Save Your Home

A loan modification changes the terms of your loan so the payment is affordable going forward. The amount you are behind can often be folded into the balance. What is available depends on who owns and insures your loan. FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional loans each carry different programs.

Lenders take time to review a modification, so start early.

A repayment plan spreads the amount you are behind over a set number of months, on top of your regular payment. It fits when the shortfall is modest and your income has recovered. We help you present it so the numbers make sense.

A forbearance is a temporary pause or reduction in payments during a short-term hardship such as a job loss or an illness. One caution matters more than any other: a forbearance defers payments, and the paused amount still comes due later. What happens when it ends determines whether it helped you. We get the terms in writing before you accept.

Illinois law gives you defined windows to reinstate your loan. Reinstating means you pay the amount you are behind, plus costs, and the loan continues as if nothing happened. The law also gives you a window to redeem, which means paying the loan off entirely, usually through refinancing. The lender’s numbers are wrong more often than people expect.

Chapter 13 is a type of bankruptcy built for people with income who want to keep their property. The moment a Chapter 13 case is filed, a federal court order called the automatic stay stops the foreclosure. The amount you are behind is then spread over three to five years while you resume your regular monthly payment. Your lender does not get to refuse a plan that meets the legal requirements.

If your home is worth less than what you owe on your first mortgage, Chapter 13 can sometimes remove a second mortgage entirely. Attorney Sexner is a published author on Chapter 13 bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filed before the sale stops it. → Debt Relief

Your lender must prove a long list of things before it can take your home. Every one of them is an opportunity to challenge the lender’s case. We look for the ones that matter in yours. We also challenge legal and procedural problems in how the case was filed and handled.

If you were served with a complaint, the clock is already running. You have a limited time to respond in court. Responding on time keeps every choice on this list alive. → Foreclosure Defense

Mediation means sitting down with your lender, with a neutral person guiding the conversation, to work out a solution. It can lead to a modification, a repayment arrangement, or another agreement that keeps you in your home. We prepare your case and negotiate at your side.

If the court makes a legal error in your case, that error can be appealed. An appeal asks a higher court to review the decision. It is one more way we protect your rights.

A deed in lieu of foreclosure means you hand the home back to the lender and the matter ends. A short sale means the lender agrees to let you sell the home for less than you owe. Each of these ends the matter on agreed terms instead of a sheriff’s timeline. The term that matters most is whether the lender releases you from the rest of the balance.

We get that in writing for you, never assumed.

In some cases the lender will provide money to help you move, in exchange for leaving the home in good condition. We ask for it as part of the exit we negotiate for you.

If the house sells for less than you owe, the difference is called a deficiency. A deficiency can follow you as a personal debt. Bankruptcy can discharge that deficiency, which means the debt is wiped out. That way the end of the house is truly the end.

One more number to check first: debt a lender forgives in a short sale can sometimes be treated as taxable income. A discharge in bankruptcy works differently. Ask us about the difference before you commit to either.

Even when you choose to leave, you may lawfully remain in the home while the process runs. Nobody should leave a home in a panic that the law does not require. We will give you an estimate of how much time you have. If you want to leave on your terms, tell us.

We will negotiate the exit.