A missed payment is not a foreclosure.
In most cases federal rules stop a servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind.
Free · Independent · No fees, ever
Behind on your mortgage? You have more options, and more time, than the letters make it sound.
Foreclosure rules are different in every state. See how the process works where you live, the deadlines that matter, your rights, and who gives free help near you.
- Every state's timeline, in plain English
- The law behind every deadline
- Only free, official and nonprofit help
Where is the home?
Your state decides how much time you have.
Or start with where things stand
Before you do anything else
Three things to know today
The letters are written to get your attention. These are the rules that are on your side.
Help with your servicer is free.
HUD-approved housing counselors do not charge for foreclosure prevention counseling.
Applying early protects you.
A complete application sent in time can pause a foreclosure while your servicer reviews it.
Who calls you.Who actually helps.
Once a foreclosure is public record, strangers call, text and mail with offers to save your home. Here is how to tell them apart from real help.
A rescue scam
Free, legitimate help
A scam: Asks for a fee before anything is done
Real help: HUD-approved counselors charge nothing for foreclosure counseling
A scam: Asks you to sign over your deed
Real help: You keep the title to your home while you apply for help
A scam: Says to stop talking to your servicer
Real help: A counselor can call your servicer with you
A scam: Says to send your payments to them
Real help: Payments go only to your mortgage servicer
Start where you are
Where are things right now?
What you can still do depends on how far along the foreclosure is. Pick the stage that sounds like yours.
Stage 1
I missed a payment, or I am about to
This is the best time to act. Call your servicer, ask for a loss mitigation application, and talk to a free HUD-approved counselor before you fall further behind.
What to do firstStage 2
I got a notice of default or was served with a lawsuit
The clock is now set by your state. Find out how long you have, whether you can still catch up, and whether a deadline to answer the court is running.
Find your state's timelineStage 3
A sale date is scheduled
There may still be ways to stop or postpone the sale, but each one has a cutoff. Today, call a HUD-approved counselor or legal aid, not a company that mailed you.
What can still stop a sale
State by state
Foreclosure help in your state
Each page covers the process step by step, the legal deadlines, your right to catch up or buy the home back, state programs, and the official agencies and legal aid groups to call.
- AlabamaNonjudicial
- AlaskaNonjudicial
- ArizonaNonjudicial
- ArkansasNonjudicial
- CaliforniaNonjudicial
- ColoradoNonjudicial
- ConnecticutJudicial
- DelawareJudicial
- District of ColumbiaJudicial
- FloridaJudicial
- GeorgiaNonjudicial
- HawaiiJudicial
- IdahoNonjudicial
- IllinoisJudicial
- IndianaJudicial
- IowaJudicial
- KansasJudicial
- KentuckyJudicial
- LouisianaJudicial
- MaineJudicial
- MarylandJudicial
- MassachusettsNonjudicial
- MichiganNonjudicial
- MinnesotaNonjudicial
- MississippiNonjudicial
- MissouriNonjudicial
- MontanaNonjudicial
- NebraskaNonjudicial
- NevadaNonjudicial
- New HampshireNonjudicial
- New JerseyJudicial
- New MexicoJudicial
- New YorkJudicial
- North CarolinaNonjudicial
- North DakotaJudicial
- OhioJudicial
- OklahomaJudicial
- OregonNonjudicial
- PennsylvaniaJudicial
- Rhode IslandNonjudicial
- South CarolinaJudicial
- South DakotaBoth
- TennesseeNonjudicial
- TexasNonjudicial
- UtahNonjudicial
- VermontJudicial
- VirginiaNonjudicial
- WashingtonNonjudicial
- West VirginiaNonjudicial
- WisconsinJudicial
- WyomingNonjudicial
Your options
Ways to stop a foreclosure
Some options let you keep the home by catching up or changing the loan. Others let you leave without a foreclosure on your record. Which ones you can get depends on your loan and how early you ask.
Repayment plan
You keep paying your normal mortgage payment and add an extra amount each month until the missed payments are paid back.
How it worksForbearance
Your servicer agrees to accept reduced payments, or none, for a limited time. The missed amount is still owed and has to be dealt with when the pause ends.
How it worksPayment deferral or partial claim
The missed payments are set aside as a balance with no interest and no monthly payment. It comes due when you sell, refinance or pay off the mortgage.
How it worksLoan modification
Your servicer permanently changes the loan, usually by adding the missed payments to the balance and stretching the term or lowering the rate, so the payment is affordable.
How it worksReinstatement
You pay all the missed payments, late fees and foreclosure costs in one payment. The loan goes back to normal and the foreclosure ends.
How it worksShort sale
You sell the home for less than the mortgage balance and the lender agrees to take the sale price. It avoids a foreclosure sale when keeping the home is not possible.
How it worksDeed in lieu of foreclosure
You sign the home over to the lender and the lender cancels the foreclosure. It is usually considered after a short sale has not worked or is not practical.
How it worksChapter 13 bankruptcy
Filing puts an automatic stay on the foreclosure. A Chapter 13 plan then lets you pay back the missed payments over three to five years while making your regular payment.
How it works
Guides to your rights
Free, official, nationwide
Free help anywhere in the country
HUD-approved housing counselors
Free foreclosure prevention counseling from agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A counselor can review your budget and deal with your servicer alongside you.
(800) 569-4287CFPB: help for struggling homeowners
Plain-language guides from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a complaint form if your mortgage servicer is not following the rules.
Legal Services Corporation: find legal aid
Find the free civil legal aid office for your county if you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit or given a sale date and cannot afford a lawyer.
Ask a question
Not sure what to do next? Ask.
Tell us where things stand. A person reads every message and writes back with the options that fit your situation and the free, official help available in your state.
- Free. There is nothing to buy and no fee, ever.
- No loan number, Social Security number or documents needed.
- We are not your lender, a law firm or a government agency.
If a sale is days away, do not wait for an email. Call a free HUD-approved housing counselor now at (800) 569-4287.