A deed in lieu of foreclosure is where you give you the property back to the bank. You still lose your house, but the foreclosure does not go through the legal proceedings. The problem with this option is the securitization of mortgages (most mortgages are sold on the stock market). If you are dealing with a local bank who owns your mortgage, then they may be willing to take the property back in lieu of the foreclosure process. But if you are dealing with a large national bank, they package your mortgage with other mortgages and sell it on the stock market. Believe it or not, there can be several entities involved with your mortgage. Typically, you have a servicing company, which is who you make your payment to. Then there can be another bank that actually owns the mortgage and they pay the company that you deal with to service the loan. Then you have the U.S. Government who insures and guarantees the loans. Two examples are FHA and conventional loans. FHA loans are backed by the Federal Housing Authority, which is part of the U.S. Government. Conventional loans are guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which are companies that partner with the U.S. Government. It is just a lot of bureaucracy and red tape, which is why this isn’t a common option for most homeowners facing foreclosure.

Filing for bankruptcy is another option. Filing for bankruptcy does not necessarily stop the foreclosure process, but it does delay it. The foreclosing lender must ask the bankruptcy judge for permission to proceed with the foreclosure. The bankruptcy judge controls the entire process. Bankruptcies stay on your credit for 10 years and you can only file for bankruptcy once every 10 years. For individuals there are two types of bankruptcy, Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. With a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, all your debts go away but you must sell all your assets, such as your house. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is also called a liquidation bankruptcy and the process takes 4-6 months. Once your house sells, the judge will decide how much of those proceeds go to your mortgage lender or your other debtors. But regardless, you still have to move. This process just buys you more time. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is essentially a repayment plan. This is much more difficult to get approved and you would make payments to the courts and the court’s trustee would distribute those payments to your creditors. The court allows you 3-5 years to catch up on your payments to your creditors. Clark & Washington and Kelley & Clements are examples of two law firms in Georgia if you want to pursue bankruptcy.

Lastly you can sell your house. Full disclosure, we are investors who specialize in working with homeowners in foreclosure to buy their house and help them avoid a foreclosure on your credit report. If you are facing foreclosure there are many challenges in selling your house. We address those in more detail under our blog titled CAN I SELL MY HOUSE TO AVOID FORECLOSURE. Long story short, because the foreclosure process happens so quickly, you do not have enough time to sell your house on the retail market through a realtor. You are more likely to sell you house to an investor. This is because investors will take on projects and negotiate with the bank’s lawyers. It is common with a foreclosure that there is some deferred maintenance, so if that is the case the investor must be willing to do the repairs. Investors can usually close very quickly, usually in a few weeks. This allows you to stay within the one month window it takes for a foreclosure in Georgia. Selling to an investor also gives you more time to move and allows you to move on your terms. If you do not want a foreclosure or bankruptcy on your credit report, then selling to an investor could be your best option.