Right to an EMAP notice and 60 days to meet the lender and apply for help
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-265ee(a)
In plain words
Before a Connecticut lender can start foreclosing on your home, it must send you a notice about the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP). You then have 60 days to meet or talk with the lender or a consumer credit counseling agency to work out the default, and to apply to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority for emergency mortgage assistance.
Who is protected
Connecticut homeowners with a mortgage on their home.
When it applies
- Only in Connecticut.
- Only while you are behind but have no foreclosure notice yet or after a notice of default.
- Only if the home is your primary residence.
What you can do
Put the deadline on your calendar
Mark the notice date and apply to CHFA’s EMAP well within 60 days.
Deadline: 60 days from the EMAP notice
Open the toolCompare your options
Compare EMAP, a loan modification and other options with a housing counselor.
Open the toolRead the Connecticut guide
Our Connecticut page explains the whole process step by step, with its sources and free local help.
Open the tool
Honest limits
- EMAP funding is limited and has eligibility rules.
- This is general education, not legal advice. Laws change and details depend on your papers and your court; check the current law or ask a lawyer or legal aid.
The law
- State lawEMAP notice before foreclosure
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-265ee(a)
Exact part: (a)
What it says: The notice must say the homeowner has 60 days to confer with the lender or a counseling agency and apply for EMAP.
Read the official texthttps://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-8/chapter-134/section-8-265ee/
Court cases
- Homeowner lostSame topicMartins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P.
Martins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 722 F.3d 249 (5th Cir. 2013)
a mortgage servicer acting for a properly assigned mortgagee may foreclose in Texas without possessing the original note, and an oral promise to modify a large loan is not enforceable
- Homeowner lostSame topicLage v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC
Lage v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, 839 F.3d 1003 (11th Cir. 2016)
a servicer's duty to evaluate a loss-mitigation application depends on its being submitted more than 37 days before the sale date scheduled at that time
- Homeowner lostSame topicGresham v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Gresham v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 642 F. App'x 355 (5th Cir. 2016) (per curiam) (unpublished)
the federal dual-tracking bar applies only when the servicer receives a complete loss-mitigation application more than 37 days before the foreclosure sale
- Homeowner lostSame topicBoren v. U.S. National Bank Ass'n
Boren v. U.S. Nat'l Bank Ass'n, 807 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2015)
a lender may abandon a prior acceleration by giving notice that it seeks less than the full accelerated balance, which restarts the four-year limitations period
- Homeowner lostSame topicWhittier v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, L.L.C.
Whittier v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, L.L.C., 594 F. App'x 833 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam) (unpublished)
a RESPA claim against a servicer fails without evidence of actual damages caused by the violation
- Homeowner lostSame topicMilton v. U.S. Bank National Ass'n
Milton v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 508 F. App'x 326 (5th Cir. 2013) (per curiam) (unpublished)
an agreement to delay a Texas foreclosure falls within the statute of frauds and must be in writing to be enforced
Related rights
Right to court foreclosure mediation (Ezequiel Santiago program)
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l
In Connecticut home foreclosure cases with return dates through June 30, 2029, the lender must give you notice of the Ezequiel Santiago Foreclosure Mediation Program with the complaint. If you file an appearance and the mediation request, the court schedules mediation, and the case is paused for a time while it happens.
Read this rightFHA loans: a meeting before foreclosure
24 C.F.R. § 203.604(a)(1)
If you have an FHA-insured mortgage, your lender must meet with you — or make a reasonable effort to arrange a meeting — before three full monthly payments are unpaid and at least 30 days before starting foreclosure. A reasonable effort means at least two verifiable attempts to contact you. HUD now decides how the meeting may be held.
Read this rightFHA loans: the lender must look at ways to avoid foreclosure
24 C.F.R. § 203.605(a)
If you have an FHA-insured mortgage, your lender must review loss-mitigation options every month before four full payments are unpaid, and take the appropriate action. FHA options can include special forbearance, loan modification, a partial claim (an interest-free second loan from HUD to cover arrears), a pre-foreclosure sale, or a deed in lieu.
Read this rightNo foreclosure filing until you are more than 120 days behind
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f)(1)
Your servicer cannot make the first notice or filing to start a foreclosure until your loan is more than 120 days delinquent. This gives you time to apply for help. There are narrow exceptions, such as a due-on-sale violation.
Read this rightNo foreclosure while your complete application is being reviewed ("dual tracking")
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f)(2)
If you send a complete application for help before the foreclosure is started, the servicer cannot start the foreclosure until it has decided and any appeal is over. If you send it after the foreclosure started but more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer cannot ask for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or hold the sale, until it has finished the review — unless you are denied and the appeal is over, you reject the offers, or you do not follow an agreement.
Read this rightAppeal a denied loan modification
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(h)
If your servicer denies you a loan modification and your complete application arrived 90 days or more before a sale (or before the foreclosure started), you can appeal. You have 14 days to appeal. Different staff must review it, and the servicer must decide within 30 days.
Read this right