When finances are strained, making a mortgage loan payment could be difficult. Missing even one payment could begin a slippery slope to avoiding home foreclosure. Most Florida residents will exhaust all of their options trying to save their homes.
A lender might forgive missing one payment, but it will be expected that the homeowner will make it up the following month and pay any penalties that accompany it. This could be nearly impossible for a Florida homeowner whose finances are already stretched to their maximum. Other options will need to be explored in order to avoid the potential for foreclosure.
It might be possible to modify the existing loan, but the missed payment and any other amounts will still be due. An agreement might be reached to split up the missed payment and add it to the regular monthly payment until is is paid. In other cases, the lender might agree to a forbearance if the financial hardship is perceived as being temporary, or payments could be modified to be more affordable for a set period.
These solutions only work if the homeowner’s financial situation will improve in the near future. If conventional methods of resolving the issue will not work, bankruptcy is a viable option. It might be possible to either have all, or a portion, of the mortgage balance forgiven or have the payments reduced during the proceedings. A lender might agree to this since avoiding home foreclosure is often its goal as well since they would often rather have a paying customer than a home they have to sell.
Source: theday.com, “How will a late or skipped payment affect your mortgage?“, Nov. 25, 2016