Every week, Personal Finance Writer Harriet Johnson Brackey answers your questions about handling the economic downturn. Submit your questions in the form at the right.

I know I’m in trouble with my mortgage. What can I do to protect myself from foreclosure?

First, “prioritize your bills,” says Mary Hurlburt of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of South Florida. “Your mortgage is more important that your cable, more important than options on your telephone, more important than eating out. You cannot maintain your lifestyle if your mortgage is in jeopardy.”

Next, call you lender and discuss your options. You might be able to refinance or get your loan modified if you’re behind on the payments or negotiate a forbearance agreement, in which lenders could suspend payments for a month or two.

If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, you may qualify for a new loan at today’s low fixed rates. But you have to qualify. If you find out that your credit score would prevent you from qualifying, work on increasing it.

“Lenders are willing to help people but you do have to be tenacious,” said Jessica Cecere, president of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County/Treasure Coast. “It’s not one call, it’s several.”

If your lender cannot or will not work with you, get a federal housing counselor involved.
The number is 1-888-995-4673.

Those counselors, too, are dealing with a tidal wave of housing troubles, so, again, be persistent.

Harriet Johnson Brackey can be reached at hjbrackey@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4614.