Do you want to stop mortgage foreclosure? The number of foreclosures jumped 81 percent. Washington is trying to help with homeowner assistance programs to keep people in their homes. But, if you want to stop mortgage foreclosure, you are going to need to help yourself first.

Many homeowners are not aware that they can stop mortgage foreclosure on their own. But you can save your house. In most states, you can redeem your home up to an hour before it goes to auction. So, being able to line up new financing is key.

You have a number of options available to you if you are facing foreclosure. In this article, we will discuss bank refinancing, short sales, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

It used to be that banks would do nothing to stop mortgage foreclosure. They simply allowed you to go into default and then bought the home themselves or sold it at auction. Unfortunately for them, the housing crisis has meant that they now have hundreds of thousands of homes on their books. Many of these are sitting vacant in ghost towns and are virtually unrentable and unsaleable.

Knowing that something has to give, your bank may work with you on getting refinanced and keeping your home. For instance, they might lower the interest rates, tack delinquent payments onto the end of the loan, or provide other loan modification. You can work with the lender yourself or hire a loan modification company to do this for you.

Until the end of last year, the banks were unwilling to work with a homeowner until he or she was 30 days delinquent. Now, though, many banks want to keep people out of delinquency if at all possible. So, if you think you might miss a payment, let your bank know right away.

Another option to stop mortgage foreclosure is to sell your home through a short sale. This is a three way deal where all of the parties win. You find an investor who is willing to buy your home at a price that is less than what you owe. The bank agrees to waive the difference. The reason this plan tends to work for everyone is that the bank gets a non performing loan off of its books, the investor gets a good deal, and you get to walk away from your home. If you are pursuing a short sale, make sure that the bank has forgiven the deficiency so that you do not end up with a deficiency judgment against you.

The third option to stop mortgage foreclosure is to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure. A deed in lieu is similar to a short sale except it is just between you and the bank. The bank buys back your home and you walk away. The reason banks are sometimes willing to do this is because you guarantee that the property will be in good condition. Many foreclosed homes have been completely trashed, right down to having the copper pipes taken out and sold for scrap. So, a deed in lieu gives the bank a good deal as well. Again, you should make sure that the bank has wiped out the deficiency in such a deal so that you do not end up with a judgment against you.

There are solutions if you are looking to stop mortgage foreclosure.

A stop foreclosure loan is a loan that a homeowner can get in order to be able to keep his or her house. These are generally granted when there is a temporary circumstance that lends itself to a temporary solution rather than one where the homeowner is just digging himself in further. For instance, when someone has been laid off a job but has prospects for employment soon, a stop foreclosure loan can sometimes be obtained.

Now, a stop foreclosure loan is not something that a person with an upside down recently modified interest rate loan can get. In this situation, the homeowner truly cannot afford the property. They should be looking for a solution that either re-sets the mortgage or gets them out of the home.

Instead, a stop foreclosure loan can sometimes be obtained when a homeowner has a temporary setback, but can assume the responsibilities of the loan within six months. Some examples of this include:

· The homeowner has become unemployed but has reasonable re-employment options shortly.

· The homeowner has a temporary disability which renders them unable to work for a limited amount of time.

· The homeowner has major expenses in another area, usually healthcare, which must be met. Once these expenses are met, the homeowner can resume payments on the loan.

· Major, unexpected repairs must be made on the home. This can happen to only the home in question such as a roof collapse or can be the result of a natural disaster where a number of homes in the area have been affected.

It is also easier to get a stop foreclosure loan if there is a little bit of equity in the house itself. In this case, you can simply take out a home equity line of credit to cover the period in question. But, even if you don’t have equity, you can still sometimes get such a loan because banks have a lot of incentives to not let your home fall into foreclosure.

A stop foreclosure loan can protect a homeowner’s credit. A foreclosure is one of the worst things that can be on a person’s credit report. It can also protect the interest rate from re-adjusting due to late payments.

Banks are increasingly willing to work with homeowners on these kinds of lending solutions. One example of such a loan is where the bank simply tacks the payments due onto the back of the loan. A 360 month loan becomes a 366 month loan with a half year grace period.

Banks and financial institutions are also willing to work with homeowners in this situation because they don’t want to assume any more homes than they already have. Bank owned homes number in the hundreds of thousands and many cannot be rented or sold. This has left many neighborhoods as virtual ghost towns.

They are also willing to issue a stop foreclosure loan because the federal and state governments are giving them both a carrot and a stick for doing so.

If you have a temporary situation which leaves you unable to make your mortgage but think that a solution might be found soon, contact your bank about a stop foreclosure loan.