If you are looking to save your home from foreclosure the trick is to get help quickly according to a study done by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta. While many think that once they get behind on their payments their home is gone that really does not have to be the case.
75 percent of those who proactively sought help with their lenders or legitimate credit counseling services were able to work out a deal with the lenders and avoid a foreclosure. The other 25 percent waited too long and eventually lost their homes.
The real lesson in this is that banks want to avoid foreclosures as much as borrowers do. With the slow moving market banks know that selling the homes they have foreclosed upon is going to be expensive and take a long time.
They also know that foreclosures lower the property values of the neighborhoods and communities and odds are they have lent to others in the community. The last thing a bank wants is to have property values drop and more homes enter foreclosure because the borrowers are upside down and have no motivation to keep their homes.
About 75 percent of 3,327 homeowners sought counseling in time and staved off foreclosure, the study found. The other 25 percent waited more than 3 1/2 months before seeking help and ended up in foreclosure in Georgia, which has one of the fastest foreclosure processes in the country.
CCCS acts as an intermediary between borrowers and their creditors — from mortgagees to credit card companies — in setting up payment plans. It also counsels people on budgeting and debt.
“When we looked at the differences, the one thing that stood out was the delinquency in their seeking counseling,” CCCS’ president, Suzanne Boas, said in an interview Tuesday. “The sooner you can reach for help, the better because the more options that you have available to you.” via the ajc.com.
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