HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

Week after week I receive notices that a dog, cat or horse needs a new home because the family home has been foreclosed on. It seems that the people who treat their pets as family would rather live on the street with their pet, then in a home without them – but that’s not everybody.

There are tips and programs to help keep people in their homes that I was unaware of.

• 1) Home Affordable Unemployment Program (UP): Individuals unemployed for 12 months or more and have obtained their mortgage prior to January 1, 2009 may be qualify for reduced mortgage payments during an approved period. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages do not qualify for the program. You must contact the company that services your mortgage to assess eligibility.
• Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP):If you cannot refinance your home due to loss of market value, you may qualify for HARP. The mortgage must be a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae guaranteed loan. The loan must be in good standing for 12 months, and the loan to value must be at least 80%.

The concept of money just feels so different to me than in the days I was carefully depositing pennies in my piggy bank. I could touch it and feel it, and could see that it was gone. Nowadays, money seems so transient. Even though there may be a healthy bank account backing one’s life, it just feels like it is “on paper.” It makes me wonder… There are folks who have the money but don’t seem to pay their basic utilities and their mortgage in favor of luxuries, or even just simply time getting away from them.

If this is you, or you seem to have yourself stretched far all the time:

• Go virtual. If you are used to doing everything online, many mortgage holders such as Aurora loans, are now provided access to managing and paying your mortgage online so you can keep tabs on what’s ahead. Ask your mortgage administrator if they offer it.
• Buy a starter home. Mom and Dad did it. If you are looking to purchase your first home, it is easy to fall in the trap of buying as much house as you can afford, or even more so. Consider a few hundred square feet less, the worst house in a good neighborhood, or something you will upgrade later rather than buying the status home now.
• Create a contingency plan for pets. Put some money aside so that if you must move, you can afford the pet deposit, or have a written agreement with a relative or a friend who loves your dog or cat that they will house them for a short period of time until you get back on your feet.

With a little investigation and foresight, a foreclosure might be something well avoided.

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