Your home has been sold at a foreclosure sale, or you know one is coming. Now you have a new set of questions: Do I have to leave? Do I still owe money?

Once a foreclosure begins, homeowners may still have a chance to stop the process.

A short sale is when a homeowner sells a house for a price that does not cover the total mortgage debt.

Lost your home to foreclosure but still getting collection calls? Learn what a remaining loan balance (deficiency balance) is, whether you legally owe it, and how to resolve it — free consultation.

Owners might leave a property without further mortgage obligations if specific legal conditions and local regulations allow for this action. A property is considered to have negative equity when the total debt exceeds the current market price.

If you've fallen behind on your mortgage, you're probably bracing for the worst: foreclosure, moving trucks, and a credit score that takes years to recover. But here's something that might surprise you — your lender doesn't want to foreclose either. In fact, most banks would much rather work with you on a short sale than take your house back. That's not because they're feeling generous. It's because foreclosure is expensive, slow, and messy for them too.

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is a financial agreement that allows homeowners to borrow money based on the market value of their property minus any outstanding mortgage balances.