Forclosure Alternatives
Know Your Foreclosure Alternatives
Retaining our firm can result in a variety of foreclosure alternatives. The result could be a loan modification, forbearance, or deed in lieu, instead of a long drawn out lawsuit resulting in the Lender taking your home and selling it to the highest bidder. In some cases the Lender gives up and decides they cannot collect on the Note, or the Court rules the Lender does not have a valid Note. In either case you get to stay in your home.
Call one of our experienced attorneys for a more detailed discussion about whether this option is right for you.
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Foreclosure Options
A common misunderstanding people have is that the Lender holds all the cards. This is not true! There are several options that are available to you during foreclosure. Some of the most common options are: Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure, Consent to Judgment with Waiver of Deficiency, Short Sale, and Cash for Keys.
Cash for Keys is a situation where the bank actually pays you for your home. If your home is in “broom swept condition”, meaning all fixtures and landscaping are intact, the Lender will give you a certain sum of money for you to vacate your home within a certain number of days.
This is a situation where you walk away from your home. You allow the judgment of foreclosure to be entered against you, and the Lender agrees that it will not go after you for any deficiency. A deficiency is the difference between the amount you owe the Lender and the amount your home is sold for. There may be tax consequences upon the waiver of the deficiency. Call one of our experienced attorneys for a more detailed discussion about whether this option is right for you.
Caveat: At the very minimum a homeowner should seek a waiver of deficiency. The Internal Revenue Service may classify the amount waived as income and subject to income tax. Regardless of what you owed when you defaulted, that amount will have significantly increased once litigation begins due to unpaid principal, interest, property inspection fees, and pre-acceleration late charges, to name a few. Even worse, it is unlikely the Lender will be able to sell the home for what is owed, leaving you still owing a balance. See the example below:
Original Mortgage: $200,000
Owed at time of Default: $150,000
Amount owed after litigation is in progress: $225,000
(Principal, interest, property inspection fees, and
pre-acceleration late charges, etc.)
Home Sold For: $150,000
Deficiency: $75,000
This option allows the homeowner to attempt to sell the home at a price below what is owed. In a short sale, the Lender agrees to remove it’s lien in exchange for the proceeds of the sale, even though the proceeds are less than what is owed. There may be tax consequences from a short sale due to the Lender’s waiver of the deficiency. The IRS may classify the amount waived as income and subject to income tax. Call one of our experienced attorneys to see if this option is right for you.
A Deed in Lieu avoids the foreclosure all together. In this option, the homeowner will give the property to the lender in exchange for the Lender not pursuing a foreclosure lawsuit. The homeowner signs the deed over to the Lender.
