Final Options
One option, and maybe the final option for some who are facing foreclosure, is giving up the home while reducing the amount of damage that it will cause to your personal lives.
Giving up Your Home
- Stay in the home as long as possible until you are evicted. This will allow you to save money that you can use when you are finally forced to move.
- Attempt to persuade your lender to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure, whereby you deed the home to them in exchange for canceling the foreclosure. A deed in lieu must be initiated by the homeowner by way of a written offer where the homeowner specifically states that they are entering into negotiations voluntarily. This protects the lender from any claim that they acted in bad faith by pressuring the homeowner into giving up their home.
- Ask the lender if they offer any type of move-out bonus for leaving the home by a certain date if you guarantee that you will leave the property in good condition. After a foreclosure is final, an eviction process must be carried out to have home occupants legally removed from a property. Evictions and repairing the damage done to a house by an unhappy former homeowner can be rather costly. Paying former homeowners to leave makes sense to some lenders when it helps them avoid those costs.
