Are you looking for the "best way" to stop foreclosure? If so, you may be wasting valuable time and resources examining so many different options, and contacting so many various foreclosure help companies. In situations like foreclosure, the best way may lead to the worst result -- waiting too long and ending up losing your home.

Because of the time-sensitive issue of foreclosure, it is vitally important for foreclosure victims to do as much research as they possibly can. This is necessary for a number of reasons. By knowing what is happening to them, the homeowners can better prepare and plan different solutions to receive mortgage help to prevent foreclosure. Also, knowledge is the best defense against finding yourself taken advantage of by a foreclosure scam operator. However, it is just as important that homeowners understand that searching for an elusive "best way" to stop foreclosure is misguided and, potentially, self-destructive.

A better approach is to look at the foreclosure situation as an issue of being sick. When feeling under the weather, you may do extensive research to find out more about what is wrong with you, and to decide what type of doctor to visit. Usually, though, you do not interview physician after physician in the hopes of getting "the best" doctor to fix you up. You simply find a doctor that you trust, and you follow the treatment until you are feeling better again.

The same can be said about foreclosure: you are in need of assistance to cure the mortgage problem, and, if you waste too much time, you'll just find yourself feeling worse and worse, until a major financial crisis occurs, such as losing your home. The time you spent looking for the best way to stop foreclosure could have been much better spent simply taking a treatment that would have eventually saved your home.

So, it will always be better for you to find a foreclosure doctor that you trust to heal you and make your financial situation better again. There may be no "best way" to save your home from foreclosure, but there are numerous ways that will help you repair your situation and get you the mortgage help you need.

One of the main ingredients in any homeowner's plan to stop foreclosure is having expert advice and a professional review of their file. While there is much that homeowners can do on their own to learn about the foreclosure process and what options they may have to save their homes, a review by a team of specialists can help identify various other ideas and methods that the homeowners may have overlooked.

This is exactly what our professional board review process will do for homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. Everyone who signs up to receive our free foreclosure e-book will also receive a complimentary review of their case by our board of managers who specialize in helping foreclosure victims identify ways to stop foreclosure.

Some of the most commonly overlooked options that homeowners may have available to save their homes include a loan to stop foreclosure, loss mitigation, and selling to a friend or family members. All of thse options are usually discounted by the homeowners because they have faced rejection so many times from their lender, trying to put together a repayment plan, or other lenders, attempting to put together a foreclosure refinance. Too often, though, the reason for failure is simply that the homeowners do not have access to the right tools that can be used to prevent foreclosure, or they have not encountered the path of least resistance to saving their homes. In fact, they may have overlooked a simple solution that turns out to be right in front of them.

And that is where all of our mortgage help resources come into play. Our free foreclosure e-book teaches homeowners all about the foreclosure process and gives a general overview of the most common ways to get mortgage help to avoid foreclosure. Our management review board will create a professional proposal for foreclosure victims and will identify numerous areas where a solution may be found. And the free pre-screen listing against hundreds of lenders, investors, and mitigation professionals will help foreclosure victims find the foreclosure specialists who can provide them with direct assistance.

Best of all, all of these ways to learn about foreclosure and what can be done to prevent foreclosure are absolutely free foreclosure help services that we offer. We have found that the best way to help homeowners save their homes is to provide them with the best, most relevant information they can use to make informed decisions regarding their homes. Mortgage help and resources are just around every corner of ForeclosureFish.com, and we invite our visitors to take advantage of the available tools to stop foreclosure.

A good tip for anyone buying a new home after foreclosure is to avoid lying on the loan application, if applying for a stated income or No Income No Asset loan. Much of the recent past, present, and future foreclosure epidemic is due to the rampant fraud in the real estate and mortgage industries over the past few years. While everyone did their share of lying and looking the other direction, it is, unfortunately, the homeowners who have to deal with the consequences of these lies the most, as well as pay the ultimate price when they lose their homes to foreclosure.

But for homeowners who have found a way to stop foreclosure, either through refinancing, or selling and purchasing a more affordable home, one of the best ways to avoid being in a foreclosure situation again is simply to fit the home to the income, not the other way around. This is especially true if the purchasers are considering qualifying for an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, since the bank will determine the ability to afford the mortgage on the low introductory rate -- not on any projection of what it will reset to in a few years, since they couldn't accurately predict what interest rates will be in the future. This may mean that, when the interest rate resets, the paymens could go up 1.5 or two times what they started out at. Higher payments of even a few hundred dollars a month can mean the difference between making the payment every month and not having enough money to heat the house or buy groceries.

There are even a number of news stories stating that some homeowners overstated their incomes by as much as 50% to qualify for homes they could not really afford, and many are facing foreclosure as the payments reset. The mortgage application that every loan applicant signs states that it's a federal offense to lie about the information that is put down, so don't do it. It would be a much wiser idea to reevaluate housing expectations and purchase a smaller, more affordable home at a fixed rate with a low payment, if necessary.

Of course, owning a home is an integral part of the American Dream, but not every ownership interest is the same. A family who owns their home outright is much closer to fulfilling this dream than the homebuyers who borrow money they can not afford to pay back to purchase a home that is too big for them. And a homeowner who has begun missing mortgage payments and is receiving daily calls and letters from the lender is about as far from the American Dream as is possible, while still having an assumption of homeownership.

The main part of the foreclosure problem that the industry is now facing is the proliferance of so much mortgage fraud. Loan applicants overstated their incomes to qualify for more expensive houses. Appraisers overstated the values of these properties, seeming to push the values further and further upwards. Mortgage brokers fit their clients into the loan with the "lowest rate," knowing the purchasers would not be able to afford the payments at any sane level of interest rates. Banks underwrote these mortgages to get more assets and loans on their books and take advantage of the easy money.

And now, who's left holding the bag? The banks and you. But the bank will get to keep the home if you can't pay them. What will you get if you can't pay them? A visit from the county sheriff's eviction crew and the prospect of living in your truck for the forseeable future.

Don't let this happn. Find out some solutions to stop foreclosure before it's too late.

The list of various methods to stop foreclosure that is presented below is a nearly comprehensive accounting of the most common ways homeowners can use to save their homes, either by staying in them and avoiding foreclosure, or by getting out of a bad situation with as much of their financial lives intact as possible. There are really no magical ways to end the foreclosure process -- but there are enough tools that homeowners have available, that they can choose from a number of options to help them out of their hardship situations.

1. Save up and get current on the mortgage by paying back the payments you've missed, plus the interest, late fees, attorney fees, etc. Understand that there are often thousands of dollars of extra charges that are added once you start missing payments and especially if the lender hires a law firm to pursue the foreclosure.

2. Work with the lender to put together a repayment plan, which would require you to put down part of the amount you are behind now and pay back the rest over a period of months, along with you current monthly payment. Usually, repayment plans can be worked out through your lender's loss mitigation department, and will result in you paying almost twice as much per month as your regular mortgage payment. This is to help you get caught up on the payments you missed while you are paying your original monthly obligation.

