1. Never discuss your household finances over the phone with the collection department. What you dont know is that you are being qualified and not know it. This is the easiest and fastest way to get a turn down. Request a homeowners assistance package so that you can submit the require information.

2. Never tell them you are broke. Even though you may qualify for a special forbearance or modification, you will still need legal fees and foreclosure cost. These fees cannot be put back into the loan. Your lender prepaid them to their attorney to start the foreclosure process.

3. Never tell them you do not live in the property. Under FHA guidelines, before you are granted any workout, you must reside in the property. If you have moved out and your property became an investment property, you better get someone in there with a lease or rental contract before the sale date.

4. Never tell them you are not working, in most cases you will not be approved. Depending on your sale date, your mortgage lender may not be able to qualify you for a special forbearance because of the amount of time left.

If you cant find a job, I suggest you start a small business months before your sale date, make some money, deposit your income and prepare a Profit and Loss Statement to prove income. Telling them you get paid cash and you cant prove it wont hold water.

5. Never tell them the reason you fell behind is because you mismanage your money. How do you expect for them to give you a workout when you still have the potential of falling behind again?

Copyright, Bobby Johnson-2004, All right reserved