Foreclosure.com is proud to announce its support of the “Foreclosure Assistance Center”, which is a first-of-its-kind cooperative effort between The City of West Palm Beach, Fla., and national organizations such as banks to create a resource that provides homeowners facing the loss of their properties with viable solutions.

Here’s a snip from Emelda Johnson from the the department of housing and community development via WPTV.com:

“The program we can up with anticipates all of the scenarios someone in trouble might experience and the various scenarios of getting them out of trouble.”

Those “troubles” could mean everything from divorce, adjustable rate mortgage interest rate increase, job loss, illness or any of the other unfortunate situations that can lead to foreclosure action.

Florida residents who require foreclosure help or need to avoid losing their homes should contact the center at (561) 822-1575 or stop in for a personal consultation at 464 Fern St. in West Palm Beach, Fla.

It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and is FREE to the public. Distressed homeowners who seek assistance and don’t live in the area will be referred to other agencies.

Joe Lents of Boca Raton, Fla., apparently requested proof from Washington Mutual Inc. — the lending institution that claimed to own the promissory note to his home — that it was indeed the rightful mortgage owner when foreclosure proceedings were initiated.

Washington Mutual Inc. couldn’t come up with the proper paperwork, and Joe has been living in his $1.5 million home since 2002 without making a single mortgage payment, according to Tampa Bay Online.

Here’s a snip from Joe:

“If you’re going to take my house away from me, you better own the note.”

Apparently, short cuts when large “bundles” of mortgages were bought and sold from 2003 to 2006 resulted in more than a few clerical errors — the assignment of ownership wasn’t always properly completed.

And when the original lender no longer exists — more than 100 mortgage companies ceased operations in 2007 alone — unlucky homeowners can all of a sudden find themselves in very lucky situations.

Just ask Joe.

For those not fortunate enough to share these same circumstances (and the probability is low) feel free to take advantage of a free consultation about how to beat foreclosure right here.

Distressed homeowners facing foreclosure and in jeopardy of losing their homes could receive a little extra time to cure the mortgage defaults thanks to an initiative proposed by United States President George Bush and his administration, according to Yahoo!News.com.

Six participating banks of the Hope Now Alliance — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co — will delay the foreclosure process for their customers for an additional 30 days, using the extra time to try and make the mortgages more affordable.

Here’s the actual snip:

“Under the new program, six of the nation’s largest financial institutions said they will begin contacting homeowners who are 90 or more days overdue on their monthly mortgage payments. The homeowners will be given the opportunity to put the foreclosure process on pause for 30 days while the lenders look for a way to make the mortgage more affordable. The new program will be available to the holders of all types of mortgages from prime to subprime and represents a widening of an initiative announced by President Bush in December that offers a freeze on subprime mortgage rates that are scheduled to reset to sharply higher rates for borrowers who qualify for the assistance.”

Homeowners in foreclosure are encouraged to call 1-888-995-HOPE for assistance and more information about the 30-day moratorium.

However, please consider that homeowners will not qualify for the bail out program if they:

• are already in bankruptcy
• have a foreclosure sales date less than 30 days away, or
• if the home had been purchased as an investment property or was not occupied at the current time.

For more information and additional foreclosure assistance remember that professional consultants can be reached right here.

Desperate times often call for desperate measures … just ask Vicki Gehlert of Port St. Lucie, Fla.

She moved into the house pictured above with her two dogs after a divorce in 2002. Shortly thereafter, Vicki lost a full-time job that helped her satisfy the monthly expenses.

Long story short, she’s fallen behind on her mortgage payments as a result of the turmoil (South Florida hurricanes only exacerbated the situation) and she’s asking for assistance in the form of donations to “Save Sunshine’s House.”

To learn more about Vicki’s story and to donate a few dollars to help her avoid foreclosure visit her Web site whenever you can right here.

This is a rather interesting public approach for a homeowner to stop foreclosure — most distressed homeowners live in denial right up until their properties are up on the auction blocks.

Put simply, foreclosure is a difficult situation to handle. It can ruin a person’s life in the short-term and damage his or her credit well into the future.

It’s for this reason the we always suggest contacting the lender the moment it becomes clear that a mortgage payment will be missed or unpaid altogether. Often times lenders will work with homeowners to resolve the situations and stave of foreclosure action.

In short, do yourself a favor and ask for help! Short of that — or a creative donation-based Web site — the options are bleak.

Losing a home to foreclosure is perhaps one of the most difficult life experiences to endure for those who have to go through it.

There are numerous reasons homeowners fall behind on their mortgage payments, from illness to unemployment to divorce. Regardless of the individual circumstances surrounding foreclosure, there is a collective feeling of defeat that affects virtually everyone in this unfortunate situation.

Sometimes that feeling is only made worse when homeowners realize after the fact that foreclosure could have been avoided. Indeed, most distressed homeowners wait until the last minute to seek assistance, which is the biggest and most common mistake individuals facing foreclosure can make.

So how do you save your home from foreclosure?

First, it’s critical that you contact your lender as soon as possible. Sometimes a deal can be structured to delay foreclosure proceedings, but it needs to be done sooner rather than later. Remember, lenders don’t want to foreclose on homes — it costs them a significant amount of money.

After you have contacted your lender, the next thing you should do is reach out to a trusted foreclosure specialist. These organizations often have programs that help you catch up on late mortgage payments without getting penalized — even if you are 90 days or more behind!

We actually work with a company that has knowledgeable and helpful foreclosure specialists located throughout the nation. This company has helped hundreds of homeowners save their homes from foreclosure, avoid bankruptcy, protect their credit and more.

Even better, you can receive a FREE consultation just by filling out this quick form.

So, if you find yourself in a foreclosure situation don’t wait until it’s too late to fix the problem. Be sure to act fast and ask around for assistance to protect your investment.

It’s the smartest way to make the best out of a bad situation.