3. Work with the lender to modify the terms of the loan to say that the missed payments are spread out over the life of the loan or put on the back end of the loan. This is called a mortgage modification or loan modification. Some lenders will not do this because they do not hold the paper to be able to modify it. This is especially true for mortgage servicing companies, who only service their loans and collect payments, but who do not own the loans.

4. Refinance -- find a hard money lender or traditional lender that will consider foreclosure refinance loans. Qualifications include lots of equity and lots of income, since your interest rate will probably be over 10%. Foreclosure refinance loans can be difficult to qualify for and may result in higher monthly payments, but they are a good way for homeowners to get a fresh start with a new note and new lender.

5. If you have an FHA loan, you can get a one-time loan from the FHA that will bring you current and is placed as a lien on the property that you would have to pay back if you sell or refinance the home. This is called a partial claim. You would have to contact the FHA directly for this one time payout to get you caught back up on your mortgage.

6. Sell to a private investor or friend/family member and lease/rent the property back from them. That clears off the foreclosure loan on the property and uses someone else's good credit to get a new loan and allows you to stay in the property. Investors can also work out short sales on properties, allow they usually do this in the hope of flipping the property by reselling it quickly at a profit.

7. Bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure process, but is usually an expensive alternative to setting up a repayment plan, mentioned above. Attorney fees, trustee fees, court costs, and high monthly payments cause a lot of people to fail their bankruptcies. Only consider bankruptcy if you desperately want to prevent foreclosure and if you have a significant amount of income you can dedicate towards the bankruptcy payments.

8. Short sales are a good option if you owe more on the property than it is currently worth. A short sale means the bank accepts less than what they are actually owed, and would allow you to get out of the loan, at least. The bank would not be able to come after you for the rest of the loan amount, since, by accepting a lower amount, they forgive the rest of the debt owed on the mortgage.

9. Sell outright if the property is worth enough and you have a willing and able buyer. List the house yourself of through a local real estate broker. In some cases, it is the right decision just to unload the house to stop foreclosure and focus on repairing your credit until you can purchase a new, more affordable home in a few years.

10. If 1-9 do not work, you can offer the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which means you're voluntarily giving the property back to the bank and they are agreeing that the property is payment in full of the loan. This is not much better than a foreclosure, and you have to leave the property anyway, but it will prevent the sheriff sale and eviction process. The bank will not be able to ask for any extra money or sue you for a deficiency judgment, because they accept the property itself as satisfaction of the loan.

11. If 1-10 do not work, you can just move out and walk away and forget about the property. This is definitely not recommended if you care about your credit and plan to borrow money for several years, but foreclosure should teach you not to rely on banks to help you out when you face a hardship. All they really do is promise great deals when you think of going with them, and then throw you to the foreclosure dogs if you miss a payment. Many homeowners simply walk away because the foreclosure situation is so intimidating, but, as listed above, there are numerous options that are better than just giving up on the property.

Those are the most common options that can be used to stop foreclosure. There are a few others (suing your bank, etc.), but they involve much more cost and legal involvement and may not end up stopping the foreclosure process in the end. To learn more about any of these options, though, please consider downloading our free foreclosure e-book, or if you need immediate foreclosure assistance, please fill out our foreclosure evaluation form. We would be happy to discuss your specific situation with you and help you find an alternative to losing your home to foreclosure.

Homeowners in foreclosure often don't know where to turn for help. With all of the news about foreclosure scams that are discovered every week, and the 150-200 postcards and letters that foreclosure victims receive from potential helpers each each, it is increasingly difficult for homeowners to know who to trust. In fact, homeowners probably should not trust anyone to help them save their homes from foreclosure until they are educated about what happens during the entire foreclosure process.

The first step for homeowners who are behind in payments and starting to slip further into foreclosure should be to find out what the laws concerning foreclosure are in their state. Foreclosure is a process that is handled at the state level, with different requirements depending on what area the foreclosure victims are in. Knowing the foreclosure law for their state, homeowners will have a much better handle on how much time they have to stop foreclosure, and what they and the lender will be required to do during the foreclosure process.

Once they have an idea of how much time is available to help them save their homes, homeowners will be well served by searching out what options are available as alternatives to foreclosure. Some of these options may include a foreclosure refinance, which few banks offer at reasonable rates; or a repayment plan worked out through their lender's loss mitigation department. For homeowners who do not want to keep their homes, a few options are selling to a private investor, or giving the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Bankruptcy to stop foreclosure should usually be considered a last option for homeowners in any situation, as it will impact their credit histories much worse, coupled with a foreclosure.

Only after the homoenwers know the foreclosure laws for their state, and have an awareness of what options they have available to prevent foreclosure, should they consider finding a reputable company to work with. Foreclosure loan providers and loss mitigation consultants can help foreclosure victims find safe, affordable solutions where a mutually beneficial plan is worked out. But to avoid foreclosure scams, homeowners need to know as much about the foreclosure process as possible, as well as what their options are.

By following these steps, the foreclosure victims can be assured they have done as much as possible to save their homes and avoid becoming the victim of a scam. As we have always stated, education is the best defense homeowners can use when attempting to stop foreclosure, and not gaining the knowledge they need is simply negligent on the part of foreclosure victims. No one will be able to help them save their homes if they are not able to do it themselves.

We have created a new ForeclosureFish.com Members section for anyone who is interested in saving their home. We created this on the request of numerous homeowners who have contacted us looking for more information and interactive tools to help them understand how they can stop foreclosure.

In our new downloads section, we have included a virtual library of forms, example letters, example contracts, and financial programs for members to install on their computers. This will help homeowners put together the exact deals they need to keep their payments affordable and begin repairing their credit. They can learn how to negotiate with their banks for repayment plans, lowered payoffs, and even extend a sheriff sale date.

In addition to the free foreclosure e-book that we offer on our website, our members have access to eleven additional e-books that are designed to educate them on various aspects of the foreclosure process. They can learn exactly what they need to do to qualify for a foreclosure refinance, repayment plan, and when bankruptcy or a deed in lieu of foreclosure would apply.

For those who wish to refinance their mortgages to get out of foreclosure, we have included two extensive lists of known lenders who specialize in foreclosure avoidance loans. There are not many lenders who do these types of loans anymore, and having two lists of them would be invaluable to foreclosure victims who just want a fresh start with a new mortgage company. In the right circumstances, a new foreclosure loan could mean the difference between holding onto the home and seeing it slip away into foreclosure.

Possibly the most important aspect of the new section is the Scams section, which helps homeowners get their money back if they have been taken advantage of. Certain companies will always target foreclosure victims, but with the tools available to them through our new site, homeowners can fight back and recover any refunds they are owed from foreclosure scam companies.

The new members section is now up and running, and includes 100% free telephone support for anyone who needs additional help. We are here to assist foreclosure victims who are serious about keeping their homes to prevent foreclosure in any manner possible. Best of all, the resources on the site are designed to help homeowners stop foreclosure on their own -- without using any third party assistance, unless they choose to request help to save their homes. To determine if becoming a member would benefit your situation, please contact us or send us a free, confidential foreclosure evaulation, and we will discuss the new program with you, along with creating your free listing and sending you a free foreclosure e-book.

