Most homeowners believe that foreclosure laws are designed to hurt rather than help them. Not so. The secret is that foreclosure laws have evolved to protect the borrower--not the lender. There, I've said it. The secret is out! Now listen closely and understand why I say this. The foreclosure process gives you, the borrower, specific periods of time in which to:

• bring your loan current by making up the missed payments (known as "reinstatement"), or

• pay off your loan in its entirety (called "redemption").

If neither of these options is feasible, you will still have time to prevent your property from being sold at a public auction (the foreclosure sale).

You will get the most benefit out of the foreclosure process if you envision this secret as a "window of opportunity" to resolve your financial problems. During this window of opportunity, you have time to learn about the foreclosure process and implement a strategy to stop the foreclosure. Another basic misconception about foreclosure is that lenders want to foreclose. Nothing could be further from the truth! Lenders are in the business of loaning money--not owning real estate.

They don't want your house back for numerous reasons. Lenders are reluctant to incur the costs of a foreclosure. For example, if your lender is forced to foreclose, it will not only lose your back payments, but it will also incur foreclosure expenses, taxes, insurance, wear and tear while you (or your tenant) live in the property, repair costs to refurbish the property for sale, and a real estate agent's commission once the property is sold. As a result, many lenders will go out of their way to work out a resolution--short of actually foreclosing--if you give them the opportunity.

A. Communicate With Your Lender

The secret to stopping your foreclosure is communicating with your lender. With the sudden avalanche of foreclosures and defaults, lenders are more eager than ever before to workout a solution rather than foreclosing. Lenders will do almost anything to avoid increasing their overflowing REO inventory of foreclosed properties.

Don't shy away because you've missed payments, concerned that you will miss some payments in the future, or that your property has already gone into foreclosure. Whether you communicate by telephone, letter, email, fax, or in person, you will have a much easier time stopping (or at the very least, delaying) the foreclosure if you talk to your lender rather than adopting a code of silence. The secret is to negotiate directly with someone with "authority" at your lender's office. The first step is to determine who your lender actually is. (This is no small feat these days with lenders selling their loans to other lenders like hot potatoes.) If your property has already gone into foreclosure, the first person you will be dealing with will either be the foreclosing trustee, or the attorney for the lender. If it is a judicial foreclosure, you will most likely be contacted by a process server, sent by the lender's attorney. If it is a non-judicial foreclosure, the trustee is responsible for handling the foreclosure process. You will need to contact these people.

But the secret is that you will be more successful if you communicate directly with your lender, rather than the trustee or the attorney. So you should request from the trustee or the attorney, the name, telephone number, and address of the foreclosing lender. In the unlikely event that they refuse to disclose the name of your lender, you can look on the Notice of Default, or the summons and complaint, or telephone the customer service department of a local title insurance company. Another situation may occur where you discover the name of your lender, but it turns out to be a servicing agent rather than the party that actually holds the deed of trust or mortgage. A servicing agent is a company (sometimes it can be a bank, mortgage company, or private corporation) that is hired by the actual lender to "service" the loan, (issuing mortgage statements, payment coupons and late notices, collecting payments, monitoring the impounding of insurance and tax payments, and handling foreclosures if necessary). Fortunately, most servicing agents will disclose the name of the lender. If they won't, you may be forced to negotiate with the servicing agent.

In the interim, you will receive threatening calls from collection agents at the lender's office. Do not under any circumstance ignore your lender's contacts. Your goal should be to respond to every phone call or letter. Difficult as it may be to talk about your financial problems, be polite and cooperative. Follow up all telephone calls with a letter to the person you spoke to, confirming what was said. If you're not in when a call comes, return it as soon as you can. Use these calls to collect information regarding your lender (i.e. lender's name, address, phone number, fax number, email address, responsible department or individual). When you receive a letter from your lender (always keep the original), immediately write a letter in response. The secret here is to establish a paper trail so you can prove to your lender (or a court, if necessary) that you have been cooperative, especially during the initial stages of the foreclosure process. It is also important to send copies of all of your letters to: • the lender's CEO • the branch manager (if applicable) • the loan officer who helped you obtain your loan, and • any other person you know by name at your lender's office.

B. CONTACTING PEOPLE YOU KNOW AT THE LENDER'S OFFICE

Make sure your letter indicates you are sending copies by typing "cc:" and the name of the person(s) below your signature. Please don't be hesitant to send copies of your letters to these individuals, as they can't do anything to help you if they aren't aware of your predicament. There is a secret to sending copies to other people and showing the "cc" at the bottom of your letters. At the very least, the person you sent the letter to won't be able to ignore your letter because he or she knows that supervisors have received copies.

Typically, in their initial letters and telephone calls, your lender will state that they have not received your payment(s) and inquire innocently whether or not you have mailed a payment. What you say in response to your lender's inquiry is another matter. If you already mailed your payment, give your lender the date. If you have not, tell the truth. Your lender in turn will want to know why you haven't paid, and what date you will be sending a payment. Acknowledge that you are having temporary financial problems and that you won't be able to make the payments for the next couple of months. Provide a good explanation of your financial difficulties (i.e. layoff, medical emergency, death in the family, loss of business, divorce). Contrary to popular belief, sharing this information will not speed up the foreclosure process. What you say may make the lender more sympathetic to your situation and may delay the foreclosure. At the very least, it will foster a positive atmosphere for negotiations later in the process. Your lender may warn you that if payments are not made, your loan will go into default. It may also threaten to start foreclosure proceedings unless you bring all of your payments current immediately. Don't be intimidated. Stay calm and understand that the person you're dealing with is simply doing his job. At this point, write a letter explaining your financial problem and request an appointment with a senior loan officer to discuss your loan.

[continued in Part 2 of this article]