You may have already fallen behind on your mortgage. Perhaps a government loan modification fell through, or you do not qualify for another Making Home Affordable program. You still have options for saving your home, however. One of these is negotiating with your lender. This course of action offers a few alternatives to foreclosure.
One route you can take is to negotiate a restructured payment plan. In one way, this can be the likeliest solution available, as servicers are often very open to working with you on this. On the other hand, you have to be making enough income for this to work. The reason you may be facing foreclosure in the first place may be a lowered income. Still, if you earn enough to meet present and late payments, then this can be a viable option for you. You can work with a servicer or lender to break up your arrear payments and add them on to your current mortgage. In that way, it could be only a matter of months before you are all caught up. Some lenders may be willing to give you a few years to catch up on payments.
If foreclosure is imminent, however, you have to work toward getting an answer from the lender as soon as possible. You will need documentation of some sort to combat the foreclosure proceedings. If foreclosure is upon you, you may want to look to other options, some of which can also give you a repayment plan. For example, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is another way to get a mortgage reorganized. This can enable you to manage the payments and catch up. Perhaps you will be able to achieve a mortgage reinstatement, or you can redeem the loan. Ask a real estate lawyer if you want to find out if any these would work for you. You will also need to know all the pertinent deadlines for any of these processes, as there are distinct laws in every state.
As far as working with your lender goes, you still have other options. If a repayment plan does not work out, you might be able to ask for a forbearance. This is asking for a temporarily lowered mortgage, or for a few months off altogether from paying. This may buy you the time you need to get on your feet. It will have to, because you will need to make the full payment on your mortgage when the forbearance is up. You will also have to repay the missed mortgage. This is usually the way to go for someone who temporarily cannot make payments, such as a person who just lost a job or is being deployed for a short stint with the military. If you need forbearance, then you will probably be able to give yourself three to six months of relief.
Finally, you may be able to get a loan modification through your lender. This is probably the least likely option, but it is still out there. After all, you may need more than time to make your payments. You just cannot meet them. You may be able to lower the mortgage interest rate down to the rate of the current market. Perhaps you can change the rate of your mortgage from a variable-rate to a fixed-rate. You may be able to ask for an extension, perhaps an extra decade to pay off the loan. You would be in debt longer, of course, but the monthly payments would be less. In some cases, if you can reamortize your loan, this could lower your payments as well.
Unfortunately, something this important in your life is also quite complex. Real estate law is quite involved, and foreclosure laws vary from state to state. It is in your best interest to consult with a legal professional; talk over your options with a real estate attorney. There are a host of avenues you can take to avoid foreclosure. Learn which one you can take today.