Many advocates reason the there needs to be an increase in government help to stop foreclosures. With the recent increase in foreclosure rates, many politicians are pushing for government “bail out” for the institutions that offered subprime mortgages. What the average consumer doesn’t realize is that there are many government, state and federal, that are already in place to help stop foreclosure. When looking for information on government help to stop foreclosures, the internet is a great place to look.
The HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) has many programs in place to offer government help to stop foreclosures. The HUD web site offers many tips and suggestions for home owners that find themselves in financial difficulty and impending foreclosure. The most important step is to have open communication with your lender. The federal government has incentive programs in place for the lender to help avoid foreclosure. There is significant assistance available for those that communicate with their lender early in the foreclosure process. HUD also has approved foreclosure counselors that will offer individualized help.
A recent collaboration of HUD/Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Labor and mortgage lenders has provided valuable information regarding government help to stop foreclosures. If you are facing financial difficulties due to job loss, military service, or natural disasters, there are many programs providing government help to stop foreclosures. Contacting any one of these agencies is an important step in gathering information to help you keep your home.
Victims of a natural disaster have special government help to stop foreclosure that has been made available through the national government. If you were a victim of a national tragedy, like the attacks of September 11, 2001, there may still be help available through the disaster relief plans that the federal government has in place. Military families that are suffering financial hardship due to deployment or disabilities caused during active duty also qualify for special programs to help them keep their homes.
The most important step when looking for government help to stop foreclosures is to contact your lender. Lenders will have the most up to date information on what government programs are available and can tell you if you qualify for any of them. Lenders have workout options that help you keep your home. These options will work best if you are only 1-2 payments behind, so contact your lender early. The farther behind you get, the fewer options there are to deal with. Government help to stop foreclosures is available; you just have to act early to be able to benefit from most of these options.
There are web sites that offer free foreclosure listings. This is a valuable resource when looking to save money by purchasing a foreclosed home. Most foreclosed homes are not listed as such on a standard real estate listing. These free foreclosure listings save valuable time when trying to locate the foreclosed properties in a given area. Because they have only foreclosed homes listed, most of the locating work has been done for you. By deciding to purchase a foreclosed home at a lower than value price, you have decided that saving money is important. That is the same with finding the home using free foreclosure listings.
Most paying sites do offer free trial periods. This allows you to access the same information as the paying member but for a limited period of time. You can gather a lot of valuable information and locations of these foreclosed homes in a few days. The drawback of relying on the free trial period is that new homes are added to the list daily. By having a limited time period, you may miss listings that interest you after your trial period expires. Most sites require that you enter credit card information upon registering for your free trial. If you do not actively cancel your registration at the end of the trial period, your credit card will automatically be charged. Many people access multiple sites and take advantage of the free trial period of more than one of these. Some of these different sites are hosted by the same company, so caution must be used when doing this. If you encounter a few of these sites, your free trial period may be denied. It is possible to have access to these free foreclosure listings, however caution must be used or you will end up paying for the service.
Homes with FHA insured mortgages that end in foreclosure become property of the government. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) handles the sale of these homes. There are web sites that offer free foreclosure listings consisting only of HUD houses. Since these homes are owned by the government, the listings are available to the general public for free. HUD also offers additional incentives to home buyers that are in certain occupations. As part of the Good Neighbor plan, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, and emergency medical technicians can purchase these homes for an additional 50% off the asking price. This program helps to bring revitalization to neighborhoods by bringing in “good neighbors”.
When considering purchasing a foreclosed home, it is imperative that you check out free foreclosure listings. Having a comprehensive list of available properties in a given area makes the process of purchasing one of these homes significantly easier. When these lists are able to be accessed for free, it becomes more valuable.
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