For more information, you will want to read on Wikipedia’s definitions.

Reasons For Pending Home Mortgage Foreclosure

* Job loss / unexpected unemployment
* Sudden illness or medical emergency
* Death in the family
* Divorce / loss of second income
* Excessive debt obligations
* Job demotion or promotion denials
* Inability to pay an adjustable interest rate that increases
* Unexpected major home maintenance expense

How to Avoid Home Mortgage Foreclosure

The most successful way to avoid home mortgage foreclosure is to prevent the filing of a Notice of Default.

* Time to make up your payments.
mortgage lenders might agree to wait before taking legal action against you and let you work out a repayment plan that is affordable for you. This is called forbearance.

* Forgiving a payment.
If you can agree on a way that you will be current after missing a payment or two (without the means to pay it back), the mortgage lender might give you a break and waive your obligation. This is called debt forgiveness, and it rarely happens.

* Spread out the missed payments over a longer term.
For example, if your payment is, say, $1,200 a month, the mortgage lender might let you add $100 a month to each payment for a year until you are caught up. This is called a repayment plan.

* Changing the terms of your home loan.
If your mortgage is an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the mortgage lender might freeze the interest rate before it increases or change the interest rate to a more manageable rate for you. A mortgage lender might also extend the amortization period. This is called a note modification.

* Add the back payments to your home loan balance.
If you have sufficient equity and meet the mortgage lender’s lending guidelines, the mortgage lender might increase your home loan balance to include the back payments and re-amortize the home loan. This is called a refinance.

* Make a separate home loan to you.
Certain government home loans contain provisions that let borrowers who meet specific criteria apply for another home loan, which will pay back the missed payments. This is called a partial claim.

Ways to Stop Home Mortgage Foreclosure

When the mortgage lender files a Notice of Default, your options are limited. You will be given a certain time period to bring the payments current, pay the costs of filing the home mortgage foreclosure and stop the home mortgage foreclosure. This is called reinstatement of your home loan. If you cannot make up the missed payments and the mortgage lender will not work with you, here are a few other options to stop home mortgage foreclosure:

* Sell Your Home.
Interview real estate agents to get an opinion of market value and average DOM to sell your home. You might be tempted to hire a discount broker, but many sellers feel they need the exposure and marketing that full-service brokers offer. Compare both to determine which best meets your needs and time frame.

* Consider a Short Sale.
If your home is worth less than the amount you owe, you might be a candidate for a short sale. A short sale affects FICO credit score but it’s not as bad as a home mortgage foreclosure. You or your agent will need to negotiate with your mortgage lender to find out if the mortgage lender will cooperate on a short sale. This is called a pre-home mortgage foreclosure redeemed.

* Sign a Deed-in-Lieu of Home Mortgage Foreclosure
This is called deeding the home back to the mortgage lender. The homeowner give the mortgage lender a properly prepared and notarized deed, and the mortgage lender forgives the mortgage, effectively canceling the home mortgage foreclosure action. mortgage lenders tell me that deeds-in-lieu of home mortgage foreclosure affect FICO credit score the same as a home mortgage foreclosure.

The mortgage lender might also work an arrangement where a home owner can remain in the home until finding a place to move into. Owners in default should negotiate the right to retain occupancy, arguing that if the mortgage lender followed through on the home mortgage foreclosure, an owner would still enjoy the right of possession during that procedure.

How To Avoid Mortgage Foreclosure

If you are truly looking to avoid mortgage foreclosure, you need to act quickly and file a notice of default with your bank or mortgage mortgage lender. From there, you need to get to work on a short sale or paying back your mortgage payments through a loan modification or other possibility.