How Low Will My Credit Drop After a Short Sale or Foreclosure?

How Low Will My Credit Drop After a Short Sale or Foreclosure?

With credit scores, one can easily predict the possibility of you making payments on time, paying off loans, and helping a lender determine whether you are a risk. Credit scores are determined by an individual’s lending history and ability to repay and manage debts based on the agreement. Factors like letting your mortgage payment slide, failure to make timely payments tend to affect your credit score. There is every tendency for your credit score to be impacted if you suffer a foreclosure or short sale, which will, in turn, make you a potential risk for a lender.

If you are thinking of taking a short sale or foreclosure for your home, after reading this, you will become aware of how much your credit score could drop. However, at this point, it is necessary to consider the meaning of short sale and foreclosure

 

WHAT IS A SHORT SALE?

With a short sale, you have the opportunity of selling your home and using the gains or proceeds from the sale to pay off your mortgage irrespective of whether the profits don’t make up the full balance. When you attempt to sell your home for even less than you owe in a short sale, the lender earns the proceeds. Not every lender will be open to the idea of a short sale, and homeowners have to be at least 90 days late for the lender to be open to that idea. In some cases, lenders might choose to forgive the unpaid balance on the mortgage or not. In some states, certain laws allow lenders to seek deficiency judgments, which ensure that you pay the difference between the balance due on the mortgage and the sale price.

 

WHAT IS A FORECLOSURE?

There is every chance for you to be faced with a foreclosure when you fail to make your mortgage payments, and the lender chooses to seize and sell your property in other to make up for their financial losses. It takes a lender four missed payments to result in foreclosure proceedings. The foreclosure process tends to vary by state, but if you are going to be faced with a foreclosure, then you would receive a notice most likely through a mail.

 

HOW LOW A SHORT SALE CAN REDUCE YOUR CREDIT SCORE

A short sale will most likely affect your credit score and not just by a small margin. It is capable of dropping it to as low as 100-150 points and that depends on where you started; your credit score will only fall more based on how high it was. Short sales are regarded as the worst things that can affect your credit score. Credit scores tend to range from 300 to 850; for example, if you have your credit score between the range of 750-800, it can easily reduce to 150 points or lower in a short sale. If you are within the range of 650-720, after a short sale, you could lose 100 points and fall into what is commonly referred to among lenders as the subprime category.

 

HOW LOW A FORECLOSURE COULD REDUCE YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Foreclosures tend to have more effect on credit scores. Now according to FICO, based on a person’s starting scores, a fair number of homeowners who go through a foreclosure experience a drop in their credit score from between 85 and 160 points. An individual with a good starting score of 680 could reduce to between the ranges of 579 and 594, which is regarded as a fair or poor score range, and someone with an excellent score of 780 may reduce between 620 and 642. Foreclosures can affect a consumer’s credit for as long as seven years.

It is necessary to understand this because a low credit score can make it difficult or impossible to borrow. Plus, as your credit scores drop, your interest rate will only continue to increase even if you are eligible for credit loans.

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What Happens if the Bank Forecloses on My Short Sale?

What Happens if the Bank Forecloses on My Short Sale?

It happens quite often…more than you realize…that a home in process of a short sale is foreclosed on. It is a common misconception that the lender won’t file a foreclosure lawsuit against you if you are currently in the process of negotiating a short sale or loan modification.

Example:

Debbie lists her home for a short sale in November and receives a contract from a buyer. While waiting for the bank’s approval, at the end of April gets served with foreclosure papers. How can this be if she has a contract on the property?

It can be. And again, it is quite common. You should expect to get served with a foreclosure lawsuit four months or so after you stop making mortgage payments. When you try to complete a short sale, it more often than not takes a month or two to get it under contract and 45 to 90 days to get approval from the lender. If you fail to respond to the foreclosure within 20 days, you will be in default and will have waived valuable rights in defending the lawsuit in case the short sale falls through. It is recommended that you see an attorney about responding to the lawsuit.

With the right and proper sequence of actions, it is possible to get foreclosure postponed so that you can successfully short sale your home. It takes knowing when and how to be proactive.  Advantage Legal Group can help you determine the best course of action for your foreclosure situation.

For more information on mortgage mediation, foreclosure, short sales, bankruptcy and all things related to personal finance, check out Bellevue Bankruptcy Blog. These topics and issues can be confusing and stressful, but help is available! Contact us today!

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What If I’m a Year Behind in My Mortgage Payments?

What If I'm a Year Behind in My Mortgage Payments?

What If I’m a Year Behind in My Mortgage Payments?

You may be behind only two months in your mortgage payments or up to two years behind! Wherever you may find yourself on that scale, the question is, what do you do and what’s going to happen? First and foremost, let’s be clear that it is vitally important that you keep in good communication from the get-go or as soon as possible. The longer you avoid notices due to embarrassment or denial, the worse things can get.

Lenders are usually very willing to work with you UNTIL a Notice of Default is filed. Once one of these is filed, it is very hard to work with your lender as they are looking out to protect their interest. So, be sure to communicate early and often. Also, keep a clear record of every time you communicate with your lender: the day you called, the name of the person you talked to and what you talked about. This can only help you later down the road. Remember, lenders do not want to foreclose, so if you’re unable to fulfill your mortgage obligation, contact your lender immediately so they can give you options to help you.

Options may include:

  • time to make up your payments. You may be granted something called forbearance, an agreement from the lenders to not take action against you while you work out a repayment plan that is affordable for you.
  • -forgiving a payment. The lender may grant you debt forgiveness, which means they may let you skip a payment or two if you can prove that you will be able to pay thereafter. However, this rarely happens.
  • repayment plan. Sometimes you can spread the missed payments out over a longer-term. For example, if your mortgage is $900, you may pay $200 more a month until you’re caught up, temporarily making your payments $1100.
  • -change the terms of your loan. Maybe your interest rate can be adjusted or maybe your amortization period can be extended.
  • refinance. You may be able to add the back payments to the balance of your loan if you have sufficient equity.
  • -partial claim. Some government loans have provisions that allow the borrower to apply for another loan to pay back the missed payments if they meet certain criteria.

The above are routes of action if a Notice of Default has not yet been filed. if one has been filed, your remaining options are to reinstate your loan, sell your home, consider a short sale or sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

To learn more, contact Advantage Legal Group.

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