Foreclosure Prevention 

So you’re thinking about buying a home... We can help! Contact one of our experienced housing counselors to get started!
Also, below you can find general information about what exactly is foreclosure, how to handle delinquent payments, preventing foreclosure, and avoiding loan modification scams.

What is foreclosure?

It is important you understand what foreclosure means and why it is so important to get help early to avoid it.

Foreclosure is a legal process by which the lender takes back ownership of mortgaged property and sells it because a loan is in default, or in other words, because the owner is delinquent with the mortgage payments and/or interest payments on his or her mortgage. The process of foreclosure is different in every state. In some states, a non-litigated foreclosure can take as little as 32 days. In other states, it's a process that could take more than a year. In either case, the results can be devastating:

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  You would lose any equity in your home. If you have equity in your home or your home has increased in value since your purchase, a foreclosure could mean the loss of thousands of dollars in equity.

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  Your credit score would take a big hit. With a foreclosure on your credit history, you will have future difficulty borrowing money, renting an apartment, and perhaps even getting a job.

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  Finding a new home will be a challenge. Not only must you find some place that's affordable, you'll also need to come up with a rental deposit, which the landlord could drastically increase, based on your credit rating.

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  The interest rates on your credit cards could increase as the credit card companies view you as an increased risk.

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  You could even be hit with a bill for taxes on the amount of mortgage that the lender was never able to recover from the sale of the property.

Broward County Legal Aid

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