In defending against a foreclosure action, homeowners usually must make frequent attempts to contact their lender, an evil but necessary part of the process. This is typically the step in any plan to save a home that borrowers find the most difficulty with, not only due to their own embarrassment at falling behind, but also because of aggressive, rude, or incompetent customer service agents. But it is important to make the calls in order to work out a solution, and homeowners should record or document every time they contact their mortgage companies.

At the very minimum, borrowers should keep notes of every time they call the bank, starting with the time they call, the time they talk to someone live, that person's name, and what went on during the conversation. It is far too common for customer service agents to lose paperwork that homeowners fax, fail to write notes in the loan's file regarding a negotiated solution, or otherwise make the entire point of a homeowner's contact completely worthless. If the owners do not document the phone call and act on it, it will likely become just another failed attempt at working out a plan with no follow-up by either the borrowers or the lender.

Because most lenders have an automated system that informs homeowners that the phone call may be recorded, it is in the best interest of borrowers to keep their own copies. Although it is not legal in some states to fail to inform the other party they are being recorded, it is quite legal to record a phone call if both parties are aware of it. And with all banks informing their clients that they are being recorded, homeowners can make tapes of their contacts with the bank without fear of breaking the law.

One surprisingly effective tactic is, after a phone call is done, simply not to hang up right away and just be quiet and listen. Often, bank customer service reps will also fail to disconnect and begin talking to co-workers about how annoying borrowers are, or the fact that they have already decided they will not provide any help to work out a loan. This attitude by some loan workout reps should be a strong indication that the bank is in the practice of simply stringing along homeowners, giving them false hope until the bank can steal the home. But borrowers will not be aware of this tactic unless they hang on at the end of phone conversations for a few extra seconds when the customer service rep believes the call has ended.

Regardless of how the customer service agent wants information sent to the bank, homeowners need to follow every important phone call with a letter. Loan workout documents or short sale offers can be faxed to the bank, but it is likely the paperwork will never be received, get lost, or just be thrown on the pile of 800 other files the bank representative is working on. Sending a certified letter with return receipt requested will, if nothing else, show the courts or regulatory agencies that the borrowers made an attempt to work out a solution and the lender may be forcing a foreclosure by "losing" negotiation offers.

But homeowners also need to do everything they can to keep on top of the lender's requests for information. When the mortgage company requests a package of financial documents or a hardship letter, the borrowers should comply with the request as soon as possible -- usually no later than 24 hours after the phone call. Waiting an extra week to gather tax documents or acquire fresh paystubs will hurt more than help. But immediately sending a fax of the requested information, combined with a phone call to make sure the bank received the fax, as well as a mailed copy of the documents, should be enough to show that the owners have made every attempt to stop foreclosure and comply with the lender's requirements.

Keeping in close contact with a mortgage lender eat up as many resources as a part-time job, but homeowners who want to work with their banks need to put in much effort to negotiate a mortgage modification or other solution. Lenders have thousands of foreclosures to work with, and the most persistent, hardest-working borrowers will be the ones who receive a solution, while the less diligent will simply lose their homes. In every case of foreclosure, though, it is important for owners to maintain open lines of communication with the bank and document or record every conversation, and follow up by complying with the bank's requests and sending copies of every document via certified mail.