Having a house foreclosed can be both a financially and emotionally damaging experience. Home foreclosure is terrible anywhere, whether you live in Camden New Jersey or not. Fortunately, if you find yourself in over your head on your mortgage payments for a home in Camden, you don’t have to accept foreclosure as a part of your imminent future. There are steps you can follow and actions you can take to avoid foreclosure and rise above the seemingly overwhelming burden of mortgage debt.
What Does it Mean to Foreclose on a Home
If you’re a homeowner in Camden NJ, then you must already be familiar with the above-average rate of foreclosures that occur within the area. While real estate values are high, and prices are relatively low, not all owners can afford to pay the monthly mortgage. Last year five homes out of a grouping of 100,000 were foreclosed. Compared to the national average and Philadelphia’s rate of 4.7 homes foreclosed (per 100,000), it is easy to say that Camden is experiencing an influx of foreclosures.
However, a significant portion of the foreclosures in the Camden area could be attributed to poor education in the details of foreclosure and a lack of information regarding ways to avoid it. To put the process simply, foreclosure is when a lender decides to collect on a loan that hasn’t been paid. The lender then forces a sale and takes the proceeds from the sale as collateral for the missed loan payments. Foreclosure can be devastating to any family and can spoil the dream of owning property quite rapidly. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way, as there are a variety of methods to avoiding foreclosure on a home.
Methods of Avoiding Foreclosure
Just like every home, every mortgage agreement is different, and as a result, there may be a variety of ways to fight against your home foreclosure. New Jersey offers homeowners many resources that help to fight against home foreclosure. One effective way of fighting foreclosure is to seek housing counseling. Sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD, these counselors can tell you everything you need to know about renting a home, defaulting on a mortgage, specific tactics in avoiding foreclosure, credit mishaps, and even reverse mortgages. What makes things even better is that all counseling provided through the HUD is entirely free. Alternatively, you can seek assistance from one of the many private counseling agencies; however, they may charge for their services.
Thanks to a federal grant, homeowners can receive financial assistance through New Jersey’s Hardest Hit Fund program or NJHHF. The New Jersey HomeSaver Program utilizes these funds by providing homeowners up to $50,000 in monetary aid. This money can be used to make a monthly mortgage a little more manageable, and if you qualify can save you from home foreclosure. State legislation has also helped protect homeowners from foreclosure. For instance, the New Jersey Fair Foreclosure Act protects homeowners by giving them the opportunity to cure defaults before a lender can initiate the foreclosure process.
If you don’t qualify for state assistance programs, you can also lessen the burden of your mortgage payment through some home-saving programs that allow homeowners to modify and refinance their home loan. One helpful program is the Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP, which lessens the cost of your monthly mortgage payment based on your monthly gross income. Some HAMP users have found their payments drop by upwards of $1,000. The Home Affordable Refinance Program or HARP is another helpful program that allows homeowners to refinance their loan to be more reasonable and more affordable. You can even get further assistance from a legal expert if necessary, however tread lightly, as this can risk hurting you rather than helping you depending on the situation.
Above all, the first thing you should do is reach out to your lender. As soon as you feel overly burdened by your mortgage payments, foreclosure experts will encourage you to contact the bank or financial institution and inform them of your financial difficulties. Doing so can help ease the threat of foreclosure and can even shed light on assistance programs you may have not previously been aware of.
Facing the Threat of Foreclosure
Home foreclosure can seem like insurmountable obstacle, but if handled correctly you can completely avoid losing your home and financial ruin. Camden, New Jersey offers a wide variety of programs and resources to assist struggling homeowners through financially troubling times. So if you are feeling overwhelmed by monthly mortgage payments or other financial difficulties don’t worry, there is a way out that involves you remaining a happy and financially healthy Camden homeowner.