If you have a mortgage on your home, you may end up running into financial hard times at some point during your payments. If and when that happens, you may find yourself staring at your pile of bills and wondering – what should I do to get out of my house payment?
Whether you’re currently trying to find a way out of a mortgage payment or you are a homeowner who wants to be prepared just in case, this information is good to have. Read on to learn about your options when the money just won’t stretch far enough and you need a chance to recover.
What Should I Do to Get Out of My House Payment? Forbearance & Deferment Are Options!
There are two main options for lenders when you need extra time on mortgage payments. They can opt for forbearance or deferment – but as the debtor, you’ll want to know the difference and the right situation for each of them.
Forbearance is when the lender lowers the amount required for your payment or suspends payments completely for a short time. This is best if you anticipate a season of financial hardship coming and approach your lender, since it needs to be granted before you miss a payment or delay one. Forbearance will help you prevent foreclosure before you even have to worry about it.
However, it’s only a good solution if your financial troubles are temporary. For example, if you are facing an extended recovery for a surgery or a spouse is taking maternity leave, but you know that the period of time will end, then forbearance can work for you. Once the period of time ends, you’ll be expected to resume full payments and catch up on the missed amount.
Deferment often automatically occurs at the beginning of your mortgage – your first payment was likely deferred so that you signed and didn’t have to pay your first amount for another month or two.
Deferment has more options than forbearance, especially with regards to the unpaid interest. Sometimes it’s waived, sometimes it’s added to your principal. You can also consider an interest-only loan deferment, where the payment on your principal is deferred. Like forbearance, deferment will let you skip mortgage payments for a set amount of time.
Make a Late Payment
Another option for dealing with your mortgage payments is simply to make a payment late. However, this is certainly not the best option. Many lenders will allow you a grace period of 15 days before late fees begin occurring, which can be helpful if there was an unexpected glitch or expense in your pay period, but you’ll have the money in the next paycheck.
Sometimes, you may even have a period of 30 days (though you’ll likely have to pay late fees if it goes that long). You never want to go beyond 30 days late if at all possible, though, because then it begins to impact your credit score.
Get It In Writing!
Whatever option you end up needing – deferment, forbearance or simply making a late payment – be sure to get the agreement between yourself and your lender in writing. Not only does this help lay down in black and white all the terms and conditions of the agreement, including any additional fees and how quickly you’re expected to catch up on payments, but it also serves as proof that the agreement was made. That way, if for any reason there’s ever a question of whether or not you were given approval to miss a payment, you have hard proof in your favor.
Sell Your Home for Cash
If none of these solutions sounds right for your situation, consider the option of selling your home to a cash home buyer like Ben Buys Indy Houses. Of course, this is only a solution if you are either wanting to move anyway or if you are in a dire financial situation. But, it is a great option if either of those are true! We can purchase homes facing foreclosure and help you prevent it. Once you contact us and we get the information we need to make a fair cash offer on your house, we can close the sale within a week so that you don’t have to miss payments.
We promise to deal fairly and honestly with you. Ben Buys Indy Houses will help you get out of your house payments and set you on a great financial path for the future.
Contact Ben Buys Indy Houses Today!
If this sounds like a good solution for you, or if you just want to know more, contact us today. We’d be happy to help you out and see what we can offer you for your Indianapolis-area home.
