Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies [Paperback]

Ralph R. Roberts (Author), Lois Maljak (Author), Paul Doroh (Author), Joe Kraynak (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 2008

Facing foreclosure? You need to do three things: stop worrying about why this has happened to you; resolve to fight the foreclosure and save your home; and read Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies. It delivers the knowledge, strategies, and tactics you’ll need to take command of your situation and achieve the best possible outcome.

This practical, no-nonsense guide helps you size up your options and increase your chances of saving your home. You’ll find out how to delay foreclosure, form a plan of attack, negotiate solutions with your lender, and restore your financial health. You’ll also find field-tested strategies for dodging the foreclosure trap, getting out from under a house you really can’t afford, and finding help where you might least expect it. Discover how to:

• Regain your emotional composure
• Confront your foreclosure head-on
• Protect your rights
• Assess your situation and weigh your options
• Touch base with key people who can help you
• Stop the financial bleeding
• Team up with your lender to find solutions
• Work out a refinancing deal with another lender
• Avoid quick-fix schemes and scams
• Cash out before it’s too late
• Recover from foreclosure
• Re-establish your credit

Complete with a handy cheat-sheet to help you keep your most important tasks in the front of your mind Foreclosure Self-Defense for Dummies gives you the moral support, commonsense guidance, and expert advice you need to make the best of this difficult situation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Save your home, protect your family, re-establish your credit!

Defend your home from foreclosure — or get out from under it

Are you facing foreclosure? This no-nonsense guide helps you size up all your options and increase your chances of saving your home. You'll see how to delay foreclosure, form a plan of attack, negotiate solutions with your lender, and restore your financial health. Discover field-tested strategies for dodging the foreclosure trap or getting out from under a house you really can't afford.

Discover how to:

• Protect your rights

• Weigh your options

• Team up with your lender

• Avoid mortgage scams and pitfalls

• Recover from foreclosure

About the Author

Ralph R. Roberts is a master of transforming crises into opportunities. After losing one of his own homes to foreclosure early in his career, Ralph added a foreclosure division to his real estate business. Its goal was to assist distressed homeowners facing foreclosure and earn a profit in the process. Since then, Ralph and his team have led thousands of families through the foreclosure maze, informing them of their options, steering them clear of the most common pitfalls, and empowering them with the information required to get on with their lives. Ralph is the official spokesperson for Guthy-Renker Home (HurryHome.com), is on the board of directors for the Macomb County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and has a host of Web sites and blogs, including FlippingFrenzy.com and GetFlipping.com.
Ralph is also an experienced mentor, coach, consultant, and author who has penned several successful books, including Flipping Houses For Dummies (Wiley), Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (Wiley), Advanced Selling For Dummies (Wiley), and Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership (Kaplan). To find out more about Ralph Roberts, visit www.aboutralph.com.

Lois “Lane” Maljak is Ralph’s second in command and a foreclosure specialist in her own right. Lois formerly ran Ralph’s foreclosure department, HomeSavers, during which time she met with hundreds of distressed homeowners every year, assisting people in foreclosure and pre-foreclosure, counseling them on their available options, and helping them leave a difficult situation in their past. Lois has a combination of compassion and expertise that makes her uniquely qualified to counsel hapless homeowners.

Paul Doroh is also a foreclosure expert working directly with clients and prospective clients at Ralph Roberts Realty. In addition to meeting with homeowners who are facing foreclosure, Paul represents the company at foreclosure auctions. He has been thoroughly trained in the Ralph Roberts approach to foreclosure investing — assisting people through the foreclosure process so they can gain more control of the situation and improve their outcome.

Joe Kraynak is a freelance author who has written and coauthored numerous books on topics ranging from slam poetry to computer basics. Joe teamed up with Dr. Candida Fink to write his first book in the For Dummies series, Bipolar Disorder For Dummies. He has since teamed up with Ralph Roberts to coauthor Flipping Houses For Dummies, Foreclosure Investing For Dummies, and Advanced Selling For Dummies, and with Dr. Robert Wood to coauthor Food Allergies For Dummies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (February 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470251530
• ISBN-13: 978-0470251539
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Stop Shop Source for Foreclosure Information, January 17, 2009

By 

Gary Lacefield "Dr. Gary Lacefield" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies (Paperback)

I have been a federal investigator and the senior compliance officer for a Fortune 500 real estate related company with over twenty years in the industry. I found the book to be both enlightening and clear in its presentation of the 'foreclosure' environment. The book answers all foreclosure related questions while dispelling foreclosure myths. My staff now use the book as their primary source of information and reference when responding to our industry and consumer clients regarding Foreclosure related issues.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational & Empowering, February 2, 2009

By 

Jennifer (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies (Paperback)

I didn't want to learn anything about foreclosure because I never wanted it to happen to me. However, I started to run out of options, and I met with the Ralph Roberts team for help. They gave me this book to read, and I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed reading it: I read it in two days! It made an overwhelming topic digestible and helped me feel like I have some choices and say in the matter, rather than that this is just "happening to me." The compassionate, no non-nonsense approach of this book provides a true basis for making an empowered decision for your own life, and giving you the emotional courage to handle whatever comes your way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book from 2008 but there is a better book too., September 25, 2010

By 

T. Ervin "much2learn" (tucson az usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies (Paperback)

It's a good book (2008), it'll do; but I bought another one at the same time and it seemed even better. For us. The Foreclosure Survival Guide (Oct 2009, Elias, NOLO) was better suited to our personal situation; and NOLO and author Elias keep a website up, with corrections, addenda, etc.

Your situation is different, they all are! Your other debts matter, for instance, and your family, and your taxes. Things keep changing too. Your state may have different laws, like deficiency judgments, for one. So see a local lawyer (who specializes in this work and has seen hundreds of foreclosures), at least for a free initial consultation, before you decide one way or the other about workarounds, walking away, HOA fees, short sales, possible bankruptcy, deed-in-lieu, delaying strategies, all of that.

We chose to walk away from our property (keep it simple), and the book will help you feel better about having made your decision. If you are underwater now, then really you don't own anything at that address except your personal stuff. Pretend you lost the money in the market, because that's exactly what happened. The lenders gambled at the same time you made your investment, and you've both lost. Treat it like a business decision, I'd say. Breathe deeply.

Not incidentally, the bank/lenders may well get paid anyway, on the back end, so don't feel sorry for them, nor obligated. Quite likely they (or you) paid the premium on "private mortgage insurance,' and that will help them, not you.

It is a very good book, they both are. But foreclosure should not be a do-it-yourself project; get some expert local advice at least.