Posted on Feb 4, 2014 12:00am PST

Are you struggling to make your mortgage payments on time? Is your mortgage more than the value of your home? Does this leave you feeling stuck with no option to sell or refinance your home? Are you feeling completely trapped with nowhere to go?

Have you started researching what your next options might be? In a best case scenario, you could find a way to keep paying on your mortgage until the real estate market recovers. This would allow you to sell the home without having to pay the lender extra money at closing to cover any negative equity. Unfortunately, this is not a quick process and, even worse, the home may continue to lose value, particularly if its location is bad.

One option is to discuss a short sale with your bank.

Many homeowners believe a short sale is ideal. Most of the time they believe this because of a lack of knowledge and misguided direction. They are under the impression that working with their bank to try to complete a short sale is the best option. Unfortunately, they dont understand that banks are more interested in protecting their profits than helping homeowners who are struggling with underwater mortgages. Most lenders are notoriously difficult to work with during a short sale. Lenders can be very difficult to communicate with during a short sale, and often make it difficult to navigate through the process. The lender could also decide that it is in their best interest to simply foreclosure on the property instead of accepting a short sale offer.

Other disadvantages to attempting a short sale are:

You must make the property available to show to potential short sale buyers;

You may need to make costly repairs to the property to make it attractive to buyers; and

You will have to submit all of your financial information to your lender to be considered for a short sale, including disclosure of assets that you own such as savings and retirement accounts. Many property owners are understandably wary of providing this information to their lender.

Many Florida homeowners are choosing a strategic mortgage default, also called a strategic foreclosure, instead of a short sale. The strategic default/strategic foreclosure process has many advantages over a short sale, such as:

Foreclosures must proceed through the court system and there are judicial protections available to consumers;

Foreclosures often take much more time than short sales, and homeowners can continue to live in the property or rent it to tenants during the foreclosure. It is not uncommon for a properly defended foreclosure case to take 18-24 months to reach its conclusion; and

Settlements can often be negotiated in a foreclosure case without disclosing private financial information to the lender.

Some Florida property owners are also under the impression that a short sale is much better for their credit than a foreclosure. This is simply not true. The reality is that there is little difference between a foreclosure and a short sale in terms of their impact on your credit score.

If you owe more on your mortgage than your Florida property is worth, or if you have decided you are ready to walk away from your home, call The Forrest Law Firm today. We developed The Strategic Default Plan to assist our clients who are stuck in underwater mortgages. We can discuss your options, and we may have the solution youve been looking for. Call today for a free, no obligation telephone consultation about your situation. No office visit is required. The Forrest Law Firm handles cases in all Florida counties. Call today at 1-800-915-3923.