Knowing and understanding the basic mortgage foreclosure procedure can help you if you ever find yourself in this situation. I hope that you'll never have to experience the emotional and financial devastation that mortgage foreclosure can cause. However, if you do, it will be beneficial to you and your family if you know the basic mortgage foreclosure procedure.
Your home is not going to be foreclosed and repossessed because you've missed one payment. However, when you've missed a couple of consecutive mortgage payments, you're at a real risk of having your home repossessed. When you take out your mortgage to purchase your home, you sign a loan document, which is a legal binding agreement. You're agreeing to make monthly payments of a designated amount every month until the loan is paid in full. Many people believe this is all they are agreeing to because they don't read the fine print. This fine print is telling you what the bank can do if you fail to make your payments as promised. When you fail to make these payments, you are putting your loan in default and risking losing your home.
The basic mortgage foreclosure procedure consists of certain steps that are routinely followed. When you've missed one payment, the bank will send you a notice in the mail, call you or do both. They'll want to know what that problem is and when they can expect your payment. When you receive this phone call, this is the time to talk with your lender about any financial difficulties you may be having. The worst mistake you can make is to avoid your lender's calls. This goes in your record as being uncooperative with the bank when they tried to help.
If you've missed two or three consecutive payments, the bank will start the basic mortgage foreclosure procedure. The bank will send a Notice of Intent to Foreclosure along with a court date. You will have thirty days from the date of the notice until your court date. During these thirty days, you can still contact the bank and try to arrange to bring your loan current and save your home. Banks will usually work with you, as they don't like doing foreclosures because seldom do they get their money owed them.
If you don't contact them or can't come up with an agreeable solution, the court date will determine the date your home goes up for sale at public auction. You will be given so many days to leave the home or you will be evicted. This is all part of the basic mortgage foreclosure procedure. When the home is sold at auction, it is sold to the highest bidder. Proceeds will go to the lender to pay off the loan and all court and legal costs. Any balance left will go to the borrower, with your debt being paid in full.
Most people have a mortgage on their home. Some people even have a second mortgage. You can have a second mortgage at the same bank as your first or you can have it at a different bank. Most people that have second mortgages have them at a different bank. People get second mortgages for different reasons. They may have excess debt they want to pay off or they may need the money to catch up on their first mortgage. Perhaps they are using the money for remodeling or to take a long-awaited vacation. Whatever the reason, many people choose to take out a second mortgage on their home. Unfortunately, if you can’t make the payments on your second mortgage, you can have a second mortgage foreclosure the same way you can on your first mortgage.
Many people misunderstand the second mortgage foreclosure and how it works in reference to the first mortgage foreclosure. Any time there are two mortgages on your home, the first mortgage always takes precedence over the second mortgage. The same is true with a first and second mortgage foreclosure. Some people misunderstand what this means. They feel that since their first mortgage takes precedence over their second mortgage, they don’t have to worry about staying current with their second mortgage as much as their first. They couldn’t be more wrong with their thinking.
If you become delinquent on your second mortgage, the lender can initiate second mortgage foreclosure proceedings against your home. You can lose your home even if you’re current on the first mortgage. When a home becomes foreclosed, it is repossessed and usually sold at auction to the highest bidder. If your second mortgage is in default and you lose your home to a second mortgage foreclosure, the first mortgage will still take precedence. When your home is sold as a result of the foreclosure, the proceeds will go to the lender of the first mortgage to cover the balance that is due to them. Whatever is left will go to the lender of the second mortgage to pay them what you owe them. If there’s any money from the proceeds left after paying both mortgages, late charges, legal costs and other fees, the balance will go to you.
It’s important to understand the seriousness of a second mortgage foreclosure so you know you rights and what to expect. If you find yourself in a foreclosure situation with either mortgage, it’s to your advantage to contact an attorney for advice. However, it’s more important to contact your lenders when you first begin having financial difficulties. This may help you avoid a first or second mortgage foreclosure.
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