Behind on your mortgage with no way to catch up? Your Washington options

Plenty of advice about foreclosure assumes you can come up with the back payments. But what if you can't? If there's no realistic way to catch up, you still have options in Washington — and several of them don't require a lump sum at all.

If you want to keep the home

• Loan modification. Instead of paying the arrears, you change the loan terms to a payment you can afford going forward. This is the main "keep it without catching up" tool.
• Repayment plan. Spreads the past-due amount over months — useful if you can pay a bit extra each month, even if not a lump sum.
• Mediation. Through the Foreclosure Fairness Act, a counselor or attorney can bring you and the servicer to the table to work out a plan.

If keeping it isn't realistic

This is where many homeowners actually come out ahead. If you have equity, selling before the trustee's sale lets you walk away with money in your pocket instead of losing the home at auction:

• Sell for cash, as-is. No repairs, no commissions, no closing costs — and a close that can beat your sale date. You keep the equity. See how our cash offer works.
• Short sale. If you owe more than the home is worth, we negotiate with your lender so you can sell for less than the balance and avoid foreclosure.
• Deed in lieu. Hand the home back to satisfy the debt and exit cleanly when there's no equity.

The worst outcome is doing nothing and letting the home go to auction with equity still in it. If you're behind with no way to catch up, the fastest way to protect yourself is one free conversation about which option fits.

This article is general information for Washington homeowners, not legal or financial advice. For free help, call the Washington Homeownership Hotline at 1-877-894-HOME or a HUD counselor at 1-800-569-4287.