There has been a lot of news recently about the current state of the real estate market, and especially about the record foreclosure numbers throughout the country. Every few hours, a new story will appear on Google News or Yahoo! News with new statistics, predictions, and warning messages to homeowners about foreclosure scams. While the news is often interesting, dense, or just plain sad, endless news articles do not really help homeowners save their homes from foreclosure. When facing a financial crisis, foreclosure victims need much more than simple stories or warnings. They need advice and reasonable solutions to fix their problems.

The news stories that are being presented online, though, seem to be neutral and numbers-oriented, at best, and optimistic about the high foreclosure rates, at worst. For example, in a search on Google News today, there are three stories analyzing foreclosure rates, two articles on predictions of rising rates, two offering advice to homeowners, and three offering to teach investors how to profit from foreclosures. Yahoo! News fares worse, with seven articles focusing on analysis, and two stories of communities or homeowners facing foreclosure. This leaves only one story on Yahoo! News that focuses on helping homeowners stop foreclosure on their homes.

One of the articles with the most crooked slant, from a foreclosure victim's perspective, shows that many real estate professionals are intent on making money from the homeowners' situations. Foreclosure: One Person's Pain is Another's Good Fortune states that "Home Center Chief Executive Ron Barnard says that personally, he finds foreclosure sad, even tragic. 'But as a business owner, I think it's great.'" Although there is no reason to suspect Home Center or Ron Barnard or Dave Hennigan (the other Home Center Realty associate mentioned) of any unscrupulous business activities, homeowners should be aware that there are many more "investors," "buyers," and "real estate professionals" out there that use some of the same tactics but who are out to take advantage of the homeowners. Foreclosure scams are nowhere mentioned in the article, though, unfortunately.

The top story on both Google News and Yahoo! News is that Realtytrac, the company that "publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties," will be starting to >offer foreclosure auctions from Williams & Williams on their website. While this is great news for some people, forelosure victims who are facing the loss of their homes right now have little to look forward to. Their former homes will just appear on one more website by the time the foreclosure process has reached its end.

Obviously, online news sites are not the place to go for homeowners who want to keep their homes and recover from foreclosure. So where can homeowners go for valuable information that they need to save their homes? The first option, of course, should be for homeowners to research as much as they can about the foreclosure process in their state and in general. There are any number of helpful websites, books, and helpful resources available to educate foreclosure victims. (We even offer a free foreclosure e-book to everyone who signs up to receive one on our site, and with several thousand downloads already, it has helped numerous homeowners understand the foreclosure process better.) But the news about foreclosures will probably continue to look worse throughout the year, and homeowners, who are in the middle of the action, will only be able to find an outsider's perspective on the nationwide crisis when they turn to the news media for help.

Possibly one of the most important things to do when facing foreclosure is to have a backup plan at all times. Many homeowners begin working with a company who can help them stop foreclosure, but, for one reason or another, are turned down at the last minute and have nowhere else to turn. To avoid losing the home, the homeowners should have a Plan B that they can immediately turn to and implement.

Just because one or two or more companies turn you down for their specific program, doesn't mean that there is no way to stop the foreclosure process from going through. There are many different methods that can be used to stop foreclosure, and the more you are aware of and actively working on, the easier it will be if one of those options does not work out.

Homeowners are most in danger when they rely on just one option or company to help them save their homes. This creates are very dangerous false sense of security for the homeowners, who may believe they are doing everything they can to prevent the foreclosure. However, there should always be a Plan B and enough plans after B that there will always be a solution to the problem.

This is not to say that homeowners should keep looking for option after option after option and never make a decision on which one to work on. In fact, the opposite is the case: learn enough about the foreclosure process to make an informed decision, and then begin working on a way to save the home on their own or with a reputable foreclosure help company. While they are actively working on a solution to foreclosure, though, there is no reason not to examine other options and put together other plans, as well. It would be a good idea to go so far as to find at least a handful other companies who would be willing to help in the situation.

Every homeowner facing foreclosure should ask themselves what they will do if they are turned down at the last minute. Will they attempt a foreclosure refinance? Do they qualify for a forbearance agreement? Is there a private investor or friend/family member who may be able to help them out? And how much time will they have to consider any of these options?

Obviously, a lot of the answers to these questions depend on how willing the lender is to work with the homeowners in finding a solution to foreclosure. This is just one more reason why it is vital for homeowners to maintain contact with their lenders before, during, and after they begin to miss mortgage payments. The more communication that the lender receives, the easier it will be for the homeowners to bargain for extra time, delay a sheriff sale, or negotiate a short sale with their lenders.

With so many new foreclosures being filed every day, and stricter lending guidelines being put into effect, homeowners in hardship situations will face tougher qualifications for any program they may consider to stop foreclosure. Even when they are qualified for one option, this does not guarantee that the solution will work, and necessitates the homeowners examining as many different methods to stop foreclosure as they possibly can.

Some homeowners know they can't afford their properties anymore, but aren't yet behind in their mortgage payments. Usually, lenders are less willing to work with a homeowners in a hardship situation until they have fallen behind and are moving towards foreclosure. This post is meant to help homeowners who are just about to start missing payments learn what options they have available if they can not afford the house any longer.

They might have a few options to make life a little easier. But because they aren't behind yet, they lender might not be as willing to work with them at this point. Once they start missing payments, the bank may be easier to work out a solution with. They don't really know that you're facing a hardship until they homeowners can't pay them.

If they can't afford the payments on your current mortgage, and their credit isn't great, then it might not make much sense to consider a foreclosure refinance.

If there is equity in the house, and they want to keep it, they could try selling to a private investor who would allow them to live in the property and pay rent until they can afford to re-purchase the house back. But this probably wouldn't work unless there was equity, as it is the equity which protects the investor's collateral (the house).

A friend or family member with good credit could potentially buy the house from the homeowners, and let them keep living there, as well. The good credit is important to get a lower interest rate with more manageable payments.

If neither of those are possible, then they could try selling. The homeowners in foreclosure can sell the house for less than it is worth, if the bank agrees to a "short sale." This would mean that the bank takes a lower amount than what they are owed, and forgives the rest of the debt. The homeowners wouldn't be responsible for paying the difference back to them, since the bank would agree to take less.

A short sale would let the homeowners sell the house for whatever reasonable price they can get for it. The bank would have to agree to the amount, but they will consider low offers if the house is not worth as much as what the clients owe them on the loan.

If the bank is really tough, and doesn't approve a short sale, then there are two ways to "walk away" from the house, as last resorts.

The first is a deed in lieu of foreclosure. This means the homeowners would voluntarily give the property back to the lender and they accept the deed in lieu as payment in full of the loan. This does not look as bad to credit bureaus as if it was a complete foreclosure, but a deed in lieu will look bad on a credit report. The bank will not mention the deed in lieu to the homeowners first -- the homeowners have to ask them about it. This is because a deed in lieu has to be given voluntarily, so they can't look like they pressured the homeowners into it.

