Sample Hardship Letter to Stop Foreclosure

A hardship letter to stop foreclosure must contain specific information and give your lender a reason to stop your foreclosure. Don't appeal to your lender's humanity; lenders are businesses, so you'll have more luck if you appeal to your lender's desire to make money. In a hardship letter to stop foreclosure, outline your financial situation, give your lender a reason to work with you and try to keep it brief.

Sample hardship letter to stop foreclosure.

Date
Lender
Address
Fax Number

RE:      Your name
            Your address
            Loan Number

Dear Lender: (If you've been working with a specific person at your lender, use his name.)

I am writing to request that you stop the foreclosure proceedings currently ongoing on my home and work with me to create a plan that will allow me to resume regular payments on my mortgage. I apologize that we were not able to make arrangements sooner, but here are my financial details:

(Explain the reason for your hardship. Don't go into a long, sad story; just provide the factual information as it's relevant to your financial status. For example, instead of talking about how your company downsized and your entire department lost their jobs right before Christmas, and how it devastated your family, say something like "I was laid off on December 14, 2009, and without my income, my family was unable to meet our financial obligations, including our mortgage." Provide as many relevant details as possible, including the amount of income that you lost, how long you were without the income and any other relevant data. Avoid adding information that isn't relevant. State whether your hardship is temporary or permanent.)

Our situation has improved because (provide a reason that your situation has changed, and you now believe you can afford to make regular mortgage payments). Therefore, I wanted to contact you to discuss whether we can make arrangements to resume regular mortgage payments and stop the foreclosure on my home. I believe a loan modification would benefit both of us financially, so I'd like to know what our options are to resolve this situation short of foreclosure.

I'd be happy to provide any documentation or additional information that you need in order to evaluate my situation and make a decision about pursuing a loan modification. Please let me know what you might need (this will typically be pay stubs, copies of recent tax returns, documentation about other bills or anything else the loan modification department requests). You can reach me at: (provide daytime phone number, evening phone number, e-mail address and mailing address, if different from property address).

I appreciate your time, and I hope that we can come to an arrangement that allows me to save my home and stop the foreclosure process.

Sincerely,

Your Name