When it comes to mortgage problems, the sooner you take action the better, especially when those problems are related with making your monthly payments.

If you are struggling to make your mortgage payments, your mortgage lender should be called first and put in the picture as to your financial situation. If you need more help there is a list of resources on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development´s (HUD) website. Or you could call (800) 569 4287.

Make sure you are fully aware of your real situation by checking over the mortgage loan documents and be prepared to give clear information as to your expenses. However, before you call it is a good idea that you understand what options you are likely to have. These options are separated into three main groups: temporary solutions, long-term solutions and last-ditch options.

Temporary Solutions

- Reinstatement

-Forbearance

- Repayment plan

Temporary solutions include a reinstatement plan whereby a date is set for repayment of back payments. Forbearance may be offered if you have had a reduction in income or an increase in expenses. This involves a temporary -3 or 4 month reduction or suspension of mortgage payments followed by a new loan repayment plan. A repayment plan means that you may be able to pay back money owing over a period of time by adding a certain amount to regular monthly payments.

Long-Term Solutions

- Loan Modifications

- Partial Claim

The main long-term mortgage solution is a loan modification. This requires the lender to adjust the terms of the loan to fit your new situation so that you can afford to pay your monthly payments. This could mean having to pay a loan modification fee. Another long term solution might be partial claim whereby you speak to your private mortgage insurance firm who might agree to provide a one time interest free loan so as to bring your account up to date. The repayment of the loan is due when you sell the property or pay off your mortgage.

Last-Ditch Options

- Short Sale

- Assumption

- Deed in Lieu

If you cannot make use of the previously mentioned alternatives you may have to face the fact that you cannot keep your home and at this point you might need to sell the property. Your lender will most likely give you a certain amount of time to pay off the amount owing on your mortgage and they may expect you to use a real estate professional to sell your property.

If selling the property is only possible for an amount inferior to the full amount of the loan, your lender might agree to what is called a pre-foreclosure sale or short sale. Notice, you may still owe income tax on the difference between the amount you owe and the amount you actually pay.

There is another possibility available at this point called assumption where a qualified buyer might be permitted to take over the mortgage. Check with your lender if you would like to use this option.

Finally there is Deed in lieu of foreclosure by means of which the one unable to pay back the mortgage can give the property back to the lender who then does not require the balance of the loan to be paid. Tax may be payable but this option is better than foreclosure when it comes to your credit rating. This last option might not be applicable until you have tried to sell the property at fair market value for at least 90 days.

The government is assisting rural home owners to refinance their mortgages through a pilot program of the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA. This program is designed for rural owners who don’t qualify for a commercial refinance loan but wish to benefit from the low interest rates now available. This is a new program, so if you did not qualify for mortgage assistance through previous USDA programs, you may qualify for this one.

The program will convert the mortgages of borrowers under the Single Family Housing Direct and Guaranteed program into new Guaranteed loans with improved terms. Notice this program only allows borrowers to refinance the balance of their existing mortgage and the one time guarantee fee charge, which works as a type of mortgage insurance. You cannot use this refinance program as a cash-out refinance or a way to increase the balance on your mortgage to remodel your home or finance some other project.

Unfortunately, this program is only available to borrowers who already have a mortgage guaranteed by the USDA for a minimum of 12 months. This also means you cannot add new borrowers to a guaranteed mortgage, all the borrowers must be part of an existing guaranteed loan.

The good news for unemployed workers is that employment is not a requirement to qualify for the Rural Refinance Pilot program. As long as you have a good mortgage payment history for the last 12 months, you are eligible. However, if you have been employed in the last 12 months, you must provide proof of previous earnings, which will be used to calculate total income and determine eligibility.

Another great feature of this mortgage program is that borrowers with a bad credit history will still qualify as long as their mortgage payment history is good. For example, as long as you have been regular with your mortgage payments in the last 12 months, late payments for credit cards, car loans or other debts, you will still be eligible.