The second way to "walk away" is just to find somewhere else to live and move out, leaving the property to go through foreclosure. The bank will proceed with suing the homeowners for the amount of the mortgage and will sell the property at sheriff sale to pay off the loan. If the property sells at sheriff sale for less that what is owed, they may be able to sue the former owners for the difference, which would then appear as a judgment on their credit. However, banks only do this very rarely, since they know that most people in foreclosure simply can't afford their homes anymore and getting a judgment won't really help them get their money back. Just walking away from the home is usually not a good idea, since there are so many other options available to stop foreclosure.

As far as suggestions, it depends on whether there is equity in the property and if the homeowners can afford to live there even with lower payments. If they want to hold onto the house, then selling to a private investor or friend/family would be an option. But if they can't afford it, then selling and using a short sale would be the next best bet, in most instances. And if all else fails, ask the bank to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Those are the most common options and the order that homeowners follow them in when they are attempting to save their homes from foreclosure.

A small percentage of homeowners, when facing foreclosure, simply can not afford to keep their property. None of the common solutions are applicable to their situation. They may not have enough equity to refinance, or will be unable to afford the higher monthly payments that come along with foreclosure loans. Depending on the real estate market, there not be an opportunity to sell the house, and the lender may not accept a short sale. At this point the homeowners may just want to give up on the property and give it back to the lender. Many foreclosure victims in this situation are interested in this option to stop foreclosure, but they are unsure what exactly it is called, or if it even exists. The homeowner can voluntarily give the property back to the lender, though, by using a deed instrument called a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

The deed in lieu is an agreement between the borrower and the bank for the bank to accept the property as payment in full for the mortgage. Once the deed is drawn up and executed, ownership of the property will transfer to the lender, and the homeowners must move out of the property. Even though this is usually considered the last option for homeowners who want to stop foreclosure, it can be more beneficial to everyone involved than going through the entire foreclosure process. As Wikipedia states, "The principal advantage to the borrower is that it immediately releases him from most or all of the personal indebtedness associated with the defaulted loan. The borrower also avoids the public notoriety of a foreclosure proceeding and may receive more generous terms than he would in a formal foreclosure. Advantages to a lender include a reduction in the time and cost of a repossession, and additional advantages if the borrower subsequently files for bankruptcy." Thus, both the lender and the homeowner can reach an agreement on how best to avoid foreclosure, if there is no possibility of keeping the home or paying the loan.

Lenders, however, do not usually just accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure from any homeowner at any time. As is the case with almost everything else with banks, there is an application process. In our experience, the bank will usually request that the homeowners attempt to sell the home for a period of time, and if they are unable to locate a buyer, they can submit an offer for the deed in lieu. Income and financial requirements may also have to be met by the borrowers, in order to prove that they are unable to afford the mortgage payments any longer.

There is also no guarantee that the bank will even accept the deed in lieu of foreclosure. This is especially true if the property is already in the later stages of the foreclosure process. It may be more expedient and cost-effective for the lender just to carry out the rest of the process of taking the home back from their clients.

Furthermore, executing a deed in lieu of foreclosure does not save the borrowers' credit from dropping. A deed in lieu is considered only slightly better than an actual foreclosure, and the lender will not be very willing to erase the record of several late payments that caused the home to go into foreclosure in the first place. Homeowners who are concerned with saving their credit score should make every attempt to sell the property and have the loan status showing "Paid in Full," rather than "Foreclosure" or "Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure."

In conclusion, the deed in lieu of foreclosure, while a valid option to stop foreclosure, is not the preferred method for most homeowners. It would make much more sense for homeowners who want to keep their homes to examine other options to save their homes, such as foreclosure refinancing, and for homeowners who can not keep the home to attempt to sell the property or work out a short sale.

We've been in the habit lately of posting a lot of depressing news stories, as well as analysis of different ways to get out of foreclosure. As a change in direction, it might be better to take a few minutes off from the stress that foreclosure causes, and take a look at a few interesting articles and websites.

The first two are designed to help consumers and homeowners save money in different areas in their budgets, and use renewable energy sources to power everyday items. The last two are purely for entertainment purposes only, as we found them funny enough to provide to our readers.

Our first great site today is the Solar Cooking Archive, which contains information about using the power of the sun to cook food and boil water. The site contains numerous step-by-step instructions on how to build your own solar cooker by using a variety of different materials and designs. The basic one, though, can probably be built using material that you already have in your kitchen or storage room.

Even more interesting, although more esoteric, is the website on how to run a car on water. A man named Stan Meyer, before he died, was in the middle of modifying a dune buggy to run on nothing but water. The man owned numerous patents on how to build and utilize the Water Fuel Cell that he used to generate power. The site attempts to carry on the work of powering a car by water, and includes links to a few videos of the water-powered car in action. "The objective will be to replicate the water fuel cell. The completion of our work will be proof to the world of the validity of the water fuel cell."

Another page, from SafeNow.org, pokes fun at the government's new website, Ready.gov, which is a production of the Department of Homeland Security. The site has a series of "warning signs" that provide very little explanation as to what exactly is being warned against. The SafeNow.org site has some hilarious "interpretations" of what the ambiguous signs may mean. Maybe we'll all have to become a little more familiar with the signs before we know exactly what they mean when looking at them.

And the last website, from ConcurringOpinions.com, is an analysis of how college professors grade papers and exams. Teachers at any level of the education system, though, can use the system to evaluate a student's performance. As the website states, "The purpose of this post is to serve as a guide to young professors about how to perfect their grading skills and as a way for students to learn the mysterious science of how their grades are determined."

None of these websites have any information directly relating to any methods to stop foreclosure, but they are at times interesting and hilarious. Once in a while (for the first time in several months, for us), it's good to take a step back and find something to laugh at, or some new way to look at a common activity, like cooking or driving a car.

For actual foreclosure help, though, please consider signing up to receive our foreclosure e-book, or fill out the form on our website for your free foreclosure evaluation. Also, consider taking our $1,000 challenge and let us save your home -- if we're not successful, we'll give you $1,000 to use as assistance when purchasing a new home. That's how much we believe in our services. If we can't help you stop foreclosure on your current home, we'll help you buy a new home.

It may be argued that the fear of success in saving a home from foreclosure does not result in the apparent failures that other fears may generate. A fear of public speaking, as just one example, may cause anxiety and physical manifestations in the person who is making the speech. They may begin sweating, blushing, or stammering during the speech, and their fear may become progressively worse as they make mistakes or realize that everyone can see their signs of anxiety. The person with a fear of public speaking is conscious of their fear, and the fear can feed on itself to become nearly paralyzing. This may be why a more people have this fear than the fear of death.

A fear of success, though, especially when attempting to stop foreclosure, is entirely unconscious, and, as a result, much more dangerous than any other type of fear in this situation. How is someone supposed to break through a fear of success and save their home from foreclosure when they do not even know they have the fear to begin with?

Furthermore, only homeowners motivated to stop foreclosure any way possible even experience a fear of being successful. Low-achieving failures have no experience starting project after project to save their homes, only to abandon each one as it requires more of a committment of energy and resources. Fear of success is only present in people who really desire to stop the foreclosure process.

