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Foreclosure
Legal Aid helps you find a way to work through this difficult situation as you try to keep your home.
FAQs
Once you fall behind on your payments, your lender may attempt to file a foreclosure at any time. Most lenders wait at least three months. It is critical that you act right away and begin taking steps to save your home.
A local housing counseling agency that may be able to help you negotiate with your lender. Below is the contact information for housing counselors in the five counties Legal Aid Society of Cleveland serves. Legal Aid cannot help you before a foreclosure case is filed.
You should never pay a company to negotiate with your lender on your behalf. These services are available for free at the agencies below.
Cuyahoga County
Cleveland Housing Network
(216) 574-7100
Community Housing Solutions
(216) 231-5815
Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP)
(216) 361-0718
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland (216) 458-4663
Ashtabula County
Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County
(440) 992- 2121
Geauga and Lake Counties
Fair Housing Resource Center
(440) 392-0147
Lorain County
Lorain County Urban League
(440) 323-3364
Loan Modification
Even if you are behind on your payments and cannot afford to catch up, there still may be options with your lender. Most lenders will consider borrowers who are behind on payments for a loan modification. A loan modification changes your mortgage and could bring you current and possibly lower your monthly payment.
Making Home Affordable Program
Many lenders are participating in the Federal Government’s Making Home Affordable Program, which requires lenders to modify qualifying borrowers’ loans to 31% of their monthly income. For more information on this program, visit the Making Home Affordable website.
Forbearance Plan
If you are currently seeking employment or another income source, your lender may consider putting you on a forbearance plan. A forbearance plan allows you to make a decreased payment each month to avoid foreclosure while you seek more income.
Special Loan Programs
In addition, if you have an FHA, VA, or a USDA Rural Development Loan, there are options available through these programs.
All of these options are only available if you seek them through your lender, so take action as soon as possible to contact your lender directly or contact a housing counselor to assist you.
You should never pay a company to negotiate with your lender on your behalf. These services are available for free at the agencies below.
Cuyahoga County
Cleveland Housing Network
(216) 574-7100
Community Housing Solutions
(216) 231-5815
Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP)
(216) 361-0718
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland
(216) 458-4663
Ashtabula County
Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County
(440) 992- 2121
Geauga and Lake Counties
Fair Housing Resource Center
(440) 392-0147
Lorain County
Lorain County Urban League
(440) 323-3364
It is important that you take action quickly to save your home. You have 28 days from the date that the foreclosure complaint arrived at your house to file an answer to the complaint. The length of time it may take to lose your house can vary depending on the county you live in and your involvement in the case.
Contact a housing counseling agency immediately to assist you in negotiating with your lender.
You should never pay a company to negotiate with your lender on your behalf. These services are available for free at the agencies below.
Cuyahoga County
Cleveland Housing Network
(216) 574-7100
Community Housing Solutions
(216) 231-5815
Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP)
(216) 361-0718
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland
(216) 458-4663
Ashtabula County
Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County
(440) 992- 2121
Geauga and Lake Counties
Fair Housing Resource Center
(440) 392-0147
Lorain County
Lorain County Urban League
(440) 323-3364
If you live in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain or Geauga county, contact Legal Aid immediately. Although Legal Aid is very limited in the cases it can accept for representation at this time, we may be able to give you some guidance on how to deal with the foreclosure case filed against you.
Can I file bankruptcy to save my home? Close
While bankruptcy is not an instant cure for foreclosure, it could help you save your home, depending on which type of bankruptcy you file.
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy, in which most of your assets are liquidated and sold to your creditors, will halt a foreclosure case for a short time, but it will not prevent a foreclosure.
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, in which you enter into a repayment plan on your debts, can save your house from foreclosure if you make all payments under the repayment plan.
You should contact a bankruptcy attorney to determine whether or not a bankruptcy could help you save your home and deal with other debts you have.
Next Steps
To find a bankruptcy attorney, contact:
The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Lawyer Referral Service
(216) 696-3532
Now that a foreclosure case has been filed against me, how long do I have before I lose my house? Close
You have 28 days from the date that the foreclosure complaint arrived at your house to file an answer to the Complaint. The length of time between the filing of a foreclosure case and the confirmation of the sheriff’s sale of the house (the event that causes ownership of the home to shift from the homeowner to the buyer at the sheriff’s sale) can differ based on the county you live in and your level of participation in the case. Most foreclosure cases take at least 6 months from the date of the filing of the complaint up to the confirmation of the sheriff’s sale. While this may seem like a long time, it is critical that you act quickly to take steps to save your home.
