How to Stop Foreclosure: Every Option for Homeowners (2026)

What Are Your Options to Stop Foreclosure?

The options to stop foreclosure fall into three groups, which are catching up and keeping the home, lowering the payment for good, and leaving the home on better terms than a foreclosure sale. Servicers call all of these “loss mitigation,” because each one costs the lender less than a foreclosure would.

Option	What it does	Best when	Keeps the home?
Reinstatement	You pay everything you owe in one payment	You have the money now, from savings, family or a bonus	Yes
Repayment plan	You pay the missed amount over several months on top of your normal payment	The hardship is over and you can afford a bit more each month	Yes
Forbearance	Payments are paused or lowered for a set time	Income dropped for a short time, such as an illness or a job gap	Yes, if you can repay afterward
Payment deferral or partial claim	Missed payments move to the end of the loan or into a no-interest second lien	You can afford the normal payment again but not the past-due amount	Yes
Loan modification	The loan’s rate, term or balance changes to lower the payment	Your income is lower for good	Yes
Refinance	A new loan pays off the old one	You still have good credit and equity	Yes
Sale or short sale	You sell the home before the foreclosure sale	You cannot afford the home in any form	No
Deed in lieu	You give the home back to the lender	The home will not sell and you want a clean exit	No
Bankruptcy	A court order pauses the foreclosure	Other debts are also overwhelming	Often, with a Chapter 13 plan

To see how these options compare in your own case, start with what happens if you miss a mortgage payment, which walks through the first 120 days month by month.

How Much Time Do You Have Before a Foreclosure Sale?

Most homeowners have at least 4 months from the first missed payment before a foreclosure can even begin, and then several more months before a sale. Federal mortgage servicing rules set the first deadlines for servicers, and they apply in every state.

The CFPB’s early intervention rule requires a servicer to try to reach you by phone or in person by the 36th day of delinquency and to send a written notice by the 45th day explaining the help that may be available. Under the CFPB’s loss mitigation rule, the servicer cannot make the first foreclosure filing or notice until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)).

Day of delinquency	What the federal rules require
Day 16	A late fee is usually charged, under the terms of most mortgage notes
Day 36	Servicer must try to reach you in person or by phone
Day 45	Servicer must send a written notice listing help options and how to apply
Day 121	Earliest day the servicer may make the first foreclosure filing or notice
More than 37 days before the sale	A complete help application stops the sale while the servicer reviews it

After day 120, your state’s law takes over. In a non-judicial state such as Texas, the sale can happen a few months later. In a judicial state such as New York or Florida, the case goes through court and can take a year or more. To see the timeline where you live, look up the foreclosure process by state.

What Should You Do First?

The first thing to do is call your servicer, ask for a loss mitigation application, and send it back complete as soon as you can. A complete application is the strongest protection the federal rules give you, because it blocks the first foreclosure filing and, if it arrives more than 37 days before a sale, blocks the sale too.

Read your mail. Open every letter from your servicer. The 45-day notice tells you who to call and what to send.
Find out who owns your loan. FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and bank-held loans each have their own help options. Your servicer must tell you the owner if you ask in writing (12 CFR 1024.36(d)(2)(i)(A)).
Ask for the application in writing. Request a loss mitigation application and keep a copy of every page you send.
Write a short hardship letter. Explain what happened, when, and whether it is temporary or permanent. To see what to include, use the guide to writing a mortgage hardship letter.
Talk to a free counselor. A HUD-approved housing counselor can review your budget, fill out the forms with you and talk to the servicer for you.
Track every deadline. Write down the date you send each document and the dates in each letter you get back.

The CFPB keeps a plain-language help for homeowners page that covers the same steps in more detail.

Which Help Programs Depend on Your Loan Type?

The help you can get depends mostly on who owns or insures your loan, because each owner sets its own menu of options. Your servicer offers them, but the rules come from the loan’s owner.

