BOOK REVIEW : What Steps to Take When Foreclosure Is at Doorstep

“The Homeowner’s Guide to Foreclosure” by James I. Widemer(Dearborn Financial Publishing, Inc., Chicago), 1992, 169 pages, $15.95 Most homeowners are just a paycheck or two away from missing their mortgage payment. Few of us can withstand long-term unemployment, illness, divorce or other causes of lost income. As a result, foreclosure loss of one’s home can be just a few days away in some states (only 41 days in Texas, for example), or several months away in most states.

This book explains how homeowners can prevent foreclosure when circumstances create the threat of losing your home. Attorney James I. Widemer has considerable experience with foreclosures and he shares his expert insight with strategies to use in varying circumstances. Being an attorney, Widemer emphasizes how homeowners can prevent, delay and even sometimes eliminate foreclosure while they make the best of a bad situation.

Chapter topics include what are your choices when faced with foreclosure, the basics of real estate financing, the foreclosure process, FHA workouts, VA workouts, conventional loan workouts, deed in lieu of foreclosure, loan assumptions and foreclosure, going to court, credit reports and taxes, deficiency judgments and picking up the pieces.

The best part of the book is the state-by-state summary of foreclosure laws and procedures. This major portion of the book enables readers to get a quick look at the foreclosure rules in every state. Especially useful are the redemption rules, whereby defaulting borrowers can buy back their property after foreclosure sales in some states.

On my scale of one to 10, this outstanding book rates a solid 10.