Q. We have applied to have our loan modified. Just before our foreclosure sale date, we received a forbearance notice from the bank. They want us to pay $1,750 for three months, and they'll also add another $15,000 to the back of a possible new loan. Then they might consider a loan modification for us. As long as we stay active in this program, our foreclosure sale date will be postponed. But why should we pay them money without any promise to help us?

A. You should pay the money because this is the only hope for saving your home.

You're right about forbearance.

It usually allows borrowers to make partial or no payments for a few months and make up the difference later. It's not a long-term solution.

But it sounds like your bank is using this offer to postpone your foreclosure sale and buy some time to evaluate whether it wants to offer you a loan modification.

The fact that you received this reprieve so close to the sale date indicates that your lender put this offer together quickly, based on limited information about your financial situation.

If you agree, it probably will use the next three months to fully document your income and other debts, analyze your finances and decide whether it can lower your payments enough that you can afford them.

(Most borrowers turned down for a mortgage modification simply don't make enough money to pay off the huge debt they've taken on, even if the interest rate is lowered and penalties are forgiven. Yes, lenders can forgive some of the principal too, but they're almost never willing to do that.)

Whether you pay the $1,750 over the next three months will also figure into that decision.

Think of it as a chance to prove to the lender that you can, and will, make the payments if you get a second chance.

In President Obama's foreclosure prevention program, Making Home Affordable, homeowners must make three reduced payments before any mortgage modification becomes permanent.

The $15,000 that's being added onto your loan is probably the interest and penalties you owe from missed payments. Lenders usually do that in a forbearance to ensure that money is paid if the home is sold.