Don't Bury Your Head In The Sand If You're In Financial Trouble!!!!!!
By Louc74
@Louc74 (620)
November 19, 2009 9:28pm CST
I've been in the dire situation in the past of having to sell my house to get out of the financial mess I was in. I was determined I was going to find a solution, win the lottery, land that fabulously high paying job that would get me out of the dreadful situation I was facing of losing my home.
But while I was doing all this meaningless stuff, not getting anywhere, the legal process was ongoing, and I was paying very little attention to it!
I finally got my head out of the sand, applied for time to sell the millstone around my neck that was my house, the proceeds cleared all of my debts, and I started again. Phew! Believe me, it was a niiiiiice feeling!
I'm now in the process of taking action against my mortgage provider, who were adding arrears fees onto my account - fees with interest of 5000% applied. No, I didn't type an extra zero - that's five THOUSAND percent!
I've just now responded to a discussion posted by someone facing foreclosure, and I'm alarmed that people don't seek help. Maybe they don't know where to go, but there IS 100% FREE, GRATIS assistance out there for you, so I decided to go and hunt some links out for anyone who needs them.
I'm from the UK, but I also found some US sites. I'm still looking for other countries assistance websites, but if anyone finds any, please add them!
USA Sites:
www.foreclosurefish.net/foreclosureassistance
This site gives you info on the different companies out there offering assistance, and rates them as well, so you won't waste your time going somewhere that won't help you. They also give info on your rights if you're facing foreclosure.
www.nationalforeclosurecouncil.org
This is a not-for-profit organisation, who will offer you free advice on your rights, which vary an awful lot depending on which state you live in
I've found a lot of US sites, but I would go to the above two first. The first site up there has rated all of the other top sites on the net, so you should get info on which ones to avoid!
UK Sites:
www.directgov.uk/en.../DebtsAndArrears
This site has info on mortgage arrears procedures, sources of assistance, and mortgage specific financial assistance you might be able to get from the government.
www.moneysavngexpert.comMortgages and houses
This is money saving expert Martin Lewis, from GMTV, web site. I've been a member of this site for ages, and it's helped me reclaim bank charges, for which I've received over £8000 so far, with roughly another £2500 I'm expecting in the new year. Well worth signing up for free, the advice is excellent!
The other sites in the UK seem to consist mostly of companies who charge for their services. Don't be suckered in to paying anyone for advice - you can get all the help you need for free!
If you're having trouble, b*gger the stiff upper lip! Ask for help! I've got loads of info on all sorts of financial stuff, because I got interested after I had a bad experience, so if I can help anyone, I will; just ask! If I don't know the answer, I'll go and find it for you! Lol!
1 person likes this
3 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Nov 09
Hi Lou, glad to hear you got out of the mess with your house and it illustrates what happens when the head in the sand approach is taken.
Anything that these advisers do you can do yourself with research and by facing up to things and the thing to watch out for is companies charging to sort out the debt. People need to be much more educated about money before they start taking out any kind of mortgage, credit etc as most people really don't know what they are getting into and the implications too of having a bad credit history hanging round their necks.
@Louc74 (620)
•
30 Nov 09
Hi, Thea. Yeah, I'm usually pretty pro-active, but these companies immediately start making the most horrible threats - they're legally supposed to help you, but they just make things a million times worse, and you don't feel like communicating with them, because they're nasty straight off.
But luckily, I got my head out of the sand eventually, and I'm in a much better position than a lot of mortgage holders are now, poor souls.
I didn't see your financial post - gonna go and have a look for it.
@CatherineLeeV (49)
• China
20 Nov 09
Hi~ first congratulations you finally get rid of that heavy burden, you'll be better soon!
I guess you are suffering from the financial crisis, right? I just cannot imagine how serious the problem is in UK or US, it must be dreadful for common people. Cuz in my country it's not so serious as that in your country, but there're still many problems unsolved.
Anyway, we are trying hard to solve the problem!
Take care! Good luck!
Catherine
@Louc74 (620)
•
30 Nov 09
Hi, Catherine. Thanks, it's a lot better now - it was a couple of years ago though, so yeah, much better situation now. Your country hasn't had this love of credit that we've had, so your financial situation, at least, is much more stable. I hope your country gets its issues sorted too - I hate seeing people being treated badly by their government - it's the same here, just in a different way.
Goodluck to you as well! And thanks for the comment.:)
@CatherineLeeV (49)
• China
1 Dec 09
Haha~ I'm glad to hear that Ur much better now. Good luck !
But I just can't help responding your response cuz I think we have different perspectives on the issue of our government. lol. No offence, but personally think that most of you may have some stereotypes about that perhaps because you don't really know the situation. ALthough I have to admit that our government still has a long way to go compared with yours, and sometimes the people especially the younger generation like me will criticise and refute the act of our government, but we still can see the progress we have made and we have to understand it's really not easy to rule this huge country with such a large population. We know the problems do exist and we need changes to become better and the present situation is not that satisfying, but basically we are not really treated badly...lol. Of course something related to politics is hard to say clearly but unavoidable...
Anyway, thank U for your response. Hope U become better!
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
20 Nov 09
It is always a nice feeling to clear all the debts on your head and at times you need to take tough decisions to do that. I feel that sometimes you can make investments with loans etc., but the moment you feel that you are not viable to make the repayments back, then you need to think about selling those investments and paying off the debt otherwise you really end up in trouble.
Cheers!
Ram
@Louc74 (620)
•
20 Nov 09
Hi, Ram! You're absolutely right! Selling my house was the best thing I ever did. I only wish I'd done it sooner, then I might actually have been left with some profit! Lol!
I think there are a lot of people out there, though, who don't know that they can apply to court for a hold to be put on eviction proceedings to give a chance to sell the property. Courts will usually allow for that, unless there's a very good reason not to.
Bottom line is, most people don't know what their rights are, and that's pretty awful. Hopefully if anyone on here is in that situation, they can look at the sites, and get some help.
Thanks for the comment! :)
1 person likes this
