The Hardship Letter
If you or your family is going thru what a lot of people are going thru, you may be defaulting on your mortgage payments. Or falling behind in everything else. If this is you, then you should write a brief, factual hardship letter explaining why you fell behind on your payments. This is called a hardship letter, and it is used to let your lender and other financial companies know what is actually happening in your life.
Be specific in the letter, if you had to miss a bunch of work because of illness, tell them which illness and why you couldn't work. Don't just say ‘I got sick' you have to make them feel as if they are the ones going thru your situation. You want the person who reads this to feel emotional towards you and your family. But make sure not to exaggerate or tell any fibs.
End the letter by suggesting what you think is a fair, reasonable resolution to your case -- anything from a six-month repayment plan, to a reduction in the interest rate. Do keep in your mind that you signed the contract and that you do owe them money. The 'fair and reasonable' has to be something that's acceptable to them and is actually doable by you. You have nothing to be afraid of from contacting them. They want to know what's going on, and sometimes it is more cost effective to work something out with someone who's defaulting than to go thru all the cost of foreclosure and such.
So in short, stop avoiding those calls, don't be afraid of the phone ringing anymore, and talk with them, or even just a financial advisor, so you can continue to move onto the next step of your life!
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Molly, hopefully this finds its way to the eyes of those that are in distress situations. On too many short sales I've worked on, the letters were too vague. Putting the right amount of "emotion" into the letter helps.