What happens during a foreclosure process is the first question that comes to your mind when you start to face the reality that you may lose your home to foreclosure. How long does this process take, and what options do I have if I want to save my home; are other questions that you may have in your head in this difficult situation. I will clarify some of them for you and give you some tips to delay the process.

What happens during a foreclosure is that since you stop fulfilling your mortgage monthly obligations your bank or lender makes the decision to foreclose or take back your property. The bank may file for foreclosure two or three months after you miss your first monthly payments. This will vary from lender to lender.

You will receive a foreclosure summon or notice about the action taken by the bank, and you will be given about 20 days depending on your state to answer the notice. If you don't answer the foreclosure notice the court will approve the foreclosure action and the bank will take possession of your home, which usually is sold out at a local property auction; this is what happens during a foreclosure.

You then have between two or three weeks to move out of your home or the sheriff office will evict you out. This process may take between three to six months depending on your state, the efforts you put in fighting the foreclosure and your knowledge and abilities to delay the process, among other variables. Here are some quick tips you can use to start delaying the foreclosure process:

• Answer the bank calls and ask personally and direct for more time. If you know how to do this they may give you a little extra time.

• Answer the foreclosure notice or summon. Done properly this will get you a month or more sometimes.

• Try to make arrangement with your lender to repay the default payments. NOTE: This is not a mortgage refinance arrangement and may not be an attractive or a permanent solution, but it will get you more time if you know how to approach your lender.

• Require a Court Hearing to explain your specific situation to the Judge. This will get you up to 60 days sometimes, even if you lose the case.

• Bankruptcy can delay what happens during a foreclosure process for a few months. But this should be your last option, and you should get expert advice before you take this option.

Foreclosure is a process and there are ways for you to delay that process and stay in your home mortgage-free for a few years even if you do not qualify for The Obama's Loan Modification Plan or any other Mortgage Modification Program, even if you have not income at all. Unfortunately, many people know nothing about the many tactics and strategies available for fighting foreclosure or even what happens during a foreclosure.