Mortgage delinquencies rose to nearly 4%  in the fourth quarter last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Howard Dvorkin, certified financial planner and chairman of Debt.com, joined Cheddar News to provide tips on what to do if you can't make mortgage payments.

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Stretching Your Dollar: What to Do If You Can't Make Mortgage Payments

Mortgage delinquencies rising to nearly 4% in the fourth quarter of last year. As we take a look at this stretching your dollar segment, that's according to the Mortgage Bankers Association which says a weaker economy and inflation contributed to the increase. Well, if you think you might miss your mortgage payment, you should, we have some info on who you should contact and what your options are. So joining me now with some expert advice is Howard CPA and the chair of debt dot com. Howard. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Look, during these times, we know money is not easy to come by, that's for sure. Things are very expensive. What's the best action for someone to take if they are worried about making a payment? Well, thank you for having me. Uh The fact of the matter is, you know, times are tough for a lot of people, expenses are through the roof, whether it's to fill up their tanks or get put food on their table. Um People are struggling out there, they're gonna continue to struggle until probably we see this inflation disappear. The fact of the matter is banks want to work with their, they lend. There are people that they've given money to. So the best tactic is I, is to contact your bank or your mortgage lender or your servicer. If you're seeing problems arise, there's many, many different solutions. The banks don't want to own your home. That's a headache for them. And it's much better if the people remain in their houses for the, the, for the long term. And there's a lot of things that people can do, they could refinance their properties, they could sell their properties, they can get a mortgage modification, uh, a forbearance agreement. And I'm gonna go through all those uh selling the property is simple, basically, go through listed for sale. Maybe if you're behind in your mortgage, get a forbearance agreement where you tell the, the uh lender that you don't have the money to pay right now, but you will have it within a month or two and you have to be realistic. Don't make promises that you can't, uh, that you can't fulfill Howard. Let's, let's just take a, I just want to take a pause here. We should have uh cited this off the top. But what are you seeing in terms of trends right now when it comes to foreclosures? Are these on the rise, do you predict that they will increase in the wake of what we're seeing play out in the economy? That's a great question. I mean, we are seeing people struggling. We haven't seen the uptick in foreclosures yet. Do I think that's coming? Yes, I do. As people are laid off because of job cuts uh because of the continued compound effects of inflation. Uh and that the oil prices go up and down. I do believe that uh we're gonna see more and more uh people struggling and a lot of people, let's face it. Not everybody should buy a house, not everybody can afford to buy a house. A lot of people squeezed into their houses and they were doing side gigs and they were making a lot of money. Well, their side gigs may not be there or their salaries got cut or they got laid off. So the more layoffs that we see in this country, the longer, uh the more likely we're gonna see foreclosures. So let's walk through some of the other scenarios. Howard. I know I jumped in there just to kind of get a current state of play. What else do our viewers need to know? Well, people need to know that there are ways to go through and avoid a foreclosure because a foreclosure is wreaks havoc on a lot of things. Not only your credit but your family members, they don't want to be thrown out of uh out of uh their houses. There's lots of services like easy knock out there that will buy your house and then rent it back to you. There's all a lot of ways that we can go through and help people at debt dot com and we see them all at the end of the day, people must believe that what they're doing, you know, for a temporary basis that they can afford that house that they're in. And if they can't afford that house, then they need to figure out what is my alternative plan. Remember, people go through and they buy a house and everything's great until the bills start coming in and the bills are adding up substantially. Ok. So let's talk about your role at debt dot com. Howard. If someone does find themselves in a predicament where they are worried about making payment, how can they turn to your services to try to navigate this debt dot com has been around for a lot of years myself. I've been doing, helping people get out of financial trouble for 30 years. Uh and basically we'll go through and match them with somebody that can help them, whether it's credit card debt, whether it's uh bankruptcy, whether it's helping them with their mortgages, we will find the right solution at debt dot com to handle anybody's financial issues. And that's, and we have vetted all the companies that we, we refer to. Uh most of them are very, very uh experienced groups. And the fact of the matter is, it's a scary thing when you're looking for help. Don't be afraid to reach out to a company that has been there for as long as debt dot com has been there. All right, Howard, Vain CPA and share of debt dot com. Howard. Thank you.