It’s an 11 letter word that all homeowners dread: foreclosure. The mere sight of the term sends chills down people’s spines. Yet, in 2017, 33,000 homeowners across Pennsylvania lost their homes to foreclosure. It’s often a tragic way to end what should have been a happy life in the property. Even worse is that it is entirely preventable. Yes, you read that right. If you can sell your house fast Pittsburgh, you can avoid foreclosure and keep your credit score mostly intact.
To understand how selling your house fast helps avoid foreclosure, let’s look at what the process is like in Pennsylvania.
Before You Need to Sell Your House Fast Pittsburgh, You Need to Miss a Payment
The entire foreclosure process starts with the first missed payment to your lender. When you miss your first payment, you’ll typically get a grace period of 30 days to make it. If you pay the note within 30 days, by law, there can be no negative mark on your credit report, and no foreclosure proceedings will commence.
After 30 days have passed, the lender will report a missed payment to the credit bureaus. This derogatory mark will lower your score substantially.
Once you miss the second payment, the lender, by law, must usually contact you over the telephone and written notice to advise you that you have missed your monthly payments and provide you with information to correct the default.
If you are in this stage, please do not ignore these calls and letters! Many homeowners make the unfortunate mistake of pretending like these don’t exist. In reality, this period is your opportunity to let the bank know what’s going on and work out some agreement. You might do a loan modification, get a forbearance plan, or have some alternative payment plan for the unpaid amounts. There are many options, and usually (although not always) bank employees will be willing to negotiate with you and keep you in your home. Despite their reputation, banks have human employees, and if you approach them with honesty and transparency, they’ll work to find a way to keep you in your property.
When Negotiations Fail
Simply because you have the opportunity to negotiate a settlement doesn’t mean that you and the bank will agree. Unfortunately, sometimes negotiations fail, or homeowners elect to ignore the letters and calls that the banks make.
When that happens, lenders typically need to wait 120 days from the first missed payment date before initiating foreclosure proceedings.
Pennsylvania law requires banks to post a Notice of Intent to Foreclose 30 days before initiating the proceedings. Again, if you receive this notice and haven’t negotiated with the bank, do not ignore it! This period is also a great time to start looking into options for how to sell your house fast Pittsburgh!
Judicial Proceedings
If, after 30 days of being served the Notice of Intent to Foreclose, you still do not have an agreement with the lender, they can initiate foreclosure proceedings. Unlike some states in the union, Pennsylvania only permits judicial foreclosures. This legal fact means that the bank must file a lawsuit to foreclose on a Pennsylvania homeowner.
The bank will file the lawsuit and name the homeowner as the defendant. At this point, if you’re looking to contest the foreclosure proceedings, you’ll need to retain the services of a lawyer.
If you do not respond, the bank will typically win a default judgment and proceed with the foreclosure. If you do respond, you can retain an experienced foreclosure attorney’s services to fight the bank. Be forewarned, though, that this is often an uphill battle. More often than not, the bank has the right to foreclose on the property.
The Foreclosure Sale
After the court issues a judgment in favor of the bank, the sale can commence. All parties to the transaction must receive a notice 30 days before the date of sale. Additionally, Pennsylvania law requires notification of the auction to appear in a newspaper once a week for three weeks before the sale date.
If nothing happens, the sheriff’s department will hold the auction on the date specified in the notice. The person or entity with the highest bid wins. Usually, the bank makes a bid, and, if they win, the property becomes REO.
Sell House Fast Pittsburgh: Know This One Unique Feature of Pennsylvania Law
In the introduction, we said that “if you can sell your house fast Pittsburgh, you can avoid foreclosure.” Unlike many states, Pennsylvania allows for reinstatement up to 1 hour before the sale is to occur.
This unique feature of Pennsylvania law means that if you cure the default or pay off the loan up to one hour before the auction, the foreclosure sale won’t happen!
If you can Avoid Forclosure sell house fast Pittsburgh at almost any stage of the foreclosure process, you might be able to get an offer on your property that will pay off the loan amount (and often leave you with some extra in your pocket). Since Pennsylvania allows for reinstatement so close to the sale time, you’re rarely too late to get an offer that pays off the loan!
Once you sell your home, the bank gets money, you get money, and it avoids the foreclosure process altogether. The best part is that you can salvage your credit score. A foreclosure can result in up to 200 points lost on your credit, but late payments will usually only result in a drop of 100 points or so.
When you sell your house fast Pittsburgh, you’ll remove the stress off your shoulders and be able to walk away from the property with your credit score much higher than if you try and fight it out. Eventually, when your financial footing becomes more secure, you’ll find it easier to apply for a new mortgage with a late payment than with a foreclosure on your record.
Sell Your House Fast Pittsburgh: The Best Approach
At Cash for Homes Pittsburgh, we help people from all walks of life get out of their property and avoid foreclosure. Don’t let the banks take your home from you! Let us buy your home, pay the loan off, and give you some money in the process. Contact us today!
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