If you’re having trouble paying your mortgage, here’s how you can take control

By Gail Hillebrand – JAN 10, 2014

The most important thing you can do when you’re having trouble paying your mortgage is take control. There is nothing worse than doing nothing. Taking control means taking two steps:

Talk to your mortgage servicer about possible solutions.
Contact a professional HUD-approved housing counseling agency for no-cost assistance to figure out your options. Find a housing counselor online or call 888-995-HOPE (4673).

Housing counselors are trained to help you fill out the documents you will need to submit to get help. They can also walk you through the choices you will face. It’s also very important that you read the notices and information your mortgage servicer sends you.

There are many programs out there that can help you either keep your home or leave it with relocation assistance and potentially less damage to your credit. Depending on when you took out your mortgage and how delinquent you are, programs like the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) can help you lower your mortgage payment or avoid an unnecessary foreclosure. If you’re unemployed, you may also be eligible for short-term help.

Also, new rules require your mortgage servicer to contact you soon after you become delinquent and let you know about options that may be available to you to avoid foreclosure. To get this help, you’ll need to fill out an application for mortgage assistance or “loss mitigation” as it is often called. It’s important that you provide all the information that your servicer asks for, otherwise the servicer can’t complete its evaluation.

Learn more about the new mortgage rules and the procedures mortgage servicers must follow in dealing with borrowers facing foreclosure.

You can submit a complaint about your mortgage online or by calling (855) 411-2372 and we’ll work to get you a response.