(February 20, 2008)

Owning a home should be a pleasant experience overall, but if you've been following the news, you know that more and more people are getting into financial trouble, in trying to keep up with rising mortgage payments. In a special report Wednesday, our Bill Churchwell has some helpful tips on how to avoid foreclosure.

An empty house, doors locked, warning signs in windows, this is what happens when someone's home is taken away. Foreclosure not only kills your dreams of having a place to call your own, but can also be an embarrassing experience.

Dr. Patrick Crowley, professor of Economics at A&M Corpus Christi says the problem is simple, people with bad credit often borrow too much.

"This is where things can get quite nasty, where individuals have taken out too large of mortgage. And they've taken out the mortgage at low rates, which are increased into the future, so the payments increase. Most of these mortgages, were based on two years of rates, says Dr. Crowley.

Still people are taking the risk, even if it means loosing it all. Compared to other coastal counties with similar populations, Corpus Christi's foreclosure numbers are relatively small. For instance in Nueces County the number is at 55 that's compared to Galveston County with 199 and Brazoria County at 141 foreclosures.

So what can you do to keep foreclosure from happening to your family? Tip number one, be sure you can pay your mortgage rate payment. Crowley says take look at the detais and know what kind of mortgage you have.

"A lot of people don't realize what type of mortgage your on, they don't worry about this too much when they took out this mortgage. If your on a fixed rate mortgage, you have nothing to worry about unless you loose your job," says Dr. Crowley.

Tip number two, contact your lender. If you find yourself with an adjustable rate mortgage or one of those mortgages where the payments change overtime, your lender might be able to work with you to change the conditions on your loan.

"The federal government has agreements with several of the mortgage interest companies that they will freeze interest rates," says Dr. Crowley.

Finally, tip number three, consider consulting a reputable third party such as an accountant, lawyer, or non-profit housing group before making a deal. A little planning might just save your home.

Bill Churchwell 3 News.