The Foreclosure Hardship Letter

A foreclosure hardship letter is an important part of the Short Sale or Loan workout package and an important thing to avoid a foreclosed home. If a homeowner is facing the foreclosure of their home the hardship letter and other documents are submitted to the Loss Mitigation department of the bank or lender. Loan modifications are offered to those who are financially able to make up late payments. Short sales are offered to those who don’t have a way to pay their mortgage. Lenders or banks that accept short sales agree to take less money than what is actually owed on the mortgage.

For a lot of people, the foreclosure hardship letter is the hardest part of the short sale or loan modification procedure. It can be very painful to put on paper the circumstances that led to the owner of the home falling behind on their loan payments. Many are very intimidated by the letter of hardship. They may not know what they want to say or how to organize the letter so it is easy to understand and easy to read.

Short sales and foreclosures are handled by the Loss Mitigation division of your bank or lender. Those who work in the Loss Mitigation division are called Loss Mitigators. Prior to submitting a short sale or loan modification package, you have to get approval from the Loss Mitigator who is assigned to you and your case.

You will probably have plenty of opportunities to speak with the Loss Mitigator that is taking care of your account. These workers deal with homeowners in distress regularly. It is best to try and build your relationship with the mitigator assigned to you and ask them questions. This will help you understand what the mitigator expects of you and what you can expect of them. A loss mitigator can make or break your package deal so you should be sure to treat them with respect and hand over the information they ask of you.

Your loss mitigator will read your foreclosure hardship letter. Remember that these workers receive many hardship letters every day. Because of this, it is important to keep your hardship letter short and concise. It should simply cover the important facts of your case.

When writing your hardship letter, you can type the letter or write it by hand. If you do not have legible handwriting it is probably best for you to type the letter or get someone else to write it for you. The hardship letter is one of the most important parts of your short sale or loan modification package so you should make sure that the Loss Mitigator can understand the letter and read it easily.

Experts in real estate recommend utilizing a business format for the foreclosure hardship letter. You should put your name and address, the city you live in, your zip code and your phone number on top of the page. You should then leave two spaces. After that, write the name of the loss mitigator and mortgage lender. Then you should write the mailing address of the of the lender.

After you have the first part written, the date should be placed on the letter next, underneath the date you should write the number of your loan. The hardship letter should be about four or six paragraphs. You should end the letter by signing the letter and printing your name.

Be sure to send the hardship letter certified mail with a return receipt. This will make sure you have proof you sent the letter.

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5 Responses to “The Foreclosure Hardship Letter”

  1. [...] foreclosure letter should be hand written or it should be typed. If your writing is not good in this case you have two [...]

  2. Lots of great tips in this post. The most important thing is to get to the Loss MItigation or Foreclosure Prevention department…although that’s not usually possible unless you’re either past due or within 30 days of going past due.

    If you’re looking for more information, I suggest browsing articles at EzineArticles.com. I have posted several articles there on the specifics of Hardship Letters. And if you’re looking for a downloadable sample hardship letter to get you started, I have one on my website linked above.

    Best Wishes,
    Todd

  3. [...] Hardship Letter [...]

  4. [...] The basics that belong in a hardship letter [...]

  5. Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.

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