For most people, receiving a notice of foreclosure is completely out of their control: things like lost jobs and other financial hardships result in an inability to make mortgage payments. And yet losing the equity you own in a home can impact the entire course of your family’s financial future. Not only have you lost a place to live for today, but you also lose an asset that could be passed on to your children, providing financial benefits for generations.

As scary as that thought can be, though, there are things you can do to avoid losing your home and our foreclosure lawyers are here to help. Keep reading to learn more about what steps you can take (and we can help you with).

If you receive a notice of foreclosure, you will have 30 days to either catch up on payments or submit a HEMAP (Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Payments) application. If you are eligible to file a HEMAP application, you’ll do so through a list of housing counselors approved by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. As long as you meet with an approved housing counseling agency within 30 days of the notice of foreclosure, your mortgage company cannot foreclose on your home while your HEMAP application is pending.
If you do not catch up on your payments or meet with a housing counselor within the 30-day window, or if the state denies your HEMAP application, your mortgage company can file a Complaint against you for defaulting on your loan. You then have 20 days to respond to the Complaint, by filing a permitted response with the Prothonotary at your courthouse and mailing a copy to the mortgage company’s attorney. If you don’t do this, you will receive a Notice of Default that a judgment will be entered against you without further warning if you do not reply to the Complaint within 10 days.

Should this judgment be entered against you, your home will be scheduled for a Sheriff’s sale. The length of time from the default judgment and the Sheriff’s sale can vary from county to county (usually two to five months). During this time, you can still catch up on payments or work out a payment plan with the mortgage company to avoid losing your home.

The time to contact a foreclosure lawyer is before a Complaint is filed against you. Communicate early to come up with the best solution; don’t delay, hoping the problem will go away on its own! You have a few options to get help.

Each county has a community action agency that can provide a variety of housing assistance, from HEMAP applications to counseling and, where needed, housing transition support. The community action agencies serving our region are: Blueprints, for Washington and Greene Counties (www.myblueprints.org); Fayette County Community Action (www.fccaa.org) and the Community Action Partnership of Somerset County (www.capfsc.org).