As cliched as it is, the first step in breaking through the fear is to admit that it exists in the first place. Due to the unconscious aspect of the fear of success, it can not be conquered without acknowleding its existence. This is an vital step, but it is not a solution to save the home from foreclosure -- admitting a fear exists does not automatically make it go away.

In fact, there may really be no magical cure to this fear, or any other kind of fear. There are only methods to deal with it and objectively measure the homeowner's success in breaking through. And all of the methods that we will discuss involve targets and rewards.

The fear of success personality has a problem with looking too far into the future at a given time. They jump from the present, with a completed plan, to a distant future, with their home completely saved and everything back to "normal," and then unconsciously flee from that potential outcome. This is why small steps are necessary, with corresponding rewards at each step, and a re-evaluation of goals versus targets.

Goals are typically based on results, which are uncontrollable, such as foreclosure refinancing, for instance. A detailed loan application with supporting documents is unable to predict the future, yet the fear of success personality will mentally jump from the plan to the successful new loan, with no logical or coherent steps in between, and no idea of how to get from Point A to Point B.

Targets, on the other hand, are much more important, as they are based on actions and are, therefore, controllable. Someone experiencing the fear of success needs to set daily targets as soon as their program to save the home from foreclosure has been decided upon. This will help rein in the jump from the present hardship situation to the final goal, and will give the foreclosure victim a reasonable, daily target to shoot for.

It should also be noted that no target is too small to start with. Especially if there is a consistent baseline of zero activity, then any small increase should produce a jump in production. As an example, for someone who is in foreclosure, this may mean interviewing two new foreclosure help companies three days per week. This target is defined in terms of quantity (two companies), quality (foreclosure help, as opposed to mortgage brokers, real estate agents, etc.), and in time (three days per week). If the target is met, then next week the person would slightly increase the activity (two foreclosure help companies two days, three of them one day, etc.), for a period of 8-12 weeks, or until there is a viable solution to stop foreclosure.

Rewards are also a major part of meeting targets. Again, rewards can never be too small, and should avoid being large. Anyone will meet their weekly target for a Mercedes, but is that really meeting the target to improve, or is it to get a new car? This is why the rewards should be more mentally satisfying than anything else. Putting aside a quarter for every action and counting quarters at the end of the day is one example. This also reinforces the fact that the person is performing their activity because their plan to save the home from foreclosure is designed to help them build their assets through the ownership of a property.

Targets should also be limited to two per 8-12 week period. This allows the fear of success personality to focus on two main areas to improve, and is more conducive to building a habit of performing a certain action. Having twelve or fifteen targets becomes confusing and difficult to track, especially with a pending foreclosure.

This idea of daily targets can be used in many other areas of life as well, and it is encouraged that people use it in their personal, professional, and spiritual lives. From waking up earlier (one minute per day for eight weeks is an extra hour), to finally quitting smoking (go from ten cigarettes per day to nine-and-a-half), to writing that great novel (one page of writing every night), targeting and corresponding rewards are the main key to success in conquering a fear of success, even against such dangerous problems as addiction, depression, or, even, public speaking and stopping foreclosure.

As the activity improves in both quantity and quality, in a logical series of steps, the fear of success personality will remain focused on the activities that do not generate the symptoms of the fear and lead to early abandonment of their goals. Instead, for the first time, they will experience vast increases in production and success in saving their homes that they can measure every single day until they have been able to find the best solution to stop foreclosure.

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Now, of course, there is a lot of work involved in preventing the foreclosure from going all the way through. But, if you follow all of our instructions, and are willing to put in the necessary work, you will save your home from foreclosure. The only way you would lose the home is if you turn down the numerous offers that are presented to you. Generally, you must have at least 30 days to find a solution to foreclosure, and you must be willing to follow our exact instructions, and we will guarantee that you will not have to worry about foreclosure anymore.

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To take the $1,000 Challenge, and begin the process of saving your home, please fill out our foreclosure evaluation form, or get started right away and find help now.

An old online post regarding the actions of a foreclosure scam company was forwarded to us recently. The woman who made the post claims to be a victim of this foreclosure relief company's particular scam. It's quite a long post seemingly addressed to the president of the company, but let's take a look at certain parts of it that may give us some clues to what happened to make the homeowners into former homeowners.

The foreclosure scam company in question was one of the numerous "private investor groups" that purchase homes out of foreclosure. Many of them purchase the homes, tell the homeowners to leave, and resell the properties at profit. The worst of them, though, don't tell the homeowners they will have to move out, telling them they will be able to remain in the home and pay rent. Once the deal is closed, though, the homeowners are swiftly evicted and the home is sold at a profit.

"I was working with [employee name] and sent $900 to save my home and begin the refinance process."
This is in contrast to the fact that the company did not offer any kind of foreclosure refinance program, did not have a valid mortgage license in any state, and any charges were clearly stated as application fees (a claim made by other former clients of this company) -- not "save my home fees," which do not exist.

"I had 3 weeks before my sheriff's sale."
Three weeks before a sheriff sale is usually not enough time to work out a foreclosure refinance, especially when the company did not have their customers fill out mortgage applications or provide any documentation of income. Be very careful when a company asks you to pay money to "get the ball rolling," and then doesn't ask for a corresponding stack of financial paperwork to evaluate your abilities to come up with a monthly mortgage or rent payment.

"I called repeatedly and left messages for [processor's name] personally and with the processing department for almost 3 weeks (past the sheriff's sale) no one would return my call."
A bad sign already, especially if the homeowner can't get in touch with the rep who is in charge of "processing" the file. Usually, if you can't get in touch with the person or department in charge of handling your case, then assume you have been turned down and start looking for another option to save your home. Never give up on the original company, even if it's just to get your money refunded from them, but if you are being ignored -- there is usually a reason.

"The sad thing is that I checked on your company. I looked up the Better Business Bureau and read all your testimonials."
Most foreclosure companies have testimonials on their websites from happy families who saved their homes even though they thought they had lost their homes. Testimonials aren't worth anything, and anyone can write them. Let's try an exercise right now in writing a foreclosure testimonial: "I was two weeks away from losing my home, and my rep from your company was able to talk to my lender and help me save my home. Now I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit, and I got to keep my home. Thank you for all of your help." See, that was easy, and if we can do it, so can many foreclosure relief companies. Don't fall for testimonials that you can't verify; too many testimonials are fake.

"Your company did nothing for me but cause me to lose my home because of lack of communication, consideration, and bold-faced lies."
This is, in fact, what many foreclosure relief companies specialize in: avoiding phone calls, doing little work for their clients, and lying straight to their clients about what actual work has been done with their files.

"I also can pull phone records of all the times I called the processing department, which was sometimes 3 times a day and always left a message."
Again, if you are leaving numerous messages every day with the company you are working with to stop foreclosure, then you most likely have a serious problem. Find alternate solutions immediately.

It is unfortunate that this client lost the home and was evicted. The company took advantage of her as much as possible, telling her they were working on the file when nothing was being done with it. The homeowner trusted the company on no basis whatsoever, and believed every lie that was fed to her, and that is possibly the worst part of the whole situation. Without basic financial education about the foreclosure process, homeowners will not be able to stop foreclosure, as this woman found out the hard way.

