Struggling homeowners will soon have more options to keep their homes out of foreclosure. There’s a program aimed at building small sales simpler and more attractive for both lenders and home owners. A small sale is where the bank agrees to let a homeowner sell their house for less than what’s owed. It allows struggling homeowners to better protect their credit, which can be hurt for 7 to 10 years with a foreclosure. But until now, small sales have been a cumbersome process – one that’s turned many away from this viable option. Philip Lueckenotto bought a home on Springfields west side as an investment chance, but then the real estate bubble burst and he started to sink. I was getting underwater, he said. He knew selling the home wasn’t an option. There was no way I was going to get what I paid for 2 and half years earlier. Faced with foreclosure, Philip called his lender to refinance but was denied. Instead, his lender suggested he talk to a real estate agent about a small sale. A small sale is when lender agrees to take less than amount owed as full satisfaction of debt, said loss mitigation expert Jan Cole, with Hymn Jones Realtors. Instead of negatively impacting his credit for 7 to 10 years like a foreclosure, a small sale only hurts his credit for about 2 years. The theory is that everyone is a winner. The home owner walks away without a deficiency, the lender loses less and the person who buys it buys not more than market value, said Cole. But Cole says it’s a …