Are you trying to stay in your home by getting your lender to agree to a loan modification or a repayment plan?

Are you trying to get out from under your home by selling it to someone else or giving it back to the bank?

If so, you will have to write a hardship letter. As a matter of fact, the only times you will not write a hardship letter are if:

1. You refinance your way out of foreclosure
2. You bring your mortgage current through some kind of financial miracle
3. You do nothing and simply let the foreclosure process push you out of your home

The problem many homeowners have with writing a hardship letter is they stray off target and wander into the world of “what ifs” and “if onlys.” This does nothing for you except get your loss mitigator to roll their eyes in frustration. The single biggest thing you must do to write a successful hardship letter is set a goal for the letter and then relentlessly focus your writing to reach that goal.

Know Your Audience

Whether you are writing a personal letter, a business letter, an advertising piece, or a note to your husband, you have to write it in a way that appeals to your audience. You have to take their needs and desires into consideration. And I think you’ll agree that when you’re writing an even mildly persuasive letter (like a hardship letter), these considerations must play an even bigger role.

What is important to know about the audience for your hardship letter?

Do you think it is important to know they spend 8 – 12 hours a day on the phone dealing with unpleasant situations?

Is it relevant that they probably have from 200 – 1000 cases at a time?

Would it be helpful to know they work in an atmosphere that only cares about the numbers in a proposal and is extremely risk averse?

Set Your Goal

Now that you have a better picture of the person you are writing and the type of environment they work in, you can begin to set the over-arching goals for your letter.

Regardless of your situation, there are only two possible goals once you have fully considered the facts above.

1. Explain your situation
2. Propose a workable solution to your situation

Anything else is overkill. It’s asking the hardship letter to do something it’s not designed to do and something your lender’s processes won’t allow it to do.

Focus Relentlessly on Your Goal

Now that your goals are crystal clear, you just need to write. Try to keep it short…a single page is best. But most of all, keep it on target so you hit your goal.

After you have finished writing, go back through and edit it keeping in mind your two goals. If what you say doesn’t support those goals, change it or delete it until it conveys the message you want to send.

Remember, your hardship letter is just the beginning of your conversation with your lender. You will turn it in with a whole package that further explains your situation in detail…so don’t do that in your letter. Once your lender gets your hardship package, they will call you to continue the conversation.

Get a FREE, downloadable sample hardship letter just by visiting us.

You can also learn much more about surviving foreclosure on your terms at: truthinforeclosure.com.

When you look into getting a load modification or an reassessment of your mortgage payment, you’ll find that there are many courses of action that you can consider, but one of the first and most preferred choices in front of you is learning how to write a hardship letter.

A hardship letter is essentially a letter that you send to your loan institution that will let them know about your problems and open up negotiations for what you can do. When you learning how to write a hardship letter, keep the following in mind:

Communication
Offering to resolve the debt
Thanking them for their time and support
Current contact information and sending the letter off

Remember that when seeking to understand how to write a hardship letter that the thing that you most need to think about is communication. You need to let the lender know that you are suffering from some financial hardships at this time, but that you are not going to let it stop you from paying them the money that you owe them.

With that in mind, you need to offer alternatives as to how you are going to pay. This might sound a little bit complex, but the truth of the matter is that learning how to write a hardship letter is easy and straightforward.

What your lender really wants to hear about is what are you going to do to resolve the debt. Writing out your solutions makes sense and this will be the heart of your letter of hardship. When you are doing this, remember that you can offer options like finding out if they can reduce your monthly payment, telling them what you can afford to pay every month, asking about hardship programs or looking into loan refinancing. What this will do is that it will let them know that you are ready and willing to make the payments that you need to make.

Remember that you should end the hardship letter on a friendly note. The more well-disposed they are to you, the better off you will be. Remember that they are going to be interested in helping you get the solution that you need so they can be paid off in full.

When it comes to contact information, make sure your information is as current as possible. Take some time to make sure they can get in touch with you. When it comes to sending off the letter of hardship, remember you need to fax it or send it by certified mail.

When you are looking at how to write a hardship letter, remember that you are not alone. This is the first step toward getting your finances resolved and within your control, so take the time to do it properly!

Peter Baptiste is known as the Foreclosure Doctor Online. Feel free to visit his blog where he provides a wealth of information on a regular basis.The Foreclosure Doctor Online