Successful applicants of the Rural Refinance Program will see their mortgage’s interest rates drop to at least 100 basis points below their current interest rate. However, mortgages with high interest rates may enjoy greater reductions in order to meet the maximum interest rate set by the program. All successful mortgages will see their terms extended to a 30-year term.

Borrowers will have to pay lenders an origination fee. However, this fee cannot be more than 1 percent of the mortgage’s principal balance.

One of the many causes of the 2008-2011 great recession was the speculative transfer of mortgage backed securities. Unless you live in a bunker in the rainforests of Vietnam, you have probably heard this several times. But what is a mortgage backed security and how did it play a role in the recession? More importantly, what has the government done to avoid it from happening again?

Mortgage Backed Securities

Put simply, mortgage backed securities, or MBSs, are packages of home loans—from several to hundreds—sold to investors. These packages could be further divided and sold to other investors as shares in the security: a product called trenches, which could be divided again into smaller shares called collateralized debt obligations. This created a complex network of interdependent securities spread across financial institutions.

Moral Hazard

What is wrong with this system, you may ask? The answer is another buzz-word you have probably heard many times: moral hazard. Moral hazard is a tendency in economic theory where investors take undue risks because they don’t have enough skin in the game, or in other words, don’t feel the financial pain of their mistakes.

Historically, bank investors would be very careful about the mortgage applications they approved. They would check credit histories carefully and ensure everybody had the financial wherewithal to make their mortgage payments. After all, if the client defaulted on payments, it was the bank or lender that had to foot the bill. However, once mortgage backed securities became popular and banks could quickly sell on their mortgages to other investors, they became more careless about who they loaned money to and started to offer mortgages to sub-prime borrowers. After all, if the client couldn’t make the payments, some other investor, or collection of investors would have to worry about it, not them. Enter moral hazard.

New Rules

In order to avoid this from happening again, the government has created new rules to regulate mortgage transfers. Previously, your mortgage could be sold, re-sold and sold again without your knowledge. In fact, you could easily own shares in your own mortgage without even realizing it. With the new rules set by the Federal Reserve, you will know who owns your loan.

This has an added benefit to home owners. If you don’t know who owns your mortgage and you want a loan modification, a loan refinance or have payment disputes, it can be difficult to know who you need to deal with. With the new rules you will know at all times who owns your mortgage and who you must deal with about payment disputes or mortgage renegotiations.

The new rules require companies that acquire your loan to send you a notice of the mortgage transfer within 30 days of the purchase. This notice must provide the new owner’s name, address and telephone number, as well as the date of the transfer and the agent authorized to act on behalf of the new owner.

One of the many causes of the 2008-2011 great recession was the speculative transfer of mortgage backed securities. Unless you live in a bunker in the rainforests of Vietnam, you have probably heard this several times. But what is a mortgage backed security and how did it play a role in the recession? More importantly, what has the government done to avoid it from happening again?

Mortgage Backed Securities

Put simply, mortgage backed securities, or MBSs, are packages of home loans—from several to hundreds—sold to investors. These packages could be further divided and sold to other investors as shares in the security: a product called trenches, which could be divided again into smaller shares called collateralized debt obligations. This created a complex network of interdependent securities spread across financial institutions.

Moral Hazard

What is wrong with this system, you may ask? The answer is another buzz-word you have probably heard many times: moral hazard. Moral hazard is a tendency in economic theory where investors take undue risks because they don’t have enough skin in the game, or in other words, don’t feel the financial pain of their mistakes.

Historically, bank investors would be very careful about the mortgage applications they approved. They would check credit histories carefully and ensure everybody had the financial wherewithal to make their mortgage payments. After all, if the client defaulted on payments, it was the bank or lender that had to foot the bill. However, once mortgage backed securities became popular and banks could quickly sell on their mortgages to other investors, they became more careless about who they loaned money to and started to offer mortgages to sub-prime borrowers. After all, if the client couldn’t make the payments, some other investor, or collection of investors would have to worry about it, not them. Enter moral hazard.