Yesterday, the United States Senate held hearings on lending practices that have contributed to record numbers of homeowners facing foreclosure. Typically, the Senate is late to the game, responding to the worsening crisis over a year and a half after the peak in home prices in mid-2005. Since then, homeowners have been experiencing a decrease in their homes values, along with a corresponding increase in their mortgage payments, as adjustable rate mortgages reset to ever higher interest rates. AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon covered the discussions in the Senate.

Senator Chris Dodd, a Democratic presidential hopeful, also chairman of the Banking Committee, brought up the issue of consumer protection and urged the subprime mortgage industry to cut out its "predatory, abusive and irresponsible lending practices." Also testifying at the hearing was the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the RainbowPUSH Coalition, who stated that legislation by Congress is needed to "'protect the vulnerable' against abusive home-loan practices."

Short on actual solutions, though, the hearings did not produce any real ideas for reform of the lending industry. "Dodd said he planned to call on federal agencies that oversee home lending, such as the Federal Reserve, to discuss whether they should impose restrictions on mortgage industry practices." It may not be widely known, but it is true that the Federal Reserve is not a federal agency -- it is a private bank that is charged with administering the nation's monetary policy, interest rates, and money supply.

In fact, it could be argued that the Fed, by loosening the nation's monetary policy in the early 2000's, increasing the money supply, decreasing interest rates to historic lows, and thereby encouraging banks to lend more money, appraisers to inflate home values, and give nearly every consumer the impression that they could purchase their dream home. In the hangover, which we are all now experiencing, it is because of the Fed raising interest rates that home values have dropped and payments on ARM loans has increased.

Regardless of the Fed's monetary policy, though, one point should be emphasized over all others: do we want the mortgage companies being overseen by a private bank that is owned by other banks? This would effectively allow mortgage companies and banks and lender to police themselves, which would result in even less regulation than is imposed now. At the present time, licensing laws for mortgage companies are imposed at the state level. If the Federal Reserve Bank was in charge of mortgage lenders, the state's authority would shift to the Fed.

Thankfully, in one show of sanity, the president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, Harry Dinham, stated the obvious fact that consumer education is much more important than less regulation packaged as greater protection for consumers. "As the decision-maker, the role of the consumer is to acquire the financial acumen necessary and take advantage of the competitive marketplace, shop, compare, ask questions and expect answers," stated Dinham. Whether it is purchasing a new home, refinancing the current mortgage, or facing foreclosure, homeowners are better served by education than by laws designed to protect them. In many cases, by the time wrongdoing in the lending industry is discovered, the original mortgage broker is long out of business, and there is no accountability.

While it is prudent for the Senate to be examining the current state of the nation's real estate industry and market, there must be more promising solutions offered than handing over regulation of mortgage companies from the individual states to the country's private central bank. Homeowners right now are in need of help to stop foreclosure, and redesigning the lending policies of banks, a process which could take months, if not years, will not alleviate any of the pain in the real estate market right now. It is most likely that the current hearings in the Senate will come to nothing, if the housing market recovers, but if regulatory oversight of mortgage companies is given to the Fed, states and communities will lose another of their rights to police the actions of businesses that work with the consumers in their area.

For homeowners in foreclosure, there is a very real possibility that they will waste vast amounts of time working on one solution to stop foreclosure, only to jump to another potential option right when they have nearly saved their homes. This fear of success is caused by a habit of failing, and the fear that the success may, in fact, bring about a future that is even worse than the present foreclosure situation.

There are innumerable articles, blogs, and opinions on how to put together any number of different options to stop foreclosure. Some of these programs contain working plans with sound concepts, and some are purely foreclosure scams designed to prey on the ignorance of the potential victim. However, the vast majority of homeowners who start various "Save Your Home Today" schemes fail for the simple fact that they do not adhere to the program in any dedicated manner. Consistency is possibly the most important ingredient in any plan for successfully saving a home from foreclosure, and it is also possibly the most overlooked one.

While all homeowners who successfully stop foreclosure start with great ideas and new products or services from various companies, or new ways to improve on existing products and services, the most successful homeowners put together plans and stick to those plans. They may continue to refine and build on the existing program, but the essentials of the plan to save the home remain the same.

Also, the reverse is true: concepts that fail are often aborted before they are given a chance to reach full maturity and start showing the signs of any success. Many homeowners in hardship situations have this characteristic, as well; they bounce from one idea to the next, putting together extremely detailed "Plans for Success" with step-by-step instructions on how to save their homes in a matter of very little time with very little expense. And many of these programs are well thought out and would work.

But they invariably fail to stop foreclosure. They fail due to the person's inherent fear of success. Instead of putting the plan into action and actually saving their homes, the fear of success drives them to abandon the plan as soon as it is ready to be implemented. They design a working system that can generate real results and, instead of taking the next step, immediately start working on a different plan to save the home "easier." The fear of success personality will jump from idea to idea every few days or weeks or months, although it may not seem like there is any problem.

In fact, most people will mistake the problem as a sign of ambition, rather than of weakness. The fear of success personality may continue to operate in a given industry, for example, real estate investment to stop foreclosure, and just bounce from one concept to the next, such as investment trusts, lease-options, option contracts, or land contracts. To the outsider, this may seem like an extremely ambitious person who is interested in numerous topics and becoming an expert in the foreclosure industry. It is unfortunate that the opposite is the truth: by losing focus so soon, the fear of success personality only scratches the surface of any of their new greatest ideas.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the fear of success personality will often appear as an expert even compared to their peers. They will have a wider range of experience and knowledge of certain fields, due to the research that goes into planning each new grand project. The main issue, though, is that their inconsistency often has a direct effect on their ability to save their homes. As they create plan after plan based on hours of research, they have precious little resources left in which to become successful at stopping the foreclosure process.

Unfortunately, plans are worth little more than the paper they are printed on. And dozens of aborted plans never put into effect are worth even less. It is one thing to stop foreclosure, and it is another to plan to stop the foreclosure process in the most efficient manner possible. The difference will be the end result of remaining a homeowner, compared to the result of becoming very good at hiding from any actual work.

One of the main reasons that homeowners fall behind on their mortgages and face the danger of foreclosure is that their bills suddenly become much higher than their monthly income. This could be due to a financial hardship, such as loss of job, medical problems, or family issues like divorce or a death in the family. Although there may be very few options available to stop the financial bleeding, many foreclosure victims can save a substantial amount on the monthly bills by becoming a little more creative. Even this woman has decided to live and go to college on an income of $12,000, per year, so it is very possible for homeowners to put themselves in a slightly better financial position, if the need arises.

The first tip is to start buying more items used, as opposed to new. Many items can be bought used in "Just Like New" condition, including books, CDs, DVDs, cell phones, and more. MSN Money has an article by Liz Pullman Weston on things that can be purchased used at steep discounts. For example, "Most books don't get read more than once, if that, and they're astonishingly easy to find used at steep discounts -- if not absolutely free." These can include books that teach you how to put yourself in a better financial position, books that contain vital information for foreclosure victims, and books that will just help anyone learn more about the world that we all live in, regardless of any foreclosure situation.

