What is Forbearance?

Real Estate Foreclosures – What is Forbearance?
By Nancy Woodward

Forbearance is a process taken by a lender which allows the borrower to temporarily stop or decrease the amount of their payments for a period of time. The lender may allow the borrower forbearance of principal, interest or actually both.

Forbearances have a limited time span. Twelve months is the maximum amount of time allowed. This process allows the borrower time to get on his feet again.

Lenders are not required to offer forbearance to borrowers. They may choose to do so for a good client experiencing temporary problems. It generally is considered for those who are willing to make their payments and are suffering a temporary problem that would be helped out with this process.

If your problems have had an adverse effect on your credit, pursuing forbearance will not change anything related to this. I would suggest you contact your lender and creditors before your problem gets out of hand. Many lenders and creditors will work with you once they know how sincere you are.