If you hold a subprime loan, don't want for the lender to come knocking and asking for your door keys with plans to make you a foreclosure statistic.

You can avoid foreclosure by acting early and decisively.

"Losing Ground: Foreclosures in the Subprime Market and Their Cost to Homeowners" released this week by the Center For Responsible Lending (CRL), analyzed more than 6 million subprime loans, originated from 1998 to 2004, totaling $1.2 trillion and representing 70 percent of the U.S. subprime market and found that 2.2 million subprime holders have either lost their homes this year or will face foreclosure in the next few years.

And that's going to leave a big red mark, some $164 billion in losses, much of it in home equity.

In a conference call this week with CRL, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Association of Realtors' president Pat Vredevoogd Combs urged consumers to make sure they really get it when told of the risks and rewards of all types of mortgages before they make a decision on a loan.

She advised consumers to seek professional help before confusion sets in.

"We are committed to helping people buy -- and keep -- the home of their dreams, and an educated consumer really can make the best decision," said Combs, also vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt in Grand Rapids, MI.

NAR also has partnered with CRL on consumer education brochures that can serve as a primer for mortgage education.

Subprime loan borrowers are especially in need of educational help.

In the 12 months through August this year, the default rate of subprime mortgages rose to 7.74 percent from 5.53 percent in the previous 12 month period, according to Friedman Billings Ramsey Inc., analysts who follow the securitized portion of the market.

Prime loan foreclosures, on the other hand, rose only 0.24 percent, a steady average since 2000, and up only from 0.16 percent from a year earlier.

Foreclosures on subprime mortgages climbed to 3.18 percent in the month of August, up from 2.16 percent in August 2005, FRB also says. For prime loans, the foreclosure rate rose only marginally from 0.06 percent to 0.09 percent during the same month.

Another analyst, UBS Securities, says subprime loans originated this year are going bad at a 50 percent higher frequency than those issued in 2005, which suggests looser underwriting standards.

And Standard & Poor's downgraded credit ratings on a record 132 residential mortgage bond issues last quarter, mostly due to poor performance of subprime loans.

What should you do if you face foreclosure?

First, don't wait until you are financially overwhelmed.

Seek help at the first sign of trouble, say, a short paycheck, a layoff, medical emergency, child birth or other financial event that is going to pinch your household budget.

Immediately call your lender and discuss your options and take the first step toward keeping a roof over your head.

• Once you make contact with your lender or servicer in a return call or a call you initiated, stay in touch with that contact until you are out of the woods. Document your contacts in writing so you and the lender has a documented record of your efforts.

• If possible, consider restructuring or refinancing your loan -- but not to borrow more money. If you are saddled with two mortgages, do the math to determine if consolidating them will help. Likewise consolidate non-mortgage debts. Also consider extending a 15 year mortgage to 30 years or a 30 year mortgage to 40 years or longer. Examine how any restructured debt will play out if your situation worsens or improves. In each case, determine if restructuring is your best move, preferably before you miss a payment and damage your chances of landing a new loan.

  Don't become a serial refinancer. The Center For Responsible Lending's report reveals that repeat refinancing increases the risk of foreclosure.

• Watch out for scams. When you are down on your dollars you are most vulnerable to debt-removal come-ons. You likely didn't get in over your head over night. Don't expect a quick fix.

• Get financial counseling. Certified (by state and federal agencies and recognized trade groups) consumer credit counseling services are often free or offered for only a nominal fee. They will teach you your rights and work with you and your creditors, say, to temporarily reduce payments or otherwise work out a payment plan that will keep you housed and your credit relatively intact. If you don't yet have a mortgage, get schooled first so you understand what is required to own a home. A mortgage payment also comes with property taxes, insurance, perhaps homeowner association dues and upkeep costs.

• Know your rights. If you are in the military, you have special relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (which strengthens the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940) to stop the foreclosure and you may be eligible for a reduction in the interest rate. Similar relief is available to those affected by hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

• Procedural errors in the lender's foreclosure effort or lender errors when you acquired the loan could permit you to file a lawsuit to enjoin or stop the procedure.

• If all else fails, bankruptcy is an option that can stop foreclosure, at least temporarily, and give you some leverage to resolve the foreclosure. Today's bankruptcy law also forces you into counseling. That's a good thing.

• Selling the property is another end-game option. Consider selling the property out right as quickly as possible or deeding it to the lender in exchange for ending the foreclosure and minimizing the negative impact on your credit report.