Another great list of tips is published on OASWatch.com, a guide to high interest online savings accounts. A few of the many good points they present is to buy food locally from a farmer's market, haggle with sellers for anything, and use various internet resources to lower other bills. Haggling for a lower price can be done at any store for any item: the worst the manager or owner can do is refuse to sell for any amount less than the full price. However, many store owners may be willing to sell an item for less than its asking price, especially if cash is offered. Also, the internet has many resources available to lower phone bills, watch television programs or movies without having a cable bill, and ordering items for cheap and having them delivered.

The entry also has some ideas about consumers opening up their own businesses and generating extra money through the use of a blog, online tutoring, or making an item and selling it. Homeowners facing foreclosure should examine both ways to lower their bills, as well as potential sources of extra income. These may only be bandaid-type approaches, especially if there has been a serious loss of income that is causing the foreclosure hardship, but they may allow the homeowners to survive an extra month or two and continue making the mortgage payment and other bill payments.

A final tip might be just to stop using credit and loans altogether for any purchases besides major ones. Major purchases may include buying a home, but that is about it. Cars can be purchased used for a lot cheaper than new cars from a dealership, and even college tuition can be paid for through the use of scholarships and grants, as opposed to student loans. Remeber, every time a credit card is used, it's like taking out a loan for that purchase. Someone who feels the need to take out a loan to puchase a cup of coffee or basic necessities, such as food or transportation, may want to examine how they can save money in numerous other areas.

For homeowners in foreclosure, though, the first step in terms of finances should always be to reduce monthly bills and try to keep on top of the mortgage payment. That way, there will less of a danger of losing the home to a foreclosure situation. Also, it would be prudent to examine various options to stop foreclosure, just in case the temporary financial hardship lasts longer than expected or costs more than anticipated. Such options to save a home from foreclosure may include foreclosure refinance programs, repayment plans, loan modification, or hard money loans, depending on the circumstances of each foreclosure situation.

Possibly the best idea would be to download the free foreclosure e-book offered on our site, to learn more about the foreclosure process and what options homeowners may have available.

A great article on Hillside.net looks at some interesting foreclosure facts, as well as provides some extra information for homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. We thought it was such a useful article that gives homeowners basic information on the foreclosure process that we decided to expand on some of the ideas it raises.

Foreclosed properties are often sold by lenders for tens of thousands of dollars less than the mortgage amount on which they foreclosed.
Many lenders end up losing money (compared to what they would have accumulated through monthly payments alone, and how much is owed on the balace of the loan) when they foreclose on a property and take it to sheriff sale. After the sale, the lender has to find a Realtor who can list the property and sell it. They may very well end up with tens of thousands of dollars less that the original amount they were owed on the property. This fact can help homeowners stop foreclosure by locating a private real estate investor who can help arrange a short sale with the lender. A short sale is when the lender accepts an amount that is less than the total amount due on the loan as payment in full of the defaulted mortgage. If a lender accepts a short sale, and the deal is closed, this will immediately stop the foreclosure process.

Homeowners can forestall foreclosure by filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
While this is one option that homeowners may use to stop foreclosure, it is usually the last option. The truth is that bankruptcy is considered by many experts to be nothing but a very expensive repayment plan. Homeowners will have to pay court costs, attorney fees, trustee fees, and continue to make their regular monthly payments for a period of years. This is usually too much of a burden for most homeowners, and is one of the reasons many of them fail at the bankruptcy. A better option would be to put together a loan forbearance plan with the lender directly. If the lender is unwilling to work with the homeowners, then bankruptcy should only be considered as the last possible option to save the home from foreclosure.

If you are running late on mortgage payments, talk with the lender. With so many foreclosures..., lenders could be increasingly easy to work with.
One of the very first things that homeowners who are behind in their mortgages should do is to call their lender and try to arrange a solution right away. This shows the lender that the homeowners are serious about getting back on track, and gives the impression that only a temporary setback is being experienced, rather than a long-term hardship that will end up with the loan in foreclosure. Keeping in contact with the lender is one of the most important things the homeowners can do. Having all correspondence in writing is better than through phone calls, but, depending on state in which the homeowners and lender are located, phone calls with the lender can be tape recorded.

If a foreclosure is imminent and you list the property for sale, confide in your listing agent and seek assistance.
If you are selling your property through a real estate agent, and the property is in foreclosure, you should let the agent know this before even having it listed. The agent will be aware that there is not a lot of time to sell the home to avoid foreclosure, and may work harder to find a potential buyer for the home. Real estate professionals generally know investors, as well, who may be able to put together a short sale on the property, if the homeowners owe more on the loan than the property is worth. They may be able to get in touch with their network of investors and find someone who can purchase the property very quickly. Generally, the sellers do not receive much cash at the closing of the sale, but a short sale is one of the best ways that homeowners can stop foreclosure and save their homes.

The article has many other useful tips and facts for both homeowners in foreclosure as well as potential real estate investors. In order to stop foreclosure, homeowners need to know as much about the foreclosure process as possible. Our free foreclosure e-book has been designed to teach homeowners the basics of this process, and we encourage our readers to sign up to receive the book.

It seems that the situation in the housing market is causing all of the major (and minor) players to become more worried. Last year, nearly $300 billion in Adjustable Rate Mortgages reset to higher rates, with record foreclosure numbers as a result. In 2007, more than three times that amount, $1 trillion, is going to reset to higher rates.

In a surprising move on Thursday, the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve System asked state agencies to begin patrolling lending guidelines, to protect consumers, the economy, and themselves. From The Daily Herald: "Federal Reserve examiner John Taylor said states need to put more resources into examining the lending and marketing practices of mortgage brokers before a rash of delinquencies and foreclosures do severe damage to housing markets." This disregards the fact that the Fed, in creating loose money that banks could lend out in the form of new mortgages, created much of the problems that homeowners are now facing. However, in a statement that echoes what ForeclosureFish.com and other sources have stated for a long time, the Fed said that "One reason borrowers take on loans they can’t handle is a lack of education." It may really be time for home buyers and homeowners to learn what mortgage products they are buying. And for homeowners in default, learning what can be done to stop foreclosure is even more important.

Some homeowners, though, knew exactly what they were doing to get their new homes. As an article on CounterPunch.org states, "A recent survey found that over half of mortgage-applicants (who don't produce verification of their income) exaggerate their earnings by more than 50%! It is expected that many of these borrowers have purchased homes that are way beyond their means and will have a difficult time avoiding foreclosure once their ARM reset." Lenders may have offered the stated income loans, enticing borrowers to lie about their incomes, but certainly no one forced the homeowners to give the impression they had a whole entire extra income. In this instance, both the banks and the homeowners will have to pay the price. Homeowners are already paying the price, through high foreclosure rates. RealtyTrac reports that, for five straight months since December 2006, there have been more than 100,000 foreclosures each month. More foreclosures will follow as more interest rates reset and payments increase by up to 25% per month.

