As printed in the Orlando Sentinel:   January 12, 2009

Every day, hundreds of people in Central Florida continue to slip into the foreclosure whirlpool and spiral downward toward the day they may have to leave their home. What should you do if you are on the verge of getting a foreclosure notice?

First and foremost, industry specialists say, you should resist the natural human tendency to freeze up. Face the issue head on and prepare for days and weeks of making phone calls and corresponding with people who may be able to help.

"Don't assume it's too late to act," said Ralph Roberts, a consumer advocate in Michigan and co-author of Foreclosure Self-Defense for Dummies. "As long as you are residing in the home, you probably have some opportunity to keep your home."

Roberts, a Realtor who lost his home to foreclosure back in the 1970s, said people facing foreclosure have more avenues to pursue than they might realize -- certainly more than the typical "pay up or move out" that many people think is their only choice.

Potential solutions include:

*Negotiating a modification of the loan.

*Refinancing the loan.

*Listing the home through an agent for a possible "short sale."

*Selling the home to an investor on your own.

*Declaring bankruptcy.

Short sales -- in which the lender agrees to take less than is owed on the home, writing off some or all of the loss to avoid the expense of a foreclosure -- typically are handled by real-estate agents, which at least takes some of the pressure off of a harried homeowner. Many professional real-estate agents are working more short sales these days and have buyers lined up looking for bargains, though the process can be slow and frustrating.

"The banks are just not moving fast enough. They are sitting on these, and it's outrageous. Something's got to be done about that" at the national level, said Ernst Urbainczyk, a veteran agent with Keller Williams Heritage Realty in Lake Mary. Lenders may also reject short-sale offers, sometimes leaving the seller with little or no time to prevent the foreclosure.

Matthew Englett of Kaufman Englett & Lynd, an Altamonte Springs law firm that specializes in foreclosure defense, real-estate litigation and bankruptcy, said there are usually several different defenses a borrower can take to dispute a foreclosure, including "wrongful or misleading conduct on behalf of the lender or its agents."

As the case moves forward, the law firm negotiates with the lender to try to get it to modify the mortgage with a lower interest rate and loan amount.

"In many cases, that would mean the principal would have to be reduced," Englett said. The law firm charges a flat fee ranging from $1,750 to $2,500 for its foreclosure-defense cases.


 At risk? Try these tips More foreclosure-prevention tips:  

- Communicate with your spouse or partner and work together to resolve the crisis. In most cases, a home loan cannot be modified without the spouse's involvement.

- Contact your lender, a lawyer or loan-modification expert as soon as possible. If you are delinquent on your home loan and the lender has been trying to reach you, don't ignore calls or correspondence -- respond.

- Look for a long-term solution rather than trying to borrow more money to juggle the bill payments. Racking up more debt is rarely helpful.

- Contact the Hope Now hotline, 1-888-995-4673, a free counseling service for at-risk homeowners. Hope Now is a coalition of HUD-approved counseling agents, loan servicers, investors and other mortgage-market participants that was created to provide homeowners with foreclosure-prevention assistance.

- Visit the HUD.gov Web site or call 1-800-569-4287 for a wide range of information, documents and more HUD-certified housing counselors.

- Do not call the telephone number on one of those signs posted illegally on rights of way or telephone poles -- the signs promising to save your home Fast Potential scam artists can sound persuasive and legitimate, but they prey on vulnerable homeowners.

- Help on the Web *10 Tips to Avoid Foreclosure: youtube.com/FHAHUD *Federal Housing Administration: fhaoutreach.gov/FHAFAQ *HUD Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure: www.hud.gov/foreclosure * Florida Attorneys Saving Homes referral program: floridabar.org