I'm not longer able to afford my mortgage payment and donâ??t have much equity in the duplex that I purchased less than a yar ao. At the moment I'm behind 2 payments and on my credit shows 90 days late. My credit score is already went down to 541 and I dont seem to know what to do since I don't want to ruin my credit long term and refinancing is not avail due to my credit score. If I donâ??t make the next payment or so the bank will start the foreclosure process, I will have to pay late and lawyerâ??s fees and they will report the foreclosure process to the credit bureau...and that will really tarnish my credit for 7 years. Which other option do I have? Selling seems like the way to go, but I dont have much equity either... and I know that the bank in two months or so will report to the credit bureau 120 days and in a "foreclosure process". Having that in mind, I was considering to give the house back to the bank to save my credit. Will that be treated as hard as a foreclosure on the credit history or not? Thanks... your input is appreciated.
My DH and I were in a similar situation with our mortgage 2 years ago. What you need to do is call your mortgage company's loss mitigation dept. and ask what other options you have other than foreclosure. They should have given you several notices of how to save your home as well as a form to fill out financial information. If you can prove that this situation is temporary and that normally you can afford the payments and show that you are not in the red every month they will work with you. You didn't state whether it was an FHA mortgage or conventional. Either way you have other options than having to go into foreclosure such as, a special forbearance plan, mortgage modification, partial claim and pre-foreclosure sale (short sale) I advise calling them. Sincerely in Christ, Leesa Eph.2:8,9 P.S. - to answer your question I think giving the house back would look just as bad and may be considered a foreclosure.
