For many who have had to make the decision to stop paying their mortgage as found in with many San Diego homeowners in our area, within 30 to 60 days the bank collection calls start occurring on a regular basis. In addition to the financial stress already being experienced, the collection calls add another layer of stress and an ugly reminder of the preforeclosure situation at hand. Most families in preforeclosure stop answering phone calls once they stopped paying their mortgage, because the fear that it is the lender calling asking for when they will receive their next payment.

By law, however, a homeowner can order the lender to stop calling. The Truth in Lending Laws gives the consumers the right to request not to be contacted by phone regarding the loan being in default. This does not mean the correspondence will stop, only the phone calls. All future correspondence will then be in writing. Of course the lending institution will try to convince you that this is a bad idea, limiting their ability to work with you. But you at any time can still call them, thus you are in control. If you are in a short sale situation, you can give your short sale team the ability to speak on your behalf, thus reducing the stress and burden of dealing with the bank. Most phone calls to the homeowner are for the sole purpose of collecting money. Remember these phone calls are from the collections department, not the loan mod or short sale department.

We as a short sale company generally take care of this for the homeowner. But you can do this yourself. Simply generate a Cease and Desist letter with your name, telephone number, property address and loan number and fax it to the bank. The next time they call it is best to answer the phone and remind them that this cease and desist letter was faxed to them. They may manually need to complete the process while you are on the phone (as is the case with Countrywide and other lenders who deal in large volume of defaulted mortgaged). It is that simple! No more calls!

Remember though, no more phone calls does not mean no more problems. The reminder might be not be there, but the problem still needs to be solved. Taking action, no matter how hard it is, will result in a far better situation than just letting the bank take your house through foreclosure. For many in San Diego and other markets where home values have plummeted or job loss has been severe, a short sale is one of the best solutions to get out from the debt.

Julie Fontaine is the author of "Homeowner's Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure - Strategies & Solutions", and is a business partner in a successful short sale & loan mod company in San Diego, California Troubled Property Solutions

Tags: mortgage, finance, foreclosure, preforeclosure, stop collection calls, stop bank collection calls, short sale san diego