FHA loans: FHA offers a partial claim, which moves missed payments into a no-interest second lien, plus loan modifications and a temporary payment supplement. The details are in FHA loss mitigation options.
VA loans: VA servicers offer repayment plans, forbearance and modifications, and a new VA partial claim program opened in 2026. See the options in VA loan help for veterans.
USDA loans: Guaranteed and direct USDA loans have their own options, covered in USDA mortgage help.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans: These loans use payment deferral and the Flex Modification. The rules are explained in Flex Modification.
Bank-held and private loans: The lender sets its own rules, so ask for a written list of every option it offers.

What If You Cannot Keep the Home?

When you cannot afford the home under any plan, a planned exit is usually better than letting the foreclosure sale happen. A sale before the auction, a short sale or a deed in lieu can save part of your equity, cut the credit damage and, in some cases, end what you owe.

Sell the home yourself. If you have equity, selling before the sale lets you keep it. See selling a house in foreclosure.
Short sale. The lender agrees to take less than you owe from a buyer. Compare it in short sale vs foreclosure.
Deed in lieu. You sign the home over to the lender, which is explained in the glossary entry for a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
Plan for afterward. Credit, taxes and any remaining debt are covered in what happens after foreclosure.

When Do You Need a Lawyer or Bankruptcy?

You need a lawyer when a sale date is close, when the servicer broke the rules, or when you have other debts you cannot manage. A foreclosure lawyer can challenge mistakes, ask a court to delay the sale and negotiate with the servicer.

Bankruptcy stops a foreclosure the moment it is filed through what is called the automatic stay, but it does not cancel the mortgage. A Chapter 13 case lets you catch up over 3 to 5 years, while a Chapter 7 case usually only delays the sale. The trade-offs are explained in bankruptcy and foreclosure, and help with choosing a lawyer is in hiring a foreclosure attorney.

Where Can You Get Free Foreclosure Help?

Free foreclosure help comes from HUD-approved housing counselors, legal aid offices and some state housing agencies. Counselors work for nonprofit agencies, charge little or nothing, and can deal with your servicer on your behalf.

You can search for a nearby counselor with the CFPB’s housing counselor finder, which uses HUD’s list of approved agencies. More on what counselors do and how to pick one is in HUD-approved housing counselors.

Be careful with anyone who promises to save your home for a fee paid up front. Federal rules ban most upfront fees for mortgage relief services (12 CFR 1015.5), and the warning signs are listed in foreclosure scams.

How Do You Find Foreclosure Help in Your State?

You find foreclosure help in your state by checking its foreclosure timeline, mediation program, local HUD-approved counselors and housing finance agency. Each state page below lists those for one state, along with the deadlines that matter most there.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Foreclosure Help Guides

The foreclosure help guides below are grouped by where you are in the process, from the first missed payment to life after a foreclosure.

Behind on payments

Keeping the home

Your loan type

Getting help

Special situations

Leaving the home

FAQ

How Many Payments Can You Miss Before Foreclosure Starts?

Federal rules stop most servicers from starting a foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind, which is usually 4 missed payments. Late fees and credit damage start much sooner, usually after 15 and 30 days.

Can a Foreclosure Be Stopped the Day Before the Sale?

Sometimes, by paying the full amount owed, filing bankruptcy or getting a court order, but last-minute options are few and costly. Under federal rules, a complete loss mitigation application only blocks the sale if the servicer receives it more than 37 days before the sale date.

Does Calling My Servicer Start the Foreclosure Faster?

No, contacting your servicer does not speed up a foreclosure. Servicers must try to reach you by the 36th day of delinquency anyway, and asking for help early gives you more time and more options.

Is Foreclosure Help Free?

Yes, HUD-approved housing counselors help homeowners facing foreclosure for free or at low cost. Be wary of any company that charges an upfront fee to save your home.

Sources

12 CFR 1024.39 Early Intervention Requirements for Certain Borrowers. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/39/
12 CFR 1024.41 Loss Mitigation Procedures. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/41/
Help for Homeowners. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/housing/housing-insecurity/help-for-homeowners/
Find a Housing Counselor. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/find-a-housing-counselor/

This page explains the general process and is not legal advice. Rules change and courts interpret them, so confirm with a real-estate attorney in your state before acting.