New Rules

In order to avoid this from happening again, the government has created new rules to regulate mortgage transfers. Previously, your mortgage could be sold, re-sold and sold again without your knowledge. In fact, you could easily own shares in your own mortgage without even realizing it. With the new rules set by the Federal Reserve, you will know who owns your loan.

This has an added benefit to home owners. If you don’t know who owns your mortgage and you want a loan modification, a loan refinance or have payment disputes, it can be difficult to know who you need to deal with. With the new rules you will know at all times who owns your mortgage and who you must deal with about payment disputes or mortgage renegotiations.

The new rules require companies that acquire your loan to send you a notice of the mortgage transfer within 30 days of the purchase. This notice must provide the new owner’s name, address and telephone number, as well as the date of the transfer and the agent authorized to act on behalf of the new owner.

The Government provides mortgage assistance to veterans, National Guard members, active duty personnel and their surviving spouses. Although the VA Department does not provide the loans directly, they provide approved lenders with insurance so they can afford to approve customers who may otherwise not qualify and offer them premium interest rates. This is called a guarantee, and it allows many service members and their families to qualify for a mortgage home, because lenders know that if the service member does not pay the mortgage, the VA will cover the balance up to the amount guaranteed.

The maximum loan guarantee a service member can qualify changes on a yearly basis, sometimes more often, depending on the policies set by the legislature. The 2012 loan limits have changed considerably from the 2011 limits. The numbers quoted in this article for 2012 could still change if Congress allows the Veteran Affairs Department to calculate the maximum loan guarantee as it has in previous years. If this happens, the loan limits may increase a little, but they will not drop.

Notice that the VA does not limit the amount a veteran or an eligible service person borrow, that is between the veteran and the lender. However, the VA does set a limit on the loan amount it will guarantee, which will often end up being the maximum amount the lender is willing to lend. The loan limits set below do not represent the maximum amount the VA will repay if the veteran fails to meet mortgage payments, the VA will repay up to 25 percent of these loans amounts. Additionally, if a veteran has previously used similar entitlement benefits and failed to repay them, the veteran’s maximum guarantee amount will be reduced accordingly.

The maximum loans amounts vary from county to county based on the cost of living and the average price of property in the region. The general upper limit for guaranteed loans is $417,000. However, due to particularly high property prices in certain regions, some counties qualify for a higher VA maximum amount.  The list below, provided by the VA Department, includes all counties that qualify for a higher VA loan limit, the state they are in, the maximum loan amount and the regional VA loan center you must contact for assistance.

