10 Things To Do When The Bank Calls About Missing Mortage Payments By Stephen Elias author of THE FORECLOSURE SURVIVIAL GUIDE - Request written information about the lender''s mortgage modification or foreclosure mitigation program. - Determine the number of payments you have to miss, if any, to qualify for the lender''s program. - Initiate contact with a HUD-certified housing counselor by calling 1888 995 HOPE; ask the counselor to assist you in understanding your options. - Use Web mortgage affordability calculators to determine the mortgage payment amount that is affordable for you, given your income and other debts. - Determine whether bankruptcy would make your mortgage more affordable by eliminating your credit card and other unsecured debt? - Use Web resources to determine your home''s value and compare this figure with your total mortgage-related debt. How upside down are you? - If a major purpose of your home ownership is to create personal worth, determine whether your current house is likely to produce it. This will depend on what type of mortgage modification or foreclosure mitigation program your lender offers. - Research the basic foreclosure procedures used in your state to determine how much time you have left in the house if you stop making payments now - If you stop making payments now, estimate how much money you can sock away every month until the probable date you''ll have to move out after a foreclosure - Determine whether you will be financially better off avoiding foreclosure or letting foreclosure occur.

Will the amount you can save outweigh the bad effect of foreclosure on your credit? This book is based on advice I''ve given to hundreds of people facing foreclosure. It directly reflects my 30 years of practicing bankruptcy law and my 25 years of writing law books for laypeople. Over and over, I''ve seen people become terrified when foreclosure looms. They''re afraid that they''ll be without a roof over their heads and will never be able to own another home. Neither is true, and one of my main goals in this book is to reassure readers, just as I reassure my clients. I want to help readers deal with foreclosure and get past denial, panic, and shame. (I''ve found that clients faced with losing a house often go through all the classic stages of grieving, from denial to anger to eventual acceptance, just like people losing a loved one.) I remind them that despite what the housing and lending industries would have us believe, you can have a home without owning a house, and that not owning real estate does not make you a failure or shut you out of the "American dream.

" I take readers by the hand and help them make the most important decision in all foreclosure situations: should they fight to keep the house or let it go? I help them answer key questions: Can they afford the house? Do they see it as an investment or a place to raise a family, apart from the house''s value? If affordability is an issue, I outline steps they can take to make it more affordable. I encourage all readers to talk to a free, nonprofit HUD-certified housing counselor to see whether they can get a better mortgage or lower payment from their lenders, which can greatly affect whether they choose to keep the house or leave it. And I explain the options for holding on to a house, from negotiating with the lender to fighting the foreclosure in court. Unlike any other foreclosure book I''m aware of, I explain how bankruptcy can be a positive step towards keeping a house, and I show how it works in some detail. Also, I show how, if a homeowner decides to give up a house, the typically drawn-out foreclosure process can be their friend. It lets them keep living in their home payment-free for at least several months, and in many states a year or more. This gives them a chance to save money and come out of the foreclosure better able to start fresh. It also keeps houses from becoming vacant and blighted by disrepair, vandals, and thieves--benefitting the community (and even the foreclosing lender) as well as themselves.

In short, I wrote this book to help hardworking people all over the country who are like the folks who call me looking for help. Down on their luck in a tough economy, they are scared, embarrassed, and sometimes panicked. They deserve answers. --Stephen Elias --.