Guide to Pennsylvania Foreclosure Recovery

How to make it through the Pennsylvania foreclosure process and keep your home

By Emmet McMahan

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The easiest way to recover foreclosures in Pennsylvania is to contact your lender as soon as you are unable to make your payments on time. Lenders want borrowers to keep their homes because foreclosure is an expensive process on which most lenders end up losing money.

Lenders therefore have an interest in exploring every possible option in the Pennsylvania foreclosure process, including forbearance, partial claim, payment modification and payment suspension. However, the fewer payments you are behind, the more options will be open to you.

There are three key actions to take in the Pennsylvania foreclosure recovery process:

Read and respond to any correspondence from your lender. These notices will contain important information on the foreclosure recovery process in Pennsylvania and pending legal action.
Raise money to make a missed payment. You may be able to sell assets such as a second car or jewelry, or a household member could take a second job.
Avoid foreclosure recovery scams. Many companies claim to be able to stop your foreclosure by charging you for information you could get for free. Others will require you to sign over the title to your house.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Know how Pennsylvania foreclosure laws will affect you

Laws on foreclosure vary considerably by state so you should be familiar with at least a summary of foreclosure laws in Pennsylvania. You should also read your loan documents to know what your lender can do if you can't make your payments.

I recommend: Advantage Mitigation Services summarizes the foreclosure laws in Pennsylvania and outlines the foreclosure recovery process. Foreclosurelaw.org offers a summary of Pennsylvania foreclosure laws and a glossary of common foreclosure terminology.

Get assistance with Pennsylvania foreclosure recovery information

There are housing counselors and online resources available to help you understand your options, assist you in organizing your finances and negotiate with your lender if needed.

I recommend: The Home Loan Learning Center offers extensive resources, including an online quiz for assessing your risk of losing your home. The Homeownership Preservation Foundation offers a hotline that provides free foreclosure prevention counseling by HUD-approved agencies.

Retain one of the many foreclosure attorneys in Pennsylvania

You may need one of the available Pennsylvania foreclosure lawyers to protect your interests, especially if you need to sign documents. If your regular attorney does not handle Pennsylvania foreclosure law, he or she may be able to make a referral.

I recommend: Albert J Boucek in Pittsburgh practices business law and has specific experience in foreclosures. Tullio Deluca is a bankruptcy attorney in Scranton that handles real estate cases, especially foreclosures.

Watch out for mortgage recovery scams

The Federal Trade Commission warns that there are plenty of bad guys operating in the foreclosure recovery business who will take your money and provide no service. Some warning signs, according to the FTC: advertising terms like "guarantee" and "97% success rate", upfront fees before services and company names or websites designed to make you think you're dealing with a government or nonprofit agency.

I recommend: Educate yourself about foreclosure recovery scams through the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC recommends you only seek foreclosure help from government sanctioned counseling agencies like the ones recommended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the federal Making Home Affordable program.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Consider refinancing in your Pennsylvania foreclosure process if you have some equity in your home. You will normally need at least 10% equity for a reasonable chance at refinancing and your odds get better with more equity. However, you don't want to make the common mistake of simply taking out a new loan that will be just as difficult to repay as the original mortgage.
Ask to speak with a manager when you contact your mortgage company as part of your Pennsylvania foreclosure recovery process. You will need to have some basic information ready, including your loan number, household expenses and recent pay stubs. Be prepared to provide a brief, honest account of your financial circumstances and take notes, especially the contact information of the person to whom you are speaking.

The official source of Pennsylvania Foreclosure Recovery is
the Pennsylvania Foreclosure Recovery page at Business.com

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