How One Minnesota Man Saved His Home From Foreclosure

As a busy father of three, Dave had many hats to wear. He and his wife Ella enjoyed being active in their kids’ education and recreational activities plus each also kept busy working several seasonal jobs. Dave even worked as a pizza delivery driver at night to make extra money. Their goal was to protect their house from foreclosure. In spite of their best efforts it became increasingly difficult each month to make their mortgage payment.

Dave scraped time together to complete three separate modification applications asking that the house payment be made affordable – 31% or less of their gross pay. Each submission came back rejected, citing “Lack of hardship” and lack of documentation. After having all three loan modification applications rejected Dave turned to what he thought was his last option, declaring bankruptcy. They met with several attorneys and learned about Chapter 13 Bankruptcy as a means to save their home, but ultimately decided it was not the route for them. There wasn’t a lot of time as a Sheriff’s Sale had been scheduled for one month out, leaving them only four weeks to develop a plan. With little time left they decided to schedule an appointment with a Housing Counselor at LSS Financial Counseling.

After meeting with their counselor the couple felt prepared having gone over their cash flow and strategies to address the mortgage. As it turned out, LSS had a good relationship with their lender and the counselor helped them prepare and submit a new thoroughly reviewed application for modification in addition to helping them postpone the Sheriff’s Sale, which gave Dave and Ella five months to work with their lender. The counselor followed up on the submission and kept Dave and his wife in the loop. With support from an LSS Housing Counselor Dave’s mortgage application was approved - saving their family home. On top of getting the loan back on track the mortgage company agreed to reduce their payment by $250 per month.

Do you or someone you know need help with mortgage, credit cards, or other debts? Take action and get help from a local nonprofit Housing specialist by calling LSS Financial Counseling at 888.577.2227.