What is foreclosure counseling from Cambridge Credit Counseling?

Cambridge Credit Counseling provides foreclosure intervention and default counseling to residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Missouri and Kansas. If you live in another state, please visit HUD.gov to find a housing counselor in your area.

What Foreclosure Counseling From Cambridge Credit Counseling Does#

Cambridge Credit Counseling is approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing counseling services throughout the country. Cambridge Credit Counseling provides foreclosure intervention and default counseling to residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Missouri and Kansas. Counselors at Cambridge Credit Counseling hold certifications such as HUD-Certified Housing Counselor, so homeowners work with someone trained to guide them through mortgage default situations.

Why Acting Early Matters#

Reaching out to Cambridge Credit Counseling as soon as you fall behind on mortgage payments gives you more time to explore your options with a trained counselor. Cambridge Credit Counseling has provided credit counseling and financial literacy education to consumers nationwide since 1996, so homeowners can turn to an established nonprofit agency for guidance rather than waiting until choices become limited.

Foreclosure Basics#

A foreclosure is an action taken by a mortgage lender to take possession of a property when the homeowner has defaulted on the mortgage. The laws governing foreclosures vary from state to state. Some common reasons homeowners find themselves threatened with foreclosure are:

• Illness
• Death
• Job loss
• Divorce
• Unexpected maintenance expenses
• Inability to properly budget income and control spending
• Sub-prime mortgage loans/variable-interest rates
• Medical expenses

If you’re behind on your payments, or even if you foresee a problem with making payments in the future, it’s vital that you communicate with your lender as soon as possible. It’s usually easier to make a payment arrangement than it is to reverse an active foreclosure, and many lenders, as well as federal and state governments, have hardship provisions for homeowners in financial distress.

How do I know if I’m at risk for foreclosure?

You don’t have to be seriously delinquent on your mortgage payments to be considered “at risk” for foreclosure. If you’re having difficulty making your payments every month, even if you haven’t missed one yet, you can still consider yourself “at risk”. For example, if you’re living paycheck to paycheck and have very little discretionary income at the end of the month, you could be one extra expense or overtime cut away from missing a mortgage payment.

What to Bring to Your Session#

When you contact Cambridge Credit Counseling for foreclosure counseling, it helps to have your financial details ready. Cambridge Credit Counseling collects information such as:

• Your name and address
• Account numbers and balances
• Details about your creditors, including your mortgage lender
• Information about any unsecured loans

Having this information on hand helps your Cambridge Credit Counseling counselor understand your full financial picture quickly.

Cambridge Credit Counseling’s HUD Approval#

Cambridge Credit Counseling does not charge for foreclosure intervention counseling. This service is offered for free because Cambridge Credit Counseling is a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing counseling services throughout the country, including first-time homebuyer courses. Cambridge Credit Counseling provides foreclosure intervention and default counseling to residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Missouri and Kansas.

How Will a Foreclosure Affect My Credit Score?#

A foreclosure remains on your credit report for 7 years after the fact, but it may not affect your ability to obtain credit for that long. MyFICO.com advises keeping all of your other credit obligations in good standing, and paying your auto loans, credit cards and any other credit obligations on time, to limit the effect of the foreclosure.

How Do I Protect Myself From Being Taken Advantage Of?#

Some companies try to get struggling homeowners to pay for services they never plan to follow through on, so be wary of any company contacting you that charges a fee. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) outlines the most popular tactics:

• “Phantom Help”: someone claiming to be an attorney or law firm representative offers to negotiate a deal with your lender to either reduce payments or save your home, then collects a fee and vanishes.
• The “Forensic Audit”: for a fee, “auditors” offer to have an expert review all of your mortgage documents to see if your lender was compliant with the law. There is no evidence that shows these audits will help you get a modification or relief in any way.
• Rent-to-Buy Schemes: you are promised that you can rent your home until you can afford to buy it back, in exchange for surrendering your title. The terms are made so expensive that you will not be able to buy your home back and will ultimately lose it.
• Bait and Switch: hidden in a stack of papers for a “loan to make your mortgage current” is a secret document that has you unknowingly surrendering the title of your home.

The Mortgage Assistance Relief Services rule (MARS) makes it illegal for any company to collect fees until an offer of relief has been made and accepted.

What to Do Next#

If you are behind on your mortgage payments or worried about foreclosure, consider reaching out to Cambridge Credit Counseling for its free foreclosure intervention counseling. Cambridge Credit Counseling’s HUD approved, certified housing counselors can help you understand your options and take the next step toward addressing the problem while you still have choices.

Schedule an appointment with a HUD-certified housing counselor

Call (800) 757-1788 or complete the form on this page to schedule your foreclosure counseling appointment with one of Cambridge Credit Counseling’s HUD-Certified Housing Counselors.

Call (800) 757-1788