COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR MORTGAGE SERVICER!

Homeowners having trouble paying their mortgages usually don’t ask for help until it’s too late, according to a survey conducted by Roper for Freddie Mac.

The study found that 58 percent of delinquent homeowners don’t know that lenders may offer ways to help them keep their homes and 56 percent don’t realize that free counseling is available.

Only about 50 percent knew that a missed payment could be added to their loan balance or that a mortgage term can be extended, the survey found.

"When we go into a house that's been foreclosed to clean it out, we find stacks and stacks of letters from the servicer that have never been opened," says Robin Stout Migala, senior manager of Freddie Mac's loss mitigation team. "Many think the servicers just want to take the house back, which, of course, is not true."

Common forms of mortgage help can bail out four out of five borrowers, but one out of five homeowners who get assistance defaults anyway, Freddie Mac says.

Source: USA Today, Noelle Knox (01/31/2008)