In a foreclosure action the bank would much rather find a way to keep you in the home and paying your mortgage. A foreclosure takes a lot of time and money. During that time period no one is paying the mortgage and if the bank eventually purchases the property at the foreclosure auction they will be responsible for property taxes, homeowners' insurance and necessary repairs. This is good for a struggling homeowner because the bank will try to help you modify or conduct a short sale. Keep in mind however that just because the bank wants to keep you in your home it doesn't make a modification easy.
Many homeowners assume that the bank approaches the settlement conference stage with a negative attitude and numerous stalling tactics. Instead of viewing the bank behind the foreclosure as making deliberate actions with evil intentions keep in mind that these companies are over worked and under lots of pressure by the courts to get something done.
If it takes them a while to review your paperwork its likely because their staff is trying to get through hundreds of applications. If they lose a document you faxed in its likely because they have dozens of departments and your document may have been sent to the wrong one. This doesn't mean all hope is lost. If you are in foreclosure make sure you send a copy of every document to the firm representing the bank in the foreclosure. Make sure you follow up with a phone call to the firm to determine if everything has been received and if anything else is missing. Call the bank too and see if someone can verify that your documents have been received. Get as proactive as you can and follow up weekly to make sure you modification or short sale is moving along properly.
