When you buy a home by borrowing money from a financial institution to buy real estate, you sign a legal contract called mortgage. Mortgage contract obligates you to pay the lender on a certain day of the month until the loan is paid off. In addition to this obligation there are other terms expressed in the mortgage contract but the most serious breach of contract happens when the borrower does not pay the mortgage payment.

Then the financial institution is forced to begin the steps that can ultimately end with them obtaining the ownership of the real estate property. This procedure is commonly referred to as a bank foreclosure.

In many stories about this unpleasant legal procedure portray the financial institution as a huge, heartless giant who is throwing out little old ladies out in the street on Christmas eve.

The truth is that a bank foreclosure is necessary for the financial institution to maintain its integrity and to protect the interests of its investors, depositors and employees. It is also important to remember that bank foreclosure is a long and tedious process that provides ample opportunities for borrowers to negotiate with the lenders to find alternative solutions to bank foreclosures.

For the most parts banks are in lending money business and not in real estate business and the last thing they want is to end up owning another piece of real estate. Knowing this, if you are facing bank foreclosure, begin educating yourself about alternatives that I will discuss in the next article. Knowledge is one of your greatest allies in a bank foreclosure proceeding.