AK ALEUTIANS EAST $625,500 DENVER
AK ALEUTIANS WEST $625,500 DENVER
AK ANCHORAGE $625,500 DENVER
AK BETHEL $625,500 DENVER
AK BRISTOL BAY $625,500 DENVER
AK DENALI $625,500 DENVER
AK DILLINGHAM $625,500 DENVER
AK FAIRBANKS NORTH $625,500 DENVER
AK HAINES $625,500 DENVER
AK HOONAH-ANGOON $625,500 DENVER
AK JUNEAU $625,500 DENVER
AK KENAI PENINSULA $625,500 DENVER
AK KETCHIKAN GATEWAY $625,500 DENVER
AK KODIAK ISLAND $625,500 DENVER
AK LAKE AND PENINSULA $625,500 DENVER
AK MATANUSKA-SUSITNA $625,500 DENVER
AK NOME $625,500 DENVER
AK NORTH SLOPE $625,500 DENVER
AK NORTHWEST ARCTIC $625,500 DENVER
AK PETERSBURG $625,500 DENVER
AK PRINCE OF WALES-HYDER $625,500 DENVER
AK SITKA $625,500 DENVER
AK SKAGWAY MUNICIPALITY $625,500 DENVER
AK SOUTHEAST FAIRBANKS $625,500 DENVER
AK VALDEZ-CORDOVA $625,500 DENVER
AK WADE HAMPTON $625,500 DENVER
AK
WRANGELL
CITY/BOROUGH $625,500 DENVER
AK YAKUTAT CITY $625,500 DENVER
AK YUKON-KOYUKUK $625,500 DENVER
CA ALAMEDA $625,500 PHOENIX
CA CONTRA COSTA $625,500 PHOENIX
CA LOS ANGELES $621,000 PHOENIX
CA MARIN $625,500 PHOENIX
CA NAPA $460,000 PHOENIX
CA ORANGE $621,000 PHOENIX
CA SAN BENITO $625,500 PHOENIX
CA SAN DIEGO $477,000 PHOENIX
CA SAN FRANCISCO $625,500 PHOENIX
CA SAN LUIS OBISPO $457,700 PHOENIX
CA SAN MATEO $625,500 PHOENIX
CA SANTA BARBARA $598,000 PHOENIX
CA SANTA CLARA $625,500 PHOENIX
CA SANTA CRUZ $610,650 PHOENIX
CA SONOMA $419,750 PHOENIX
CA VENTURA $518,650 PHOENIX
CO EAGLE $625,500 DENVER
CO LAKE $625,500 DENVER
CO PITKIN $625,500 DENVER
CO ROUTT $523,250 DENVER
CO SAN MIGUEL $625,500 DENVER
CO SUMMIT $621,000 DENVER
CT FAIRFIELD $601,450 CLEVELAND
DC DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA $625,500 ROANOKE
GU GUAM $625,500 HONOLULU
HI HAWAII $625,500 HONOLULU
HI HONOLULU $695,750 HONOLULU
HI KALAWAO $625,500 HONOLULU
HI KAUAI $625,500 HONOLULU
HI MAUI $625,500 HONOLULU
ID TETON $600,300 DENVER
MA DUKES $625,500 CLEVELAND
MA ESSEX $460,000 CLEVELAND
MA MIDDLESEX $460,000 CLEVELAND
MA NANTUCKET $625,500 CLEVELAND
MA NORFOLK $460,000 CLEVELAND
MA PLYMOUTH $460,000 CLEVELAND
MA SUFFOLK $460,000 CLEVELAND
MD ANNE ARUNDEL $494,500 ROANOKE
MD BALTIMORE $494,500 ROANOKE
MD BALTIMORE CITY $494,500 ROANOKE
MD CALVERT $625,500 ROANOKE
MD CARROLL $478,400 ROANOKE
MD CHARLES $625,500 ROANOKE
MD FREDERICK $625,500 ROANOKE
MD HARFORD $478,400 ROANOKE
MD HOWARD $478,400 ROANOKE 

MD MONTGOMERY $625,500 ROANOKE
MD PRINCE GEORGE’S $625,500 ROANOKE
MD QUEEN ANNE’S $478,400 ROANOKE
NH ROCKINGHAM $460,000 CLEVELAND
NH STRAFFORD $460,000 CLEVELAND
NJ BERGEN $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ ESSEX $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ HUDSON $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ HUNTERDON $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ MIDDLESEX $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ MONMOUTH $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ MORRIS $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ OCEAN $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ PASSAIC $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ SOMERSET $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ SUSSEX $625,500 CLEVELAND
NJ UNION $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY BRONX $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY KINGS $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY NASSAU $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY NEW YORK $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY PUTNAM $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY QUEENS $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY RICHMOND $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY ROCKLAND $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY SUFFOLK $625,500 CLEVELAND
NY WESTCHESTER $625,500 CLEVELAND
PA PIKE $625,500 CLEVELAND
UT SALT LAKE $594,550 DENVER
UT SUMMIT $594,550 DENVER
UT TOOELE $594,550 DENVER
VA ALEXANDRIA $625,500 ROANOKE
VA ARLINGTON $625,500 ROANOKE
VA CLARKE $625,500 ROANOKE
VA FAIRFAX $625,500 ROANOKE
VA FAIRFAX IND $625,500 ROANOKE
VA FALLS CHURCH $625,500 ROANOKE
VA FAUQUIER $625,500 ROANOKE
VA FREDERICKSBURG $625,500 ROANOKE
VA LOUDOUN $625,500 ROANOKE
VA MANASSAS $625,500 ROANOKE
VA MANASSAS PARK $625,500 ROANOKE
VA PRINCE WILLIAM $625,500 ROANOKE
VA SPOTSYLVANIA $625,500 ROANOKE
VA STAFFORD $625,500 ROANOKE
VA WARREN $625,500 ROANOKE
VI ST. CROIX $625,500 ST. PETERSBURG 

