Your #1 San Francisco Resource for Buying and Selling Real Estate

If you are a homeowner having a difficult time making mortgage payments on your home, there are several things you can do to delay or prevent foreclosure and remain in your home.  Among the actions you can take right now are the following:

Making Home Affordable

1. Contact Making Home Affordable by visiting www.makinghomeaffordable.gov, the  government web site that describes government assisted help for homeowners to modify or refinance a mortgage to make monthly payments more affordable.  The number one goal of the Making Home Affordable program is home retention.  For homeowners, for the community, and for the nation, the number one priority is to keep as many families in their homes as possible.  For this reason, loan modification is and will continue to be the number one strategy to make sure all homeowners will be able to afford to remain in their homes.  However, it may not be possible for all homeowners to succeed with a loan modification.  For these homeowners, the number one goal is still to avoid foreclosure through a graceful exit from one's home before foreclosure can occur. 

To make sure that homeowners can still avoid foreclosure by gracefully exiting their home prior to a foreclosure occurring, there is a new  federal government program, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative or HAFA  program for homeowners interested in a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure.  If you have attempted to modify your loan with your bank or lender and have been unsuccessful, the HAFA program requires most banks or lenders to offer you a short sale of your home before the bank can foreclose.

A short sales is a sale that results in your home selling for less than the amount of the loan on the home. If you qualify under the HAFA program, your bank or lender must offer you a chance to avoid foreclosure by doing a short sale of your home. If you accept the short sale alternative to foreclosure, you will need to hire a Realtor to market and sell your home.  In addition to being a Realtor, I am a HAFA Certified Short Sale Specialist through the California Association of Realtors.  Having taken the training for HAFA certification, I have been trained and tested in the complex HAFA guidelines and rules that govern the program.   

Please click on the link 'Worried About Foreclosure--HAFA May Be Able to Help' to read an informative four page brochure prepared for homeowners that spells out the HAFA program in more detail. You can read, save or print your own copy of this important document.

There is a lot of information at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov, including help for homeowners who have become unemployed.

Counseling Services

2. Contact HUD-Approved Housing Counselors: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development, HUD, sponsors housing counselors who can talk to you about your situation and help you decide what to do. HUD-Approved Housing Counselors are prohibited from charging you a fee for foreclosure prevention counseling services. For the list, call HUD's interactive voice system at 1-800-569-4287 or go to www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm.

3. Contact Hope Now at www.hopenow.com or at 1-888-995-HOPE.  Supported by the US Government, Hope Now is an alliance between counselors, mortgage companies, investors and others that is working together to maximize outreach efforts to homeowners in distress to help them stay in their homes.  Hope Now can help you delay or even prevent a foreclosure and help you remain in your home.

4. Contact NeighborWorks America.  This is a nonprofit organization that administers housing counseling agencies funded through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counsel Program.  For its list of foreclosure counseling agencies, call 1-202-220-2300 or go to www.nw.org.

Consumer Protections

5. Contact the National Association of Consumer Advocates at www.naca.net.  NACA is a nationwide organization with over 1,000 attorney members, who represent and have successfully represented hundreds of thousands of consumers victimized by fraudulent or predatory business practices.  If you feel that you have been a victim of illegal lending or business practices, contacting NACA at www.naca.net is a good first step.

6. Contact the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).  The OCC is the federal government agency that regulates all nation banks.  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has a number of resources for consumers, community groups, and bankers to help them preserve their home ownership, avoid foreclosure, and protect themselves against foreclosure and debt elimination scams.  You may contact someone at the OCC Customer Assistance Group at 1-800-613-6743 or go to the OCC's consumer website at www.helpwithmybank.gov.

Foreclosure Prevention Workshops

7. Attend Foreclosure Prevention Workshops.  You may attend a Foreclosure Prevention Workshop or other seminars or events to learn more about avoiding foreclosure.  For a schedule of upcoming Foreclosure Prevention Workshops sponsored by community organizations go to www.freddiemac.com/avoidforeclosure/workshops.html.

8. Become familiar with and protect yourself from foreclosure scams.  With the recent rise in foreclosures, foreclosure related scams have exploded on to the real estate scene.  For your information the California Association of Realtors has prepared a handy document titled, 'Homeowners Beware--Foreclosure Rescue Scams'.  This document details common Red Flags that you should be aware of that indicate possible foreclosure scams.  Just click on the link, 'Homeowners Beware--Foreclosure Rescue Scams', to read, save, or print your own copy of this important document.

HAFA Short Sale Option

9. If you are considering a short sale, especially under the HAFA program, you might want to know what it can take to sell a home in today's market in San Francisco or the Bay Area.  For your information, I have prepared a sheet titled, 'How to Sell your House in Today's Market in San Francisco or the Bay Area' .  Just click on the link 'How to Sell your House in Today's Market in San Francisco or the Bay Area' , to review, download, or print this useful tip sheet. 

If you decide to sell your home through a HAFA short sale process instead of going through foreclosure, remember that I am a HAFA Certified Short Sale Specialist who can guide and assist you with your sale.   Please call me, Paul Neal, DRE Lic. #01195196, Frank Howard Allen  Realtors, at 415-350-1946.  I will do my best to help you.  I have 15 years experience selling homes in San Francisco and the Bay Area and I would be happy to help you if I can.