How To Keep Your Home From Foreclosure In Massachusetts

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1 Foreclosure in Massachusetts What you need to know about your rights.

2 Outline Rights before foreclosure Options to keep your home Massachusetts foreclosure timeline

3 150 Day Right to Cure 150 day period when you can bring your loan up to date You must pay all your missed payments + any late fees No attorneys fees or other foreclosure relatedrelated fees The lender must send you a notice of your right to cure

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6 Your Options When You Receive A Foreclosure Notice Notice of Right to Cure If you experienced a temporary financial difficulty, you may be able to pay to come current You can use the 150 day period to apply for a loan modification If you wait until after your cure period, the bank may try to make you pay thousands in attorney fees as part of a loan modification df

7 Right to Request a Modified Mortgage Loan Legal right to be reviewed and offered an affordable loan modification before foreclosure Applies for mortgages with specific characteristics Ex. Loans with teaser rates that increase after a few years, loans that allow payments that are less than the fully amortized payments, no document loans

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9 Your Options When You Receive A Foreclosure Notice Right to Request a Modified Mortgage Loan Notice Respond within 30 days with a full loan modification packet If you do not respond within 30 days, the lender can reduce your cure period from 150 days to 90 days

10 Options to Keep Your Home Work with a Housing Counselor on a Loan Modification Thesooner you contact one, the better Federal and state laws prohibit the lender from foreclosing, and provide stronger protections for loan modification review and appeal if you submit your application before or during the cure period Bankruptcy

11 Loan Modification ABCD s housing counselors provide free assistance in applying for loan modifications You provide them documents Bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs, etc. They complete the application and follow up with the bank

12 Loan Modification How does the bank decide whether e you get a loan modification? You must fit the requirements for an available loan modification program: Is your current payment affordable? Can changes to your loan (ex. interest rate reduction) get you to an affordable payment? Isthe modificationinthe in the interest of the investor?

13 BEWARE OF LOAN MOD SCAMS Don t trust promises from people p who claim they can get you a better deal if you pay them There are no tricks to getting approved for lender s loan modification programs A free housing counselor can help you jump the lender s hurdles and appeal a loan modification denial if it is unfair Housing counselors also have expertise and access to resources that others do not They can work with the Massachusetts Attorney General s office if they have problems with the lender They can refer you to other sources of assistance

14 Bankruptcy Two types Chapter 7 Only delays a foreclosure for a short time (months) Chapter 13 Can stop a foreclosure permanently BUT only if you start making your monthly mortgage payments AND pay back your missed payments over a 3 5 year period

15 The Foreclosure Timeline 1. You miss a payment, py the bank begins the foreclosure process. 1 3 months Day Notice of Right to Cure ( + Notice of + 5 months Right to Request a Modified dmortgage Loan). 3. Lawsuit in land court to determine if you are a months servicemember. 4. Publication and 14 day notice of foreclosure About 1 sale. month NOTE: AFTER A FORECLOSURE OCCURS YOU DO NOT HAVE TO months total LEAVE YOUR HOME. ONLY A JUDGE CAN EVICT YOU.