VI ST. JOHN $625,500 ST. PETERSBURG
VI ST. THOMAS $625,500 ST. PETERSBURG
WA KING $458,850 DENVER
WA PIERCE $458,850 DENVER
WA SAN JUAN $432,400 DENVER
WA SNOHOMISH $458,850 DENVER
WV JEFFERSON $625,500 ROANOKE
WY TETON $625,500 DENVER

For the last four years, HAMP, the Home Affordable Modification Program has been one of the big sources of help for struggling homeowners. The government mortgage help program provides homeowners with a variety of options to save their mortgage. However, not everybody qualifies for the Home Affordable Modification Program. Fannie Mae introduced the Payment Reduction Plan, also known as PRP, as an alternative for those who could not qualify for HAMP. As of January 1st, 2012, this option is no longer available.

Why has Fannie Mae cancelled this relief program? According to press releases from Fannie Mae, the volume of applications and existing homeowners in the program did not justify keeping it running. The Payment Reduction Plan started on October 26, 2009, and was first designed as a bridge program to help those who were trying to qualify for HAMP. It later developed into an alternative for homeowners who did not meet the criteria for the Home Affordable Modification Program. The main attraction of the PRP is it didn’t only reduce monthly payments, it reduced the mortgage principal and the mortgage interest rates, which provided “real” help to homeowners. For instance, a homeowner in the Payment Reduction Program could benefit from a reduction of 30 percent in monthly mortgage payments.

This is in stark contrast of so-called modification programs that simply extend the term of the mortgage or attach late payments to the end of the mortgage. Unfortunately, the application process for the Payment Reduction Plan seems to have been less streamlined as its creators had intended and the volume of successful candidates has dropped in the last two years.

Sadly, the Payment Reduction Plan was itself a downscaling of the previous “best mortgage rate reduction” in town: Fannie’s HomeSaver Forbearance Program. The HomeSaver Forbearance Program offered homeowners who were struggling with their mortgage payments a reduction of up to 50 percent for qualifying candidates. The argument Fanny Mae offered for the drop in mortgage reduction offered by their PRP program was that 30 percent was a more realistic and “permanent” reduction for mortgage servicers. It seems 30 percent is no longer a realistic or permanent solution either.

Nevertheless, homeowners looking for government help for their mortgages still have options to consider. For instance, eligible applicants can apply for the Forbearance Relief program Fannie Mae plans to launch in March 2012. The Forbearance Relief program is designed, as the PRP was, to cater for homeowners who do not qualify for the mainstream modification programs, such as unemployed homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

Up to now, homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages had four main options: selling, a mortgage refinance, a loan modification or a short sale. Fannie Mae now offers home owners who are struggling to make payments another way to get back on their feet.

The program is called the Forbearance Relief program and Fannie Mae is requiring all its approved servicers to offer it to unemployed borrowers starting from March 1, 2012.

