Is it possible to stop a foreclosure if you’re not able to make monthly payments?

Possibly yes. An underreported aspect of the nation’s housing crisis is that banks really don’t want to foreclose. It’s a failure on their part, to have to take possession of a property, manage it and try to resell it. Especially in this market. They have to engage lawyers and real estate specialists in the process, and they lose a customer.

But with loan officers themselves handling 800 cases each, on average, it’s no wonder that homeowners in default don’t hear about the recast options. Cutting through voice mail purgatory takes weeks, and if the borrower lacks full information and documentation, the loan officer might not be very patient with the erstwhile distraught person facing loss of their home.

Fortunately, specialists in the area of loss mitigation – people who understand the laws of lending and real estate contracts – are now negotiating on behalf of homeowners. They are successfully finding ways to get banks to reconsider loan terms, achieving better mortgages and lower monthly payments for thousands of people.

The media likes to focus on the negatives in this economic downturn. But the business of loan modifications has so far gone underreported.

Borrowers are advised to withhold payments of fees – which range from $300 to about twice that, depending on location and circumstances – until the modification specialist can predict an outcome with a money-back guaranty. The process is that straightforward, such that they can predict with fairly good accuracy if a loan can be modified and a foreclosure halted.