Unfortunately, everyone runs into a time of life when money is tight and juggling finances is a serious challenge. For individuals owning a home, they could be in a position of having the home foreclosed for lack of payment. If you have found yourself in a compromising position but desperately want to do what you can to save your home, the good news is that avoiding a foreclosure is possible if you know how.

Foreclosure is a serious situation that means your lender can take your house and resell it if you start missing payments. Fortunately, you usually have some alternatives to consider. First, you can try to find a way to keep it. Second, you can put the house on the market yourself, and use the proceeds to pay off your loan and any additional charges you've incurred. Third, you can go through foreclosure. If you do this however, it will be up to you to pay any balance due once the loan is paid off.

The first rule of thumb is to respond to any letters you receive about late payments. The worst thing you can do is just ignore them. Call the number provided and give a detailed explanation to someone as to why you are behind. Remember that a foreclosure is a major undertaking for the mortgage holder as well as you, so they will most likely try to work with you. It costs them money, time and trouble.

There is something called a Special Forbearance that may be available to you. It can allow you to make lower or even no payments for a period of time. This is generally an option if you become unemployed, lose part of your income, or have incurred an unusual increase in your living expenses.

Another option is a Mortgage Modification. With this option, your mortgage is refinanced or the term of your loan extended. The way this program is designed, you have an opportunity to become caught up on payments. A Partial Claim is another possibility whereby your mortgage company would help you secure an interest free loan from HUD, which helps you bring your mortgage to a current payment status.

If you start having trouble meeting your payment schedule, before you think about the threat of foreclosure, make a visit to your mortgage company to talk about options. Don't passively ignore the situation, as you have more than the one option.

Copyright 2006, Gerry Vandewall, All Rights Reserved. This article may be published on web sites or in newsletters provided this notice and the resource box is included without ammendment.