The first thing we all need to do is to try to let people know that there is no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed if you find yourself at risk of losing your home. The foreclosure crisis, particularly in Michigan, knows no economic or social boundaries. It is being driven by job and income loss and it is impacting people in all neighborhoods, at all income levels and in all walks of life. If you are not at risk, the odds are that your parent, child, co-worker or friend is!  Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country and the fact is hundreds of thousands of people across the state are at risk of foreclosure.

The key messages then are:

Open lines of communication with your lender. The best thing you can do to avoid losing your home is to open the lines of communication between you and your lender. This means:

1. Open ALL your mail to make sure you are aware of anything sent to you from your lender or their legal counsel.  You may not recognize the name of this legal firm or associate it with your lender. 
2. Contact your lender’s Loss Mitigation Department.  The sooner you make them aware your situation and the reasons behind it, the better your chances of working something out.  Without a call, there is no way to find a solution. Make sure you keep a written record of all your communication with your lender. Note the date, time and name of the person with whom you spoke. Keep this in a file along with all correspondence from your lender.
3. If you aren’t comfortable working with your lender on your own, contact a Free HUD or MSHDA certified Foreclosure Counselor:

Jackson County

Community Action Agency (800) 491-0004

Jackson Affordable Housing (517) 788-4626

Lenawee County

Community Action Agency (800) 438-1845

Hillsdale County

Community Action Agency (800) 750-9300

There is a vacant foreclosed property in the neighborhood and we suspect it has been broken into, what should we do?