subject: Using Your Tax Refund To Avoid Foreclosure - Programs That Can Help [print this page] Many Americans have fallen behind on their mortgage payments in the last year and are looking for ways to avoid foreclosure. If this sounds familiar, you have more options to choose from than you might have had even two years ago. There are many programs available to assist homeowners in retaining their homes. Using your tax refund to avoid foreclosure may be your best option in the short term. This will help you buy the time you need to help the recovery process. A Forbearance Agreement temporarily lets borrowers pay less than the full amount of the mortgage payment during an agreed upon period of time.
Lends may consider this an option if you can show that funds are coming in from an alternative source. Using your tax refund to avoid foreclosure will often encourage your mortgage holder to work with you. Depending on your individual situation, the forbearance agreement may allow you to go without making any payments for up to a year. If you are not getting a large refund, but can prove the financial issues that caused the non-payments in the first place are behind you, these agreements may also be successful. An example of this is if you missed payments while unemployed.
If you have recently found a new job, your lender may agree to reduce or suspend payments while you get back on your feet. Using your tax refund to avoid foreclosure will help pay them back faster and help you get to work on rebuilding your credit. The important part is to begin working with your lender or a third party organization as soon as you can. If you have missed only one or two payments your options will be different than if you have missed several. A loan modification has also been an option for millions of Americans at risk of foreclosure.
In this process, one or more of the original loan terms are changed. You may have reduced monthly payments due to a change in interest rates or an increased length of the loan. If you are using your tax refund to avoid foreclosure, your lender may agree to lower the payments without increasing the length of the loan. This will greatly depend on your situation. This is also helpful if your lender is willing to set up a repayment plan. With this type of alternative, the lender adds a specific amount to the original monthly requirements, or in the case of a tax refund, one lump sum.
