See: Mortgage.
You’ve fallen behind on your mortgage. Your Irish dance troop hasn't gotten much work lately, and you just can't make your bills. Technically, you’re in default, which means the lender has the right to foreclose on your home.
However, a foreclosure isn't something either you or your lender really wants. For you, it means you'll have to find a new place to live (and who'd want to rent an apartment to an out-of-work Irish dancer, who will be loudly practicing all the time?). For the lender, they have to go through all the trouble and expense of foreclosing on the house and then selling it. Not to mention that they'd make more money from you paying off your mortgage than they would from selling the house (they don't earn any interest from the sale).
Time for a forbearance agreement. It's a deal you can strike when you're behind on your mortgage that halts the foreclosure process. The lender agrees not to exercise their right to launch a foreclose proceeding on the mortgage. Meanwhile, you as the homeowner set up a payment plan (or other similar arrangement) that enables you to get up-to-date with your payments.
It's like taking a time-out from the nasty legal proceedings, giving you a chance to figure out your finances (and maybe get a new profession).
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is a Mortgage?345 Views
Finance allah shmoop shmoop What is a mortgage Well people
a mortgage is just dead it's alone but one with
special tax treatment For most people simply put Any interest
you pay on a mortgage to buy a home is
tax deductible Morty morton's inputs down a hundred thousand bucks
to buy a home that costs four hundred big ones
his mortgages three hundred grand at five percent interest per
year So that's fifteen thousand dollars a year he pays
to rent the money from the bank which he uses
to buy his dream home with the loop de loop
waterslide Morty earns one hundred grand a year and pays
tax on his last fifteen thousand of earnings soas faras
The irs is concerned since morty can deduct his fifteen
thousand dollars in interest against his earnings he does not
in fact earn taxable wages of one hundred grand annually
Instead he earns taxable wages of eighty five thousand dollars
a year Essentially with government is doing is sharing in
some of the cost of renting the money Taub i'm
ortiz home well why would the u s government be
so charitable Well because home ownership has been integral part
of the american dream since the u s of a
i po'ed in seventeen seventy six easy access to mortgages
and then home buying can be a hugely beneficial asset
In the vast majority of cases homes create family stability
a store of wealth and tax dollars for local schools
in the form of real estate taxes So don't feel
bad about splurging on that water slide there Morty Just 00:01:42.93 --> [endTime] remember you're doing it for the kids Hello
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