Foreclosure is quickly becoming a nationwide epidemic that will affect each and every one of us before it is cured. The only solution to this problem is for everyone to pitch in and fix the problem before it is out of control. Many of the lenders and servicing companies have taken measures to ease their own suffering, but it seems most would rather delay things, than actually fix them. Maybe they are under the assumption that the homeowner will come up with their own solution if they give them enough time. This just is not the case; it is the American way to procrastinate, so do not expect foreclosure victims to act any different.

I personally help 100's of people save their home each year and I know for a fact that 90% wait until the absolute last minute before they seriously try to stop the foreclosure. Most just do research on the internet and talk to companies who might be able to help, but they don't take action until they are weeks, or days away from losing their home. Of course, the servicing companies do not help much, because they do not even offer support until someone is 3 payments behind. They were not prepared for this either; they are so overwhelmed with people in foreclosure, that they do not have time for those who are still months away. It is too bad, too, because for many of these people, a simple refinance into a fixed rate loan would solve the problem.

Lenders and servicing companies need to be more proactive and offer solutions before it is too late. If a homeowner can not make payments at 10%, but they can at 8%, then why would the lender not want to offer a fixed rate refinance or modification into a more affordable rate? Instead, they are opting to lose 20-30% on a mortgage that could have easily been profitable. Lenders can make a simple change in their system and eliminate many of these foreclosures before they happen. Homeowners need to make changes as well. Obviously it is easy to blame lenders for these problems, but most homeowners knew what they were getting into and just made poor spending decisions. Consumers need to be educated on the mortgages and they need to be made aware of how easily a hardship or depreciation can cause a foreclosure. Spending habits need to be adjusted and homeowners need to be more aware of what is happening with their credit.

By continuing to foreclose on properties, rather than offering solutions, lenders are forcing lower credit scores and taking more and more borrowers out of the market for new homes and mortgages. This not only affects our real estate market, it affects our overall economy by removing millions of consumers from the retail market. Many mortgage brokers or real estate agents need new jobs and others are just barely scraping by. Not to mention all the foreclosure victims who are no longer creditworthy. Certainly this does open up new revenue streams for other business that profit from these hardships, but overall, I think we can all agree that society is much better off without foreclosure.

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