Lenders, as well, are also facing the consequences of this binge of loans based on fabrications. Since November 2006, eighteen mortgage lenders have gone out of business or have substantially reduced their new loans, according to The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter. Another six lenders have not yet shut down but have experienced layoffs, legal issues, or a decrease in the number of loans they are funding.

Also, in a semi-related issue, the first bank has failed since 2004. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, on February 2, 2007, was named receiver for the closed Metropolitan Savings Bank, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are a number of procedures put in place to prevent banks from failing, including the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System itself, which can loan money to banks on a short-term basis, in the event they are experiencing a problem with liquidity. Bank failures have been more uncommon since the Great Depression and the savings and loan scandals on decades past. The fact that one has already failed, and the fact that a number of direct mortgage lenders have gone out of business, may be an unsettling indication of what is in store for 2007.

The final word on these issues facing the housing market comes from an article titled "Subprime Credit Crunch Could Trigger Collapse," which examines more of the technical and fundamental details of the subprime market as it exists right now: "The subprime shakeout is predicated on the deterioration of subprime mortgages and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), which is in turn caused by rising delinquencies, which is in turn caused by the deteriorating financial position of most Americans."

If you have a mortgage that is going to reset, you should attempt to refinance to a fixed rate as soon as possible, even if it means slightly higher payments. If you can't afford a 5-10% increase, then you can probably expect you'll be in default once your interest rate resets and your payment jumps up 20%. And for homeowners already behind on their mortgages, you need to learn as much as you can about how to stop foreclosure as soon as possible.

Foreclosures are going up and personal saving is going down. That's the outlook for 2007 in the housing market, and what actually happened in 2006. Is there really any doubt that the two are related?

Again, though, one of the main reasons for these two occurrences is the lack of education for consumers on any financial matters. Not even the most basic personal finance is taught in any public school, and the results are becoming more apparent by the day. Bloomberg has a story interviewing a family who wanted to take out a $40,000, line of credit on their home in New York. What the homeowner ended up getting, though, was a total refinance of their first mortgage, which is causing them to struggle to pay the mortgage. "He refinanced your whole house with you knowing," states the homeowner, quoting from a source who apparently reviewed her new mortgage. It should be inconceivable that the homeowners did not know what they were getting into, with Good Faith Estimates, Truth in Lending statements, and HUD-1 closing papers clearly disclosing the amount of the new loan.

Unfortunately, though, the homeowners ended up with a mortgage product they did not anticipate, to say the least. With an estimated 20% of subprime loans expected to go into default in the near future, these homeowners are now in a loan that is almost designed to facilitate failure. And with the slowdown in the housing market, they can not bail out and sell the home quickly.

Further compounding the problem of higher mortgage payments for homeowners is the fact that, in 2006, the personal savings rate in the US was a negative 1 percent, according to a report by the Commerce Department. This means that people either spent their personal savings, or borrowed money, instead of saving towards the future. Negative saving rates have not occured in America since the 1930's, during the Great Depression.

The negative savings rate translates to an uncertain future for many homeowners in the subprime market. Interest rates are ready to go up this year, and consumers have dipped into their savings or increased their other debt for the past two years. It is time now, more than ever, for homeowners to save as much as they can, in case of an emergency or financial hardship. And for homeowners already in default of their mortgages, it is vitally important to stop foreclosure as soon as possible. When loans go into foreclosure, lenders begin accelerating interest, late fees, penalties, and court costs, which causes the mortgage debt to increase dramatically.

If you are a homeowner who is in danger of losing your home, you may want to sign up to receive our free foreclosure e-book, which is designed to teach foreclosure victims the basics of how the foreclosure process works, and what can be done to stop foreclosure.

Ok, so this may not be the largest foreclosure scam in the world, but we felt we had to share some of this story after reading about some of the operations of this company, who shall go nameless to protect the innocent, and because litigation may be pending. For homeowners in foreclosure, please make sure you know what you are agreeing to when working with a foreclosure help company. It may mean the difference between being able to stop foreclosure, and losing your home completely.

The company operated throughout much of the year 2004, and was a nationwide firm that promised to help homeowners save their homes by "refinancing" through a private investor. The fee was 10% of the value of the home. So, for example, the fee for a $100,000 home would be $10,000. Ten percent of this amount, or $1,000, in this case, would have to be paid up front. For the foreclosure victims to begin the process of saving a home through this company's program, they would have to send in a check for $1,000.

The only problem was that, after the money was sent in, the company never did anything else for the homeowners. The company would leave the clients on hold for hours at a time, not return phone calls, and ignore voicemail and email messages. This process would continue for a period of months before the client was finally turned down. The reason: they company had "presented the file to all of their investors and they all turned it down." No other reason was given for the rejection, and everyone who requested a refund was never sent anything.

Eventually, after stealing nearly $1 million dollars from various homeowners, in amounts of $150 up to $12,000, the company had accumulated enough refund requests and complaints from the BBB and state regulatory agencies, that they were finally shut down. However, the owners of the company quickly took all of the money left in the business and fled town. The regulatory agency tried to freeze their assets, but were unsuccessful, and the owners were never heard from again.

The most insidious marketing that the company did was through its explanation of the costs for their services. They went through as many possible leads as they could, and said their fee was tens of thousands of dollars, and that they only charged a small portion up front. This tactic tricked many homeowners into believing that they could save their homes with only a small amount of money up front, compared to the total cost of the program, and would pay for the bulk of the services through their equity.

In addition, the company would also state that, while the service was not guaranteed, no one was ever turned away unless they had given substantially inaccurate information in their initial applicaion. In most cases, this was the excuse given to homeowners who were rejected, because in foreclosure situations, legal fees, interest, and late fees tend to pile onto the sum of the mortgage. Also, very few homeowners can give a 100% accurate value of their home, without having an appraisal. Any mistake in these estimations would result in the foreclosure victims being turned away and forced to save their homes some other way.

Through extensive radio and internet advertising, the company was able to defraud foreclosure victims out of nearly $1,000,000, over a period of less than a year. The owners have not been brought to justice or forced to pay back any of the money that they stole. While they have been banned from doing business in certain states, they were able to escape with hard cash from innocent homeowners who ended up losing their homes as a direct result of this company's efforts to trick them out of their hard-earned money.

Numerous complaints about them are still online, with innumerable former clients stating the same offenses over and over again on different public forums. The foreclosure scam company was also featured several times on TV news reports, and these reports are still available through an online search.

In order to stop foreclosure, you should do as much as you can on your own, and learn about the various ways that foreclosure scam companies trick homeowners. Many of them go even further than this company did, by actually evicting homeowners out of their own homes, after they promised to help the foreclosure victims. All of these consequences could have been avoided if the homeowners had known how to save their homes and had known more about their situations.

Our foreclosure e-book also contains more free information on the ways that different foreclosure scams operate, as well as names a few of the more serious offenders of the previous years. Knowledge is your first defense against being taken advantage of, and our e-book has been designed to help you save your home from foreclosure on your own.