When you fall behind on your mortgage payments on your Kansas City home, it can feel like you’re drowning in debt.
Even if you’re keeping up with monthly payments, once you get behind it can be very overwhelming to try and catch back up!
There are a few options that can help you to avoid foreclosure in Kansas City and maybe even keep your house, even if you’re seriously behind in payments. Lots of properties in Kansas City have been lost to foreclosure, but there are many ways to avoid it.
Help, I’m Behind in My Mortgage Payments in Kansas City! 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Situation
1. Bankruptcy:
It’s the first on our list, but our last recommendation. Bankruptcy is not a get out of jail free card, nor does it make your mortgage go away. Bankruptcy is a legal process to restructure your debts and make plans to pay everyone back eventually. It is a ton of work and something that should be handled with the best legal professional you can afford.
2. Reaffirm:
This can be a good card to play, but it may come with some unseen penalties. Basically, reaffirming the loan is an additional commitment to pay. In some states where it’s allowed, an affirmation can create additional liabilities if your property is auctioned.
3. Making Home Affordable (MFA):
If your mortgage qualifies, you might be able to participate in MHA. Any loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must be considered for MHA, and other lenders choose to participate in MFA.
With MFA, your payments and/or interest rates might be lowered – even the principal balance (if your home is worth less than you owe). If you’re unemployed, you might be able to get your payments temporarily suspended or reduced.
MFA is a government program, so be prepared to deal with lots of paperwork. It ain’t free money – you gotta work for it.
4. Negotiate with your bank:
Lots of lenders have programs in place to help people when they fall behind. Banks do not want to own properties, they prefer to own debt. Therefore they really want to help you by keeping you in your home and paying on the loan. They do this by offering assistance programs to those in need.
Most of the time, lenders will want to steer you to refinance your loan – but by the time you’re a few payments behind, you probably don’t qualify for a reduction in interest rate.
You have to work really hard to negotiate with a bank. Usually, it takes lots of calls and the patience of a saint to get through the bureaucracy. Never, ever act rude. Ask for help from everyone you speak with, but don’t sound desperate. Explain your situation, offer supporting documents, and reassure the bank that you want to live in your home for the long term.
If you are making your monthly payments, but just can’t seem to save enough to get you caught back up, you can ask the lender to waive those payments and put them onto the end of the loan. Keep in mind that these are just numbers to the bank, they are not emotional about this money. Patiently remind them that you would love to stay in the home, but need a little assistance to sort things out.
5. Borrow money from a private investor:
If you’re behind on your payments and need to sell fast, we can help.
In certain circumstances, we may even be able to help you stay in your home.
We work with homeowners in Kansas City to find solutions to foreclosure problems.
We’ll let you know how we can help.