Fairfax, VA - September 17, 2007 —
Nearly 10 out of every 1,000 households in the United States is in financial trouble with their mortgages, reports Foreclosures.com. Many of those households will lose their homes without immediate assistance.
"The American dream of owning your own home is becoming a financial nightmare for many families," said David Jones, president, Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. "We want to help families avoid the traumatic experience of losing their homes and encourage them to seek help as soon as possible."
AICCCA offers the following three step plan to avoid foreclosure:
Contact your lender now. If you know you will have trouble making your mortgage payment, contact your lender right away and let them know. It is a tough phone call to make, but the longer you wait to let your lender know you are having problems, the worse the situation becomes.
Seek housing counseling. Contact a HUD approved housing counseling agency and meet with a counselor. Many avenues are open to you for keeping your home and your counselor can assist you with those that make sense for you. You can find a qualified counselor by visiting www.hud.gov. Many agencies on the HUD list are also credit counseling agencies and can help you with a realistic budget.
Explore all other options. The goal is to keep your home, but circumstances may prevent that from happening. If that is the case, other options exist that are not as financially damaging as a foreclosure.
Find a buyer to assume your loan. Even if you have an unassumable term in the loan, the lender may be willing to waive it rather than foreclose.
Your lender may permit a pre-foreclosure sale where the lender agrees to accept the sale price of the home as satisfaction of the mortgage loan.
Deed in lieu of foreclosure is an option the lender may accept. The deed is turned over to the lender who can then sell the home.
Founded in 1993, Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA) is a national membership organization, established to promote quality and consistent delivery of credit counseling services. AICCCA and its members are focused on improved creditor relations, efficient processes and advanced technology to best serve clients and creditors. AICCCA members are independent nonprofit agencies that advocate for debtors, counsel millions of consumers annually nationwide and provide debt management services to consumers with excessive unsecured debt. For more information or to contact an AICCCA member office call 866-703-TRUSTAICCCA (866-703-8787) or visit www.aiccca.org.
