Being confronted by the prospect of foreclosure can be incredibly troubling, as you have probably been dealing with financial challenges and struggling to pay your mortgage for some time. Foreclosure often seems like a final decision, which provides you as a borrower with few options for any kind of debt relief. Fortunately, though, there are options for keeping your home even after you have been served a foreclosure notice by your mortgage lender.
NBC News discusses some of the debt relief options that are available to homeowners facing foreclosure, and explains that filing for bankruptcy can be helpful in some cases. Bankruptcy can be beneficial in cases where you are unable to mitigate some of your financial challenges through credit counseling or selling your home back to your mortgage lender. Lenders often look upon bankruptcy more favorably than foreclosure because filing for bankruptcy shows that you as the borrower are making efforts to pay off your debts. Consequently, your credit score may be less affected if you file for bankruptcy instead of allowing your home to be foreclosed upon.
One of the reasons that personal bankruptcy can be effective in preventing foreclosure is that filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 automatically suspends such legal processes. Placing a stay on foreclosure proceedings can give you the opportunity to pay off some of your debts and resume making your mortgage payments. Of course, there are other factors that can play a role in determining whether or not filing for bankruptcy would be beneficial in your case. That is why this information should not be used as legal advice.