Foreclosure Prevention Tools

This sample letter can be used to request the Mortgage Optional Election (MOE) for a non-borrowing spouse. In addition to the death certificate, marriage certificate, and SSN, it is a good idea to explain the non-borrowing spouse's ownership interest or legal right to remain in the property (even if only under state intestacy laws). Include any applicable citation to state law and attach any relevant documents (such a will naming the  non-borrowing spouse'   as beneficiary, or an heirship affidavit, if appropriate under state law).

The short argument found in the document can be used to dispute a mortgagee’s attempt to charge additional fees in the reinstatement or cure amount the borrower must pay for a property charge default. The servicer might attempt to include these fees in a reinstatement quote to avoid foreclosure, or in a proof of claim in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

This budget worksheet can be used in a reverse mortgage situation to determine a homeowner’s expenses and income.  It can be also used in other contexts.

This is a 15-page blank standard form agreement suitable for where a surviving spouse is not on a reverse mortgage to keep the survivor in the house after the passing of the other spouse.

This is a lender’s standard form affidavit of heirship filled in by the homeowner.

Heirs property owners are at heightened risk of losing the family home to property tax foreclosure and a range of other threats. Heirs who inherit property without a will or who have not yet gone through probate may struggle to access available property tax relief. In this interview, Andrea Bopp Stark and Kristopher Smith describe why this problem exists and suggest policy solutions to address it. 

This is a 2021 National Housing Resource Center (NHRC) webinar titled "Protecting Inter-Generational Wealth: Keeping the Family Homestead" concerning issues faced by a home's successors in interest (those who receive an interest in a home after a homeowner's death or divorce)  but who are not on the mortgage.  This raises issues dealing with mortgage servicers, obtaining loan modifications, and making mortgage payments. The webinar was presented by Sarah Mancini at NCLC and by Lisa Sitkin of the National Housing Law Project.

This is a 2011 Fannie Mae form showing hardship documentation required for foreclosure prevention alternatives, indicating for various types of hardship (e.g. unemployment, divorce, disaster) what specific types of documentation will be needed for that type of hardship.

This is a rider to a loan modification agreement where the homeowner rents part of the property and gives the lender certain rights concerning the rental units.