Facing Foreclosure? Get your hands on your original papers.

Georgia home owner, are you getting behind in your mortgage payments? Are you getting threatening letters from your lender? According to a well-known local real estate attorney, there are a few things you can do in these situations that will help to stave off the foreclosure process in Georgia, buying you time to pursue an alternative outcome.

One place to start -- always ask them to produce the original loan documents and the security instrument. In Georgia, these documents are required before a lender can foreclose. Three types of security instruments are used in Georgia home purchases:

(1) Deed in Trust - This is a deed used in some states in lieu of a mortgage. It is rare to find this one used in Georgia, but it could be used in certain circumstances. In a Deed in Trust, title is held by a trustee on behalf of a lender (beneficiary) until the borrower (trustor) repays the loan.

(2) Mortgage - This is an instrument which secures a promissory note by either giving the lender a lien against the property or conveying title to the property, depending on state law. In Georgia, it is actually a lien agianst property. A mortgage requires judicial foreclosure.

(3) Security Deed - This is actually an instrument to secure debt which conveys title to the lender until the debt is satisfied. When the debt is satisfied, the instrument is canceled. This is the most common security instrument used in Georgia property purchases, and does NOT require judicial foreclosure. That is why the Georgia foreclosure process is one of the fastest and most brutal in the nation. With a security deed, the policy is usually "you don't pay, you don't stay."

Don't know which security instrument is held against your property? Ask your lender. Find out what you've got. Make them track it down. Issues to foreclosure can delay the process, buying you time to effect a workout plan, loan modification, or get the debt settled "paid as agreed" through a short sale.