The Program

What does this program offer? It doesn’t reduce the principal of the mortgage, it doesn’t reduce the interest rate. However, it does offer what many home owners need more than anything: time. In a nutshell it provides unemployed borrowers with 6 to 12 months of forbearance to allow homeowners time to get a job and put their finances in order. During the forbearance time lenders are not allowed to charge borrowers for late charges. In the event that a homeowners qualifies for a loan modification while in the forbearance period, the servicer must waive any unpaid late charges.

This program will simplify the existing forbearance requirements and simplify the application procedure. Freddie Mac—the other Government subsidized second market corporation—will also offer this program, starting from February 1st.

Requirements

This is one of the strengths of this program. The Forbearance Relief program is open to most struggling homeowners. This includes delinquent borrowers, borrowers on the verge of delinquency and underwater mortgages. However, it is only open to principal residence homes. In other words, only borrowers who use the home in question as their main residence can apply. Second homes, vacation homes or investment properties cannot qualify for forbearance relief.

MBS Mortgages

Mortgages that have been pooled into mortgage-backed securities are a special case in the Forbearance Relief program of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Homeowners whose mortgages have been included in MBS may qualify for up to six months of forbearance, but only if the pools were issued from June 1, 2007 to December 1, 2008. Longer forbearance plans may be offered, but only to mortgages pooled in to mortgage based securities before May 2007 or after January 2009.

Extensions

Once a mortgage is approved for the Forbearance Relief program, the homeowner must take steps to reinstate the mortgage payments by the end of the forbearance period. If a homeowner needs an extension, the application for the extension must be filed between day 120 and 135 of the forbearance plan (between month four and five). Note that eligibility for this program is determined on a monthly basis.

Up to now, homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages had four main options: selling, a mortgage refinance, a loan modification or a short sale. Fannie Mae is trying to give home owners who are struggling to make payments and need a little time to get back on their feet.

The program is called the Forbearance Relief program and Fannie Mae is requiring all its approved servicers to offer it to unemployed borrowers starting from March 1, 2012.

The Program

What does this program offer? It doesn’t reduce the principal of the mortgage, it doesn’t reduce the interest rate. However, it does offer what many home owners need more than anything: time. In a nutshell it provides unemployed borrowers with 6 to 12 months of forbearance to allow homeowners time to get a job and put their finances in order. During the forbearance time lenders are not allowed to charge borrowers for late charges. In the event that a homeowners qualifies for a loan modification while in the forbearance period, the servicer must waive any unpaid late charges.

This program will simplify the existing forbearance requirements and simplify the application procedure. Freddie Mac—the other Government subsidized second market corporation—will also offer this program, starting from February 1st.

Requirements

This is one of the strengths of this program. The Forbearance Relief program is open to most struggling homeowners. This includes delinquent borrowers, borrowers on the verge of delinquency and underwater mortgages. However, it is only open to principal residence homes. In other words, only borrowers who use the home in question as their main residence can apply. Second homes, vacation homes or investment properties cannot qualify for forbearance relief.

MBS Mortgages

Mortgages that have been pooled into mortgage-backed securities are a special case in the Forbearance Relief program of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Homeowners whose mortgages have been included in MBS may qualify for up to six months of forbearance, but only if the pools were issued from June 1, 2007 to December 1, 2008. Longer forbearance plans may be offered, but only to mortgages pooled in to mortgage based securities before May 2007 or after January 2009.

Extensions

Once a mortgage is approved for the Forbearance Relief program, the homeowner must take steps to reinstate the mortgage payments by the end of the forbearance period. If a homeowner needs an extension, the application for the extension must be filed between day 120 and 135 of the forbearance plan (between month four and five). Note that eligibility for this program is determined on a monthly basis.

