If you are a homeowner in the state of Michigan, it is important to keep in mind several dates.
Foreclosures can occur if you are not aware and responsible, which can lead to the loss of your property and your home.
Here are important things you need to know about how foreclosures work in Michigan:
What Is A Foreclosure And How Does It Work?
When you are looking to buy a house, you typically go through a process in which you need to find a lender to provide you the funding to purchase a home.
Banks or other financial institutions will give you a home loan to allow you just that ability to buy a home of your choosing.
With your money, you will go with a real estate agent and find the perfect home for you.
After the paperwork to properly appraise the home and create a contract, you close the deal, and now you are left happy to live in your new home.
Payments, Promissory Notes, And General Contract Agreements
When you borrow money from a bank, you will sign a contract or document known as a promissory note, indicating your intentions to pay your debt back in full based on the agreed-upon terms.
These mortgage details include any interest factored in, as well as payment dates that need to be met. This holds you liable in the event that you are unable to pay. You have to make these payments regularly.
However, some situations may arise, leading to individuals being unable to meet their payments.
If this occurs, lenders will start to see red flags. Missing your first payment will put you in a position called pre-foreclosure, a situation where your home or property may be repossessed due to missed payments.
Here is where you will be sent a notice of default informing you of your missed payments.
How Long Does A Foreclosure Take
As a whole, the foreclosure process in Michigan takes six months.
From the point of missed payments to the completion of the foreclosure, it is important to be well aware of the dates, as these are strict timelines if you find yourself in this sort of predicament.
According to a foreclosure lawyer in Commerce Township, a foreclosure is permitted to take place no earlier than 120 days since payment has been overdue.
After 120 days, the foreclosure process can begin and a sheriff sale can occur, which is usually the 6-month period.
This will allow the county sheriff to put your property up for sale to relieve your debts, announcing a scheduled date for a public sale to take place.
Before a sale occurs, however, loss mitigation may be applied for.
Loss Mitigation Application
The moment you are overdue on your mortgage, meaning the second of a month that you have missed your payments, you are immediately at risk of future foreclosure.
This puts homeowners in a position to consider filing a loss mitigation application.
This is a process that provides you the opportunity to save your home when you are facing a foreclosure, retaining it under your name, or paying off the debts.
This is accomplished by agreeing to terms and conditions that you and your lender can work out together.
The most common type of loss mitigation is loan modification. This usually entails you and your mortgage company coming to an agreement where all or some of your past due amount is rolled back into the loan, perhaps at a lower rate or extending the time to pay it off, providing you more time to fulfill the mortgage payments.
Other types of loss mitigation might include the lender allowing for forbearance, where you no longer are liable for the previous debt, but still are expected to make future payments, or short sales which allow you to sell a home for less than the money owed, but your bank or mortgage company does not hold you liable for further payments.
It is important that whenever you are considering loss mitigation options, you are stern with what you can work with.
If you cannot afford to make payments along with the new agreements, this will change nothing when it comes to foreclosure.
Takeaway
Foreclosures are situations that can be avoided with financial awareness and responsibility. It is important that you are always mindful of your costs of living, in relation to your debts.
If you are a homeowner, keep in mind important details of foreclosures, and how to handle them if it ever happens to you.
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