Got a letter from mortgage company

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:23 pm

My husband was late on the mortgage payment and I just got a letter saying that because it was late we need to pay the full amount which is over
a hundred thousand dollars or else our house will go into foreclosure I have no clue what I am going to do.
Anyone have any advice? I'm panicking.
For reference we are in NYS.

↑ SweetAngel

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:25 pm

It is a good idea to contact free or low-cost government approved foreclosure avoidance counselors who can help you assess your finances and work with the mortgage lender to avoid foreclosure. Visit Foreclosure Avoidance Counseling. Important! Beware of Loan Modification scammers. If you are asked to pay money up front in exchange for a loan modification, you may be dealing with an illegal modification company. Visit the links listed on Foreclosure Resources to find free qualified foreclosure help from a trusted source.
Don’t ignore mail from the mortgage lender. The further behind you fall in payments the harder it is to recover.
Found this online

amother

Daphne

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:27 pm

SweetAngel wrote:

Literally no experience in this but any chance this is a scam?

This. First and foremost verify that this is not a scam. Contact your mortgage company directly to verify. This seems very fishy and likely a scam. You do not go into foreclosure from 1 late payment.

Amarante

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:31 pm

Don’t panic. Call your mortgage company directly from a phone number in yiur bill or their website. Do not use contact information on the letter.

Foreclosures don’t happen because of a late payment. They happen when you haven’t paid for several months and ignore their letters. Even then, in most states you are given the opportunity to pay what you owe to prevent foreclosure which doesn’t happen immediately anyway.

Not the best thing to make a late payment because it will show up on your credit score for seven years but it won’t cause a foreclosure as you need to not be current in payments for several months and ignore calls and notices.

BH Yom Yom

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:35 pm

Call the mortgage company and ask them if they sent the letter…sounds scammy to me.

Typically if you have a strong track record of on-time payments the most they would do is add a late fee on top of the regular bill (for one missed/late payment).

Hatzlocha!

amother

Snapdragon

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 1:40 pm

amother Daphne wrote:

This. First and foremost verify that this is not a scam. Contact your mortgage company directly to verify. This seems very fishy and likely a scam. You do not go into foreclosure from 1 late payment.

Same. Very strange, $100,000 or forclosure from one late payment?

nicole81

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 2:05 pm

amother OP wrote:

Was he late for one payment or has he not been paying for a while?

Btw if it ends up being the latter, there are federal refinance programs to help people save their homes and not foreclose. But first you need to know the truth .

amother

Smokey

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:34 am

Op, what happened? I really think this is some sort of scam. It doesn’t happen after one late payment. Foreclosure letters are usually not sent until there are 3 late payments. Who was the letter from? If it wasn’t from your mortgage company just ignore it . Don’t ignore paying the mortgage, just ignore this threatening letter.

amother

Cadetblue

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:49 am

Agree that this sounds like it could be a scam, unless your mortgage has the option for a balloon payment. My mortgage company actually tried to sneaking in a clause for a balloon payment option at closing!

I don't know how scammers would know that you missed your last payment, though. That's very specific information.

Don't use the contact info from the letter. Use the known contact info you already have. Speak with your mortgage company directly to sort this out.

amother

Whitewash

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:57 am

Call you mortgage company directly this does not sound right for it to happen from one late payment.

FYI I will not say how many months behind we are on our mortgage and we are working very closely with our mortgage company, hashem is literally holding this house down for us. We bh have not gotten a foreclosure letter and I hope we never get one.
It’s a real struggle since we both lost our jobs and our current positions are not even close to the income we’ve had when we purchased our home.

amother

Sapphire

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:16 pm

It's either a scam or your husband has not been honest about how many payments were missed. One late payment does not put you at risk for foreclosure, and a late fee for one late payment is not going to be anywhere near 100k. Call the company directly (as another poster said, NOT using the number in the letter you received) and sort it out from there.

amother

Sand

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:25 pm

amother Snapdragon wrote:

Same. Very strange, $100,000 or forclosure from one late payment?

I believe the op will be able to resolve this.

That being said, banks are crazy. Completely and totally crazy. You can talk all the logic you want with them and how you can make the late payment in full right now at this very moment and even make next months payment, but once the "system" says something, the person on the phone becomes a robot. They don't care, it doesn't have to make sense, it can be detrimental to the bank, whatever, they couldn't give a you know what about it.

But again, I still feel confident that one missed payment can be resolved. My point is don't apply logic to banks. There's no logic with them. In the same way they will hold up a $500,000 because the borrower can't provide documentation on where some random $86.92 deposit came from 5 months ago, they can do crazy things in all areas.

amother

Lemonlime

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 12:26 pm

amother OP wrote:

Is 100k the full amount of the mortgage? Can I ask if you've previously had trouble and have set up a payment arrangement with them for the amount in question? If so, then it's possible that a missed payment would render the payment plan obsolete and you would be required to pay up that plan in full. That is often the terms of such agreements.

That's the only situation that I can think of that would make sense here. Otherwise, I agree with the others that this sounds like a scam. If it is indeed the situation, don't panic just yet. This may be an automated letter sent and you may find an understanding human if you call them. They may be receptive to reinstating the agreement if you make a payment immediately.

Banks would rather avoid foreclosures as well. They can be willing to work with you.