Helping You Reach Your Goals

Connect with a counselor. Advice to help you stay in your home if you are experiencing a financial hardship, homeowner counseling services can help you set a budget find local resources and decide what options might be best for you.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD is a U.S. government agency that works to increase home ownership, supports homebuyers, and offers government help for homeowners. HUD offers free or low-cost foreclosure prevention counseling throughout the country.

To find out where the nearest counseling agency is in your area, please visit www.hud.gov or call toll free, 1.800.569.4287 for more information.

HOPE NOW Alliance

HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, mortgage companies and investors to create a unified, coordinated plan to reach and help homeowners facing financial hardship.

• HOPE NOW Alliance counseling organizations provide borrowers with in-depth debt management, credit counseling and overall foreclosure counseling
• all counselors affiliated with the HOPE NOW Alliance are HUD-certified and their services are free of charge
• an independent, non-profit counselor can help you understand your situation, identify your options and help you work with your mortgage company to hopefully find an alternative to foreclosure

For more information about help for homeowners, visit www.hopenow.com or call the HOPE Hotline: 1.888.995.HOPE (1.888.995.4673).

Understanding the foreclosure process. Knowing what to expect can better prepare you to lean your property and move forward. We'll help guide you through the process and if we can’t find an alternative solution for you, offer you assistance with your transition out of your property.

If you’re facing a foreclosure, we may be able to find an alternative. Don’t wait until you receive a notice of foreclosure. If you want to avoid foreclosure, you should consider other options as soon as you become concerned about your ability to make your payments. The sooner you call us to explore your options, the more alternatives you may have available to you.

What if I’ve received a foreclosure notice?

If you're behind on your payments, call 1.888.255.7372 Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET

Refinance. If you're having difficulty making your home loan payments, refinancing your mortgage may be an option. It may make your monthly mortgage payments more affordable by lowering your interest rate or moving you from an adjustable-rate mortgage into a fixed rate loan. Sometimes, depending on your circumstances, both are possible.

HOPE NOW. This alliance helps homeowners who are having difficulty making their payments and are at risk of foreclosure by coordinating homeowner outreach events to reach as many borrowers who need help as possible.

Forbearance. You either make reduced mortgage payments or no payments for a period of time (generally three months) to give you a chance to get back on your feet during a temporary hardship. The missed payments are then repaid through a repayment plan in which you would resume making your normal monthly payments plus an additional amount over time.

Loan Modification. We offer different modification programs which may be available to qualifying borrowers. The goal of these programs is to modify your home loan, making the monthly payments affordable and sustainable so that you may be able to avoid foreclosure.

Hardest Hit Fund. This program was created by the federal government to help homeowners in states most affected by housing price declines and the recession. If you're having difficulty making your mortgage payments and you live in a participating state, the Hardest Hit Fund may be an option.

Short Sale Programs. The goal of a short sale is to help you avoid foreclosure if you're no longer able to remain in your house. In the short sale process, you sell your house and settle your mortgage debt for less than the amount that you owe.

Deed in Lieu. This option lets you avoid going through the foreclosure process by signing the deed to your property over to your lender. A deed in lieu can negatively affect your credit score, but the impact is generally less severe than a foreclosure.

Avoiding Scams. Dealing with the possibility of not being able to make your home loan payments is already difficult. Unfortunately, scam artists often try to take advantage of homeowners with mortgage fraud schemes, loan assistance scams and other types of mortgage loan fraud. If you are struggling to meet your commitment or are eager to sell your home, you must be extra careful.

Recognize and avoid mortgage fraud, loan assistance scams and other common schemes

• Beware of any person or organization that asks you to pay a fee in exchange for housing counseling services or modification of a past due loan
• Beware of anyone who says they can "save" your home if you sign or transfer over the deed to your house
• Do not sign over the deed to your property to any organization or individual unless you are working directly with your mortgage servicer to forgive your debt
• Never make your mortgage payments to anyone other than your mortgage servicer without their approval

Call us at 888-255-7372 or 269-659-1308 Direct line to Collections. M-F 9 am to 5 pm ET or email us at collections@sturgis.bank.

If you are in bankruptcy and would like to opt-in or opt out of receiving statements please submit a written request to Sturgis Bank & Trust c/o Collection Department 113-125 E Chicago PO Box 600 Sturgis MI 49091 or call 888-255-7372.