DAY 1 – First mortgage payment missed.

Day 30 – By now a late charge is assessed on the missed payment. The mortgage servicer starts attempting to make contact to find out what happened and when you are going to make a payment. The servicer can sometimes seem insensitive and pushy, don't be intimidated by them should you decide to call yourself. Now is a excellent time to be honest and let them know your situation and your plans to resolve it.

DAY 91 – The servicer sends a “demand” or “breach” letter to the borrower pointing out that terms of the mortgage have been violated and the borrower is in default. The borrower gets 30 days to resolve the situation by paying the delinquent amount. Some lenders send the breach letter after 60 days of non-payment. Now is the time you should decide if you are going to be able to catch up your payment up or if you need to work out a loan modification or set up a deferment plan.  

DAY 121 – The servicer refers the loan to the foreclosure department, which hires a local attorney or other firm to initiate foreclosure proceedings. The attorney starts publishing the notice of foreclosure over four successive weeks in the Grand Rapids Legal News. This is when the mail starts pouring in from people offering their services. I can not express enough how important time is at this point and you can not afford to waste any of it working with someone who can't help you. If you have a FHA mortgage you may qualify to file for a partial claim to bring your payments current. If your payment cannot be brought current you only have 30 days to find a buyer and negotiate a short sale. AT THIS TIME ALL OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE, PLEASE USE ONE.

DAY 148 – The house is sold at the county sheriff's sale. An outside party may bid on the property, starting with at least $1 over the amount owed. If no bids are received, the house goes back to the lender. The homeowner has six months to redeem the property with the lender or bidder, paying the amount owed plus interest and fees, unless the lender deems the home abandoned. In which case they can accelerate the redemption period to 30 days. Any money bid over the amount owed goes to the homeowner. If you have exhausted all efforts with no avail you should consider selling your home. We can place your home on the market (except FHA mortgages) and try to find a qualified buyer before your 6 month redemption period is up. If you owe more than your home's current market value, I may be able to negotiate a short sale with your lender(s) and get them to accept a payoff less than what you owe as payment in full. At this point a number of options will no longer be available to you. (There is NO COST to you for any of these services)

DAY 329 – If the homeowner has not redeemed or sold the property, ownership is transferred to the lender or bidder. If the homeowner has not left, the new owner starts eviction proceedings. If you allowed your house to go back to the lender, you did not take the right course of action. This is why it is extremely important to take action before but no later that DAY 148. You DO NOT have to let it get to this point. Banks do not like to hold properties, they would much rather negotiate a short sale.

DAY 343 – An eviction hearing is held within two weeks, followed by a 10 day grace period for the former homeowner (yourself) to vacate the premises. By this time hindsight kicks in and you now realize that there was a better way too handle the situation.

Day 354 – When the grace period ends, the eviction is certified. Court bailiffs are notified and empty the premises sometime afterward. Most likely your house will sell for thousands less than what you owed. When it does the lender will give you a deficiency notice, meaning you are required to pay any amount less than the amount the lender received when your house was sold including any fees that were acquired along the way. I can negotiate a short sale to prevent all of this from taking place without any out of pocket costs on your behalf.