One of the most stressful and upsetting things a person can go through is losing a home. People across New Jersey are still finding it impossible to make mortgage payments due to a struggling economy that has left many folks buried under debt and unpaid bills. For years, news about the housing market has been anything but positive. However, recent reports suggest that we are starting to see signs of recovery.

According to RealtyTrac, a source that tracks foreclosures across the country, February saw some mixed signs that the housing market is beginning to bounce back. While the number of foreclosures in February was slightly higher than the number of foreclosures in January, they were down when compared to February 2012. Unfortunately, there were still about 849 homes that went into foreclosure last month.

Compared with an average housing market, sources indicate that the rate of foreclosures is still much higher than it should be. This is not surprising given the fact that many people were victims of a poor economy, high unemployment rates and questionable lending practices in recent years. However, when compared with this same time last year, there seems to be signs of improvement.

This may not seem to be true for all the people who are still faced with the possibility of losing a home that is no longer worth what is still owed. While promising statistics can give some people a sense of relief, the reality is that many people are continuing to struggle with the possibility of losing their home to foreclosure.

Whether a person is burdened with financial instability or not, there are still many families who learn that a lender is taking a home back because the terms of a mortgage agreement have not been met. Rather than trying to deal with this difficult event alone, people can work with an attorney to avoid foreclosure or find alternatives to sell a property and move forward.

Source: The Washington Times, “Foreclosure rates up from January, down from last year,” Tim Devaney, March 14, 2013

• Our law firm works with New Jersey homeowners who are facing the possibility of losing a home. For more information, please visit our page on foreclosures.