Homeowner Foreclosure Guide

Understand foreclosure and know your options. Learn how a foreclosure works.

Your Questions Answered

Most homeowners' don't have a clear idea how a foreclosure works.

If you are one of the thousands of homeowners falling behind on your house payments, you will find the answers to many of your pressing questions on this website.

If you review the entire foreclosure guide on this website you should be able to discuss your issues confidently with your lender, debt counseling service or legal advisor.

Going into foreclosure brings on a host of problems, including damage to your credit rating. I’m emphasizing this early on because much of the damage can be avoided by monitoring your credit (you can get a free credit report here) and by pro-actively repairing damage that occurs.

This Website Will Help You Learn

  • what a foreclosure is and how it unfolds
  • what the significant documents signed in a real estate transaction are and discuss their importance during a foreclosure
  • the available alternative to foreclosure
  • how to avoid foreclosure scams
Select a Chapter
Foreclosure laws vary from state to state. If you're interested in learning more about the most common form of foreclosure used in your state visit the State by State Foreclosure Guide.
This website is not a substitute for the advice of a competent attorney, and cannot teach you everything that a real estate attorney knows about foreclosure. Although the material on this site is written by a lawyer, it does not claim to provide legal advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
If you can afford an attorney, it is best you retain one to guide you through the foreclosure process.
Posted by Ralph on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 17:35

Polosi: Americans are Facing Housing Crisis Unseen In Generations

Remember the pictures from the Great Depression? Homes foreclosed by the thousands and entire communities forced to move out West to start a new life. Nobody ever though it could happen again--well it is, except there is no "out West" for people to escape to.

Posted by Ralph on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 10:31

Whatever They're Doing it's not Working

Despite all the hoopla about foreclosure hot lines and initiatives such as Project Hope, these efforts at assisting delinquent homeowner's has had a negligible impact on foreclosure outcomes. According to a study by the "State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group," as reported by the Wall Street Journal, 70% of seriously delinquent borrowers aren't receiving any help with their payment problems.

Posted by Ralph on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 11:01

Bush's Plan to Help Struggling Homeowners

On Thursday, President Bush jumped further into the Foreclosure fray announcing his plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure. The plan is billed as helping homeowners, and it does help a certain segment. However, it also is designed to salvage the bad loans made by the mortgage lending industry...

Posted by Ralph on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 17:03

Expanding Homeownership Act of 2007 (S. 2325)

The credit crisis is severely contracting the amount of money available for mortgages. Homeowners facing foreclosure are unable to sell their homes prior to actual foreclosure because of a lack of buyers with financing. The bill...

Posted by Ralph on Sun, 11/18/2007 - 16:00

Congressional Action taken on H.R. 3915

The house passed H.R. 3915, the controversial Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act by a vote of 291-127. Rep. Barney Frank said: "What we have today is a bill that canot undo what happened, but makes it much less likely...

Posted by Ralph on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 16:06

Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007

On November 7, 2007 the House Committee on Financial Services approved the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 (HR 3915). This bill, sponsored by Re. Bradley Miller [D-NC], does the following:

Posted by Ralph on Mon, 11/12/2007 - 13:18

No mortgage relief without missed payments

Homeowners having difficulty with their mortgages are told they must be in arrears on their payments before the lender will consider a mortgage modification or other foreclosure relief. This means that...

Posted by Ralph on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 08:02

Sophisticated Loans -- Unsophisticated Homeowners

There has been much talk about the "moral hazard" of bailing out foreclosed homeowners. However, many struggling homeowners are relatively unsophisticated...

Posted by Ralph on Sun, 10/28/2007 - 07:00

The Accidental Foreclosure Consultant

Consider this hypothetical. Your neighbor is facing foreclosure. His house looks like a great investment opportunity but, unfortunately, you don’t have the money to make a deal. However, a friend has told you he is hoping to invest some of a recent inheritance in foreclosed homes.

Posted by Ralph on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 05:57