Foreclosure questions I get
Ok, I get lots of foreclosure questions. Fear is a terrible thing and usually it is the result of not having the answers you need. About 10% of the home owners in this country are facing foreclosure and I know many of them will NEVER ask for help but instead will just experience the fear alone. Maybe this reaches a few of them.
The foreclosure process in Georgia is non-judicial. That means they do not need to take you to court to complete the process. When you signed the Security Deed at the closing table you promised to make the payments or they could foreclose.
If you miss about 3 payments the process starts. You will get a Notice of Default and the servicer (bank) will try to contact you to arrange payment options to catch up. If you can’t do that then the process continues. I have to say that sometimes the only attempt to contact you will be the written notice of default. Don’t expect a phone call but you might get one.
It is always in your best interest to contact the lender if you are having trouble making your payments. There are some things they can do to help but the bottom line is you will have to catch up the payments or get the bank to do a loan modification.
One side note, the ‘bank’ may not be the actual mortgage holder in your case. Most of the time the ‘bank’ is just the servicer of the loan and most of the actual notes are held by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae as the ‘investor’. The bank has to follow the rules of the ‘investor’.
If you fail to catch up the payments and don’t talk to the bank eventually they will run an ad in the paper telling the public that there will be an auction on the 1st Tuesday of the month following the ads where the property will be sold to the highest bidder on the court house steps. The bank usually opens the bidding at the amount owed on the property and if no one bids higher then the bank owns the property.
The time from start to finish can be about 6 months to more than 2 years in some cases. One thing a lot of folks don’t know is that the bank normally will not accept partial payments on the amount owed. If the home owner lost a job for example and could not make payments for 6 months and then tried to send in a payment, the bank would send it back. It is not impossible to get on a payment plan but it is not easy either. The key is not to give up. It is a tough thing to do but losing a house is tougher.
I’ll put more info here about things like short sales and loan modifications a bit later but if you or someone you know is having trouble and have fallen behind in payments please call me if you have questions. I am here to help and will do all I can for you and your friends.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell