Rising Foreclosures

Dallas-Fort Worth residential foreclosures schedule for January remain on the high end.  In Dallas County, there were 2,502 foreclosure postings for December while Tarrant County experienced 1,500 foreclosure postings.  But many mortgage lenders and servicers are holding back a backlog of foreclosures for the holiday which many suspect they will unload come January 2010. Many homeowners who have not paid their mortgage since the summer are reporting silence on the part of their lenders; but experts believe that the silence may be broken come January when mortgage lenders begin foreclosure proceedings on thousands of delinquent borrowers.

Many of those borrowers have tried to negotiate with the lender and have faced difficulty in getting a response when after applying for the Making Home Affordable program.  Those homeowners are often holding out hope that come January they will not face foreclosure but will instead be placed in a modification program that will help them save their home.  I don’t know if that hope is realistic.  The mortgage industry has been so blatant about their inability or unwillingness to work with homeowners facing foreclosure that even our legislators have noticed.  If a homeowner has not paid their mortgage in months and has not been placed in a permanent mortgage modification program, they should be aware that is highly probable that they will be facing foreclosure in the first part of 2010.

This is why it is important that homeowners facing foreclosure look at all of their options when fighting foreclosure, including bankruptcy. Yes, please try to get a mortgage modification if you can; but please don’t put all of your hope in the mortgage lender if they are not responding to your calls, letters or failing to approve/deny your modification application.  At least consider what bankruptcy can do to help you avoid foreclosure and use that bankruptcy option if you must.