Perhaps you have found yourself in the same predicament as many of your hardworking Nevada neighbors, and are struggling to survive under a tough economy. If this is the case, then your mortgage may have become an overwhelming financial monster that is threatening to take away your family’s stability. Here are some helpful options to help you get back in the game while you get back on your feet.
A wonderful federal program available through your lending institution is the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/ . Under this provision, the homeowner and the lender are both trying to save the loan and avoid foreclosure. The basic idea is that a debt to income formula will help to establish whether some adjustments to the loan will get you back on track with your payments, to everyone’s satisfaction. Modifications to the original loan agreement are created, making regular payments possible once again. The terms can be changed by lowering the interest rate, stretching the loan out over a longer period of time, changing to a fixed rate mortgage if you didn’t have this already, or incorporating already missed payments back into the loan. Any of these options, or a combination of them may be just what you need to be able to start paying your loan on time again.
In order for this to work for you, remember that you must show in the first three months after modification, that you are able to make the agreed upon payments on time. At this point the contract changes are officially instituted.
For further options and counseling, a great resource is the Homeowner’s HOPE hotline 888-995-HOPE  .  Provided by The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) http://www.995hope.org/   , this independent, non profit organization is endorsed by  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of the Treasury as a valuable link to council and options for families faced with foreclosure on their homes.
Another option would be to go directly to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development site, where you can request foreclosure avoidance counseling. A list of HUD housing counseling agencies located in Nevada can be found right on the website, listed with their telephone numbers. http://hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/
Keep in mind that there are plenty of fraudulent offers of help out there. All of us know that quick solutions that sound too good to be true often are. Desperation can cause any of us to make poor choices that leave us completely dry financially, and Nevada has been plagued by plenty of scam artists that take advantage of our natural desire to save our homes. Stick to correct lending institutions and avoid a lot of headache. Check out the helpful information provided about Nevada scams on the Nevada Department of Business and Industry site http://foreclosurehelp.nv.gov/
The bottom line is, there are good options out there. Try reaching out to these appropriate resources , and you may find just the right amount of financial relief needed to keep your family secure, while you focus on moving forward.

If the economy has hit your family hard as it has many others in recent years, you have undoubtedly run behind on bills that in the past were a non issue. Juggling cramped funds can be at the least a headache, but more seriously can turn into a life altering problem when you are unable to keep up with the mortgage on your home.
In order to help Connecticut families along the way to financial recovery without losing the important stability of their homes, there are several programs offering some relief from the burden of a mortgage that is heading toward foreclosure. The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) 860-571-3500 is offering the CT Families Program which offers you the option to refinance with a 30 year fixed loan. You may still qualify in many cases even when your mortgage has become higher than the worth of your home. Your burden may further be relieved by help with closing costs on the second mortgage.
A valuable option available to those who do not qualify for the CT Families program, is the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP) 860-721-9501. If you have been unsuccessful in resolving your delinquency through personal contact with your mortgage holder or mortgage counselor, and you cannot find a way to financially restore your loan, you may qualify for this state provided assistance. You will be under a new, 30 year fixed rate loan. This provision is made for those undergoing credible financial hardship, who have taken the reasonable steps already listed to resolve the situation. Under Connecticut law, financial institutions are required to advise you of this resource when you are facing foreclosure.
The third step to take, if you do not qualify for the above options, would be through the Homeowner’s Equity Recovery Opportunity (HERO) Program. Under this provision, The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority would have to determine that you do not qualify for CT Families or EMAP help. They then are able to negotiate with your mortgage holder to purchase the loan for the State of Connecticut. Once the mortgage is in the State’s hands, they can create reasonable terms for repayment by you, the homeowner.
You may not have reached a state of emergency yet, but are struggling and unsure of the future. In this case, look into the The Mortgage Relief Program. This is a bank supported opportunity for homeowners who are dealing with high rate or non traditional loans. Various New England banks are participating. They can be a valuable resource, with information about both state and federal assistance programs, including Federal Housing Authority Loans and the MHA or "Obama Plan". Citizens Bank, Sovereign Bank, TD Banknorth, Webster Bank, and Bank of America are participators.