Today many people want to stop foreclosure before it is too late. After all, a home is something that you work for your entire life and it is a big asset, not to mention a place you call home for you and your family. However, today there are so many homes that are going into foreclosure as the economy dips lower. The foreclosure percentages are up, with some areas having up to 25% of the homes up for foreclosure. Even if you are going through a difficult time and you are facing a foreclosure, there are some things that you can do to stop this from happening to you.

Attempt to Get Help from the Lender -- One of the best things that you can do if you want to stop foreclosure is to try to get help from your lender. With so many foreclosures occurring today, you'll find that lenders really don't want to foreclose on homes if they don't have to. If you talk to your lender, they may be able to work with you to help you avoid going through a foreclosure. They may be willing to allow you to have some forbearance on the mortgage payment, they may forgive a payment, or tack on the missed payments to the end of your loan. You may even be able to get a better interest rate that will be easier for you as well.

Try to Sell Your Home -- If you think that foreclosure is looming in front of you and you want to avoid it, then you may want to try and sell your home. Try to get a good agent to work with you so you can get a good price for your home to pay off the mortgage. No doubt you'll have to do this pretty quickly as well, so you'll want to make your home as nice as possible to attract buyers during this low economic time.

Go with a Short Sale Option -- Another option that you have if you want to stop foreclosure is to go with a short sale option. If you find that your home is not even worth as much as the amount of money that you still owe on it, then a short sale may be a great option. While it will still have some effect on your credit, it is not near as damaging as a foreclosure can be. If you want to go with a short sale, you'll need to speak with your lender to see if they are willing to go along with this option as well.

Sign Over the Deed -- Last of all, if you know you aren't going to be able to save yourself from foreclosure, in order to stop foreclosure, you can actually sign over the deed of your home to the lender to stop going through all the procedures of a foreclosure. However, in some cases, this may still affect your credit just like a foreclosure does. So, this should be the last option for you if you are working to avoid going through a foreclosure.

Finally, if none of those options are viable for your particular circumstances, know that foreclosure law is not just for the lender but also has provisions for the home owner to stop foreclosure. Your lender is NOT going to take the trouble to let you know your rights, so you need to make sure you know what your legal rights are to stop foreclosure proceedings before they get too far long.