion of the missed payments to the regular monthly payment until the past due amount is paid.
These options might work for some people, but others might not be able to avoid foreclosure through one of these options. Therefore, it might be possible to sell the home in order to keep it from being foreclosed on, which would adversely affect the homeowner’s credit. Depending on the situation, bankruptcy might be the best option in order to provide the homeowner with a clean financial slate with which to start fresh.