Behind on Mortgage Payments

Do these three things first

1. Contact your mortgage servicer. Ask specifically about forbearance, a repayment plan, and loan modification. Get the name of the person you spoke to and write down the date.
2. Talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor. The CFPB maintains a finder at consumerfinance.gov. In the CFPB's words they "can offer independent advice, often at little or no cost to you." They do not earn anything from the route you pick.
3. Find out whether a sale date has been set. Everything below depends on that one date.

Be careful who you take advice from at this stage. The FTC's mortgage relief scams guidance documents operators who demand payment up front or ask you to sign over the deed with a promise you can buy it back. Both patterns target people exactly where you are now.

What Georgia requires before a foreclosure sale

Georgia is a non-judicial foreclosure state, which means the lender does not have to sue you to foreclose if the security deed contains a power of sale. What it does have to do is give you notice.

Under O.C.G.A. 44-14-162.2, notice of the initiation of proceedings to exercise a power of sale must reach the debtor no later than 30 days before the proposed foreclosure date. That notice must be in writing, must be sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery with return receipt requested, and must name a person with full authority to negotiate, amend and modify the terms of the mortgage.

That last requirement matters more than sellers realize. The notice is legally obliged to hand you a contact who can actually change the loan. Use it.

This is general information about Georgia foreclosure procedure, not legal advice about your loan. A Georgia attorney or a HUD-approved counselor can tell you how it applies to your file.

Where selling fits

Selling is worth considering when the arrears are larger than you can realistically catch up, when your income has changed permanently rather than temporarily, or when you have equity that a foreclosure would wipe out entirely. A sale that closes before the foreclosure date pays the loan off and protects whatever equity is left. A foreclosure does not.

It is the wrong move if the shortfall is short-term and the servicer will work with you, or if you have not yet asked them. Read should I sell to a cash buyer before deciding, since it lists the cases where selling is the wrong answer.

If the sale date is already scheduled, the mechanics are on stop foreclosure. If what you owe exceeds what the house is worth, start at owe more than it is worth instead, because a normal sale may not clear the debt.

Related situations

Mortgage arrears often arrive with company. If the county has issued a tax execution, see delinquent property taxes, which runs on a separate and faster clock. For other liens attached to the property, see tax liens. If you are considering or already in a filing, see selling during bankruptcy, because an automatic stay changes what you are permitted to do with the property.

To understand what a direct sale would actually net you against the payoff, see how much cash buyers pay in Augusta and Georgia closing costs.