Behind on payments or facing foreclosure

The company taking your payment may not own the loan. Ask which program applies. Use Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s official lookups if needed; enter personal information only on their websites. A lookup result is not assistance approval.

Ask about repayment, forbearance, payment deferral and modification. Deferral may suit someone who can resume regular payments but cannot catch up at once. Confirm when postponed amounts become payable and whether taxes or insurance change the total payment. Each agency has its own rules.

Ask the servicer for its current FHA review, including modification, partial claim, combined options or Payment Supplement where applicable. A partial claim is repayable debt, not a grant. HUD changed requirements in 2026, with implementation required by September 21. FHA Resource Center: 800-225-5342.

Call 877-827-3702 for a VA loan technician and contact your servicer. VA’s Partial Claim program may help eligible borrowers resume payments; it requires a trial plan and repayment later. As of October 29, 2026, servicers have until November 28 to implement it—ask whether yours is accepting requests. The former VASP program ended May 1, 2025.

For a USDA Direct loan, My RD Loan Portal has payment-assistance renewal, hardship-moratorium and deceased-borrower routes; servicing is 800-414-1226. For a USDA Guaranteed loan serviced by a lender, start with that servicer. Do not use old COVID letters as the current rules for either program.

Ask your servicer to identify the owner or guarantor and available hardship options. A loan outside the programs above may still offer help, but it will not necessarily have the same options. If you cannot get a clear answer, a counselor can help with the request.

The Tennessee Homeowner Assistance Fund is closed. Do not spend time applying through an old pandemic-era article or assume a counselor can award that money. THDA counseling remains a separate help route.

For many covered mortgages, the first foreclosure notice or filing generally cannot begin until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, subject to exceptions. This is not 120 days from the letter you just received and does not establish your sale date.

For covered loans, a complete application more than 37 days before sale generally triggers a written review within 30 days. Receiving it at least 90 days before sale may give modification-denial appeal rights. Have a counselor check coverage, prior reviews and the actual notice. These are not guarantees of a modification or a paused sale.

Ask the servicer what options remain and obtain urgent legal advice. Do not assume it is too late to ask, or that a complaint stops the sale. Chapter 13 may allow some eligible borrowers to address arrears while maintaining current payments; only a bankruptcy attorney can assess whether and how that applies before a sale.

Identify the disputed transaction, gather payment proof and use the servicer’s designated address for errors or information requests. Send copies; keep originals and delivery proof. CFPB provides sample letters below. Its guidance describes a general five-business-day acknowledgment and 30-business-day response, with exceptions and extensions. A complaint does not pause foreclosure.

Ask for one written list of missing items, acceptable substitutes and due dates. Keep a dated log of each upload or delivery. Request a supervisor or counselor’s help when the same records are repeatedly lost. Use the written completeness notice to track the next step.

Read the specific denial and any appeal instructions. Ask which program rule applied, what review remains and whether changed income or corrected records matter. Do not promise payments your budget cannot sustain. For unresolved servicing issues, contact CFPB at 855-411-2372 or use its complaint form.

Get the approval, lien treatment and any release of remaining debt in writing. Compare moving costs, credit and tax questions with independent advisers. A buyer agreement or pending closing is not evidence that a foreclosure has been postponed.

Request the successor-in-interest process and the exact identity and ownership documents needed. Confirmation as a successor, taking personal responsibility for the loan and releasing another borrower are different questions. Do not assume a new refinance is the only route. Use the inherited-home or divorce guide for the ownership side.

Contact the reverse-mortgage servicer promptly after death, a long absence, or tax/insurance trouble. Request the written due-and-payable notice, deadlines, current appraisal and payoff calculation. Ask a HECM counselor about co-borrower or eligible non-borrowing-spouse protections and keeping, selling or surrendering the home. Ordinary monthly-payment guidance is not the full answer.

Request the loan-specific payoff and extension conditions in writing before committing. Federal consumer summaries differ in how they describe an heir’s payoff; ask a HECM counselor to verify the applicable balance/appraisal calculation. Do not assume either an automatic six-month delay or that every heir must personally repay the full loan.

The servicer collects your payments and manages the loan account. Escrow is money collected with the payment for expenses such as property taxes and insurance. Arrears means the amount you are behind. Ask for a breakdown when a statement is unclear.

A modification changes loan terms. Forbearance temporarily reduces or pauses payments under an agreement; it does not erase the missed amount. Ask what happens at the end before accepting.

A short sale involves lender approval to sell for less than the mortgage debt. A deed in lieu transfers the home to the lender under an agreement. Neither label by itself proves every lien or remaining debt is released.

Contact your servicer promptly even if you have not yet missed a payment. Explain whether the loss is temporary or ongoing, organize income and expense records, and ask a HUD-approved counselor to help compare the available options. Do not assume selling is necessary or that a particular program is guaranteed.

Chapter 13 can sometimes allow an eligible homeowner to address mortgage arrears through a repayment plan. It carries ongoing duties and does not fit every situation. Timing matters, and some circumstances limit protection. A buyer’s contract does not create bankruptcy protection or postpone a sale.

Tell your attorney and trustee about the proposed sale before making binding commitments. Ask which approvals, notices, lien arrangements and treatment of proceeds apply. Chapter 7 can involve liquidation of nonexempt property; a Chapter 13 plan has different requirements. Do not assume all equity is available for moving or distributions.

Keep the case number, court notices, plan or trustee correspondence, deed, payoffs and full proposed contract together. Ask for the required steps and realistic timeline in writing. Use the existing legal-help directory for a referral; Offer Genies does not decide eligibility, exemptions or what the court will approve.