Facing the loss of you home can be a scary thought, but it's happening to people every day across the country. There are some options out there that may able to stop the foreclosure all together or possibly come up with more time to help find a resolution to your situation and provide foreclosure assistance.

While it is crucial to keep your mortgage up to date if at all possible, sometimes circumstances prevent you from doing so. If you think you might even miss one payment, contact your mortgage company. Communication is essential. For the most part lenders will work with you and will postpone a foreclosure to try to help buy you some time to find a solution to your problem. It is not uncommon for the lender to want written documentation that you are putting a plan in place to prevent the foreclosure. An example would be an application for a loan modification or paperwork showing that you have placed your home on the market. Some lenders will even work with you to modify the loan themselves.

There are also these possible options available from some lenders:

Reinstatement: Lenders are always willing to discuss accepting the total amount owed in a lump sum by a specific date. Forbearance may accompany this option.

Forbearance: Your lender may allow you to reduce or suspend payments for a short period of time and then agree to another option to bring your loan current. A forbearance option is often combined with a reinstatement when you know you will have enough money to bring the account current at a specific time. The money might come from a hiring bonus, investment, insurance settlement, or tax refund.

Repayment plan: You may be able to get an agreement to resume making your regular monthly payments, plus a portion of the past due payments each month until you are caught up.

If you think that your situation could be long-term or permanently affect your ability to bring your account current, you should call your lender to discuss these possible options:

Mortgage modification: If you can make payments on your loan, but don't have enough money to bring your account current or you can't afford your current payment, your lender may be able to change the terms of your original loan to make the payments more affordable.

Partial Claim: If your mortgage is insured, your lender might help you get a one-time interest-free loan from your mortgage guarantor to bring your account current.

Another option is that you can request addition time from the court. Usually this involves utilizing the services of an attorney although sometimes you may be able to find someone at the courthouse that is willing to assist you.

Filing bankruptcy is another option if there are not any other alternatives. Most bankruptcy laws protect a primary residence and allow you to keep your home. It is imperative to consult a qualified bankruptcy attorney if this is what you are considering.

If you are facing foreclosure on your home, rather than ignore it, hoping it will go away, be sure to be in contact with your lender right away to seek out foreclosure assistance.