How to Stop Foreclosure In Georgia – The Complete Guide

Any facet of foreclosure is a dire circumstance. There is never going to be a homeowner that wants to foreclose on their property due to financial hardship. A foreclosure situation is terrible. In Georgia, foreclosure can happen in one of two ways: judicially or nonjudicially. Georgia permits extrajudicial foreclosures. The foreclosure procedure must adhere to state law. You can avoid foreclosure proceedings and save your house by acting to stop foreclosure.

What Does Foreclosure Mean?

Getting a loan from a lender or bank to purchase a home or other property is typical everywhere you go. Paying back the borrowed money within the allotted time frame is also crucial. It is highly conceivable that a foreclosure situation will arise if the loan balance is not repaid. The first missing payment triggers the start of the foreclosure process.

The failure of the homeowner to pay the assessed property tax may also result in foreclosure. Falling behind on payments can happen for several reasons, including a financial crisis, a medical emergency, or job loss.

What is the Georgia Foreclosure Procedure?

In most circumstances, Georgia’s foreclosure procedure is straightforward:

• Step 1: You receive notification from the bank that it intends to foreclose and when it plans to do so.
• Step 2: The bank may publish a foreclosure advertisement for four weeks if the debt is unpaid.
• Step 3: The third step is the bank’s option to foreclose on the first Tuesday of next month.

The deal is void if the bank misses one of these three conditions. Regardless, delaying the sale until it is finished is the key to dealing with a foreclosure.

Ways to Stop Foreclosure in Atlanta Georgia

You should be aware of Georgian foreclosure prevention options. Let’s talk about them all:

File for Bankruptcy

Yes, bankruptcy can prohibit a foreclosure from happening. But you must comprehend the idea of chapters 7 and 13 in bankruptcy.

Georgia Chapter 13 bankruptcy: It is a popular choice to avoid foreclosure. You are assigned a three or five-year payment schedule under Chapter 13 bankruptcy to make up the missed payments. Orders to halt the foreclosure process will be provided to the lenders. They must offer you some time to return to your payment plans.

Requirements for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Georgia

Before the Georgia bankruptcy court affirms or approves the Chapter 13 plan, it must pass several requirements.

First, the plan must be put forth in good faith, which means you must have every intention of adhering to the terms of the bankruptcy repayment schedule and must not attempt to misrepresent your financial situation or defraud the bankruptcy court. Additionally, the plan must pass the ” creditors’ best interests” criteria.

According to this requirement, the Chapter 13 plan must provide unsecured creditors with an amount that is at least equal to what they would have received in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This criterion can frequently be readily satisfied because, in many instances, the unsecured creditors would not have gotten anything under Chapter 7. The “best efforts” test is the name of the other test.

The Chapter 13 plan must satisfy the “best efforts” requirements by paying unsecured creditors a sum multiplied by the debtor’s disposable income. This indicates that they will deduct a specific sum from your income. For instance, they would receive $300 per week from your pay if they took 30% of your weekly income of $1,000.

Georgia Chapter 7 bankruptcy: This type of bankruptcy is known as liquidation. It might be a less usual choice to pursue unless you want the Georgia bankruptcy trustee to sell your home. Even though filing for bankruptcy is the less expensive alternative, you might not want to do so.

You must be aware of your payment schedule. Is it worthwhile to pursue your Chapter 13 bankruptcy payment plan? For instance, your home loan is $150,000 in arrears, and your payment schedule is five years/60 months. Can you afford to spend an extra $2,500 monthly to pay off your debt?

Avoid Foreclosure By Selling Your Home To An Investor

If you want to sell your home without ruining your credit, then another option is selling to a real estate investor. Depending on where you are in the process, investors may be able to help you stop the foreclosure process in Atlanta.

Investors are problem solvers that find creative ways to assist in avoiding foreclosure. We help homeowners in these situations in a variety of ways. One option is to catch the homeowner with the payments in arrears and perhaps exercise an owner-financing option.

Loan Modification in Atlanta

Georgia Foreclosure Options: Forbearance

If you can devise a reasonable repayment schedule, lenders may postpone taking legal steps against you. We refer to this as forbearance.

Forgiving Payments as Foreclosure Relief

The lender may give you a break and forgo your duty to pay back the debt you skipped if you could agree about how you will stay current after missing one or two payments (without the resources to pay it back). This is referred to as debt forgiveness, but it is uncommon.

Disperse Late Payments to Prevent Foreclosure

For instance, the bank may allow you to make additional $100 monthly payments until you are caught up if the mortgage payment is $1,200 monthly. It’s known as a payback plan.

Sell Your Home

Even the thought of selling your home is depressing. However, selling your Georgia home to prevent foreclosure is a wise decision. You may get more money than your home is worth. You might even be able to purchase a home with a higher value than the one you sold. You can avert a dire situation, preventing damage to your credit report.

Short Sale

You may sell your house for less than you owe if it’s a “short sale.” This is because, occasionally, your home will be sold for a lower price during the auction. Sometimes the bank or lender cannot retrieve the entire amount they expected. Companies specializing in home staging in Georgia can assist you in achieving a higher sale price.

Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure

The homeowner’s property handover to the lender constitutes a deed instead of foreclosure. The homeowner gives the lender the property in exchange for paying off their debts. The lender now owns the property. You need to leave the premises as quickly as possible. You may easily protect yourself from harm in this manner.

How Long Does a Georgian Foreclosure Take?

The average procedure in Georgia takes between one and three months. Georgia law allows for non-judicial foreclosures, so lenders can take possession of a home by merely serving a notice of intent to foreclose, selling the house at auction, and closing the deal. By doing this, you are using your “power of sale.”

Your creditor may issue you a notice of intent to take foreclosure if you fail to pay repayments. If you don’t pay off the debt in full within 30 days, your house will be auctioned off, and you’ll receive this notification to let you know. Additionally, creditors must publicly announce the transaction once per week for four weeks.

Foreclosure sales typically occur in Georgia on the first Tuesday of each month. As a result, timing is essential, and the sale will be postponed if there is even the slightest delay. However, theoretically, foreclosures can occur in as little as 30 days.

Georgia Foreclosure Laws You Need to Know About

Georgia’s non-judicial foreclosure laws are something you should be aware of. In other words, the bank may foreclose on your property without going to court. The countdown begins after you skip a payment. Before they can start the foreclosure process, the banks must wait 120 days. Therefore, when you miss even one payment, the banks start waiting to sell your home at the foreclosure auction. For nonjudicial foreclosures, all the banks must print your notice of foreclosure in the paper and issue you a notice of default for foreclosure.

The Bottom Line

It is not a situation for weak hearts, but foreclosures may be a disheartening experience. Always engage with the mortgage lender to avoid falling behind on your payments, so losing your property is never possible.

Affordable housing is available in every neighborhood in Georgia, boasting one of the nation’s best real estate markets. It is one of the best destinations for transplants because of the spacious backyards, well-kept parcels, solid neighborhoods, and several food options.

If you are looking for experts to help you with the process to stop foreclosure in Atlanta, check out our FREE 5-step stop foreclosure guide. We are a cash home-buying business that purchases houses from distressed homeowners.