How to get to the decision maker at bank/mortgage company

[Richard Goore]

I have been helping out a family friend who is in a very challenging situation.  My goal at first was to see if they can avoid a foreclosure and stay in their home.  The second option was to sell it for them to get out from the foreclosure and not have it affect their financial situation so negatively.  After a lot of phone calls and research I have discovered their financial situation is too far gone to save the home or even sell it to avoid the foreclosure.  It is scheduled to be sold in Jan at the courthouse steps (Northern CA).  It may get postponed due to a planned personal bankruptcy but they won't have the means to save it.  

That being said, friend suggested I try to buy it before it goes to the courthouse steps for a sale.  If that is a possibility, I would love to allow the current owner/family friend to have a longer time to stay in the home or simply become a tenant versus being evicted at some point by a new owner.  If you have any experience with that I would love to be educated.  I have the contact info for the mortgage company but I don't know who to ask for or how to navigate the process.  Any/all insights are appreciated.  

[Joe Splitrock]

@Richard Goore what you probably are looking to do is a short sale. That is when you offer to pay less than the outstanding loan. The bank reviews the offer and may choose to accept it if they believe it is better for them than the foreclosure process. I am not sure if you can contact the mortgage company on your friends behalf. They may need to call and explain that someone has offer to buy their property on a short sale.