Applying for a modification, forbearance or repayment plan.
15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)
A creditor may not discriminate against you in any part of a credit deal because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, receiving public assistance, or using your consumer-credit rights. If a creditor denies your completed credit application, you are entitled to a statement of the reasons.
Read this right42 U.S.C. § 3604(a)–(b)
It is illegal to discriminate in selling, renting, or financing a home because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status (having children), or national origin. This covers mortgage lenders and servicers too — for example, in who gets offered a loan modification and on what terms. You can file a complaint with HUD within 1 year or go to court within 2 years.
Read this right24 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 right24 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 right12 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 right12 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 right12 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 right12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(b)(1)
When you apply for help (like a loan modification), your servicer must tell you within 5 business days whether your application is complete and what is missing, if you applied 45 days or more before a sale. If your complete application arrives more than 37 days before a sale, the servicer must review you for every option it has and tell you its decision in writing within 30 days.
Read this right12 C.F.R. § 1024.36(i)
If you got an ownership interest in a home from a family member — for example after a death or divorce — you can ask the servicer to confirm you as a "successor in interest." The servicer must tell you in writing what documents it needs. Once confirmed, you are treated as a borrower for servicing rules, so you can get information and apply for help.
Read this right12 C.F.R. § 1024.40(a)
By the 45th day after you fall behind, your servicer must assign staff to help you. Those people must be reachable by phone and must be able to tell you your options, what documents are missing, the status of your application, and the deadlines that apply.
Read this right12 C.F.R. § 1024.39(a)
When you miss a mortgage payment, your servicer must try to reach you live (by phone or in person) by the 36th day of the delinquency and tell you about options to avoid foreclosure. By the 45th day it must send you a written notice explaining loss-mitigation options and how to get help, including housing counselors.
Read this right12 C.F.R. § 1024.36(a)
You can ask your servicer in writing for information about your loan — for example your payment history, who owns your loan, or how your escrow was figured. The servicer must confirm it got your request within 5 business days and answer within 30 business days. If you ask who owns your loan, it must tell you within 10 business days.
Read this right7 C.F.R. § 3555.301
If you have a USDA Rural Development guaranteed home loan, the lender must contact you promptly after a default, try to learn why you fell behind, and send a certified letter asking for an interview before you are 60 days behind. If you qualify, it must consider options in order: repayment agreement, special forbearance, loan modification, and a mortgage recovery advance. Streamline options may be available later.
Read this right38 C.F.R. § 36.4350(f)
If you have a VA-guaranteed home loan, the lender must have a system to work with delinquent borrowers: try to reach you by phone, send letters that explain your options, and make a face-to-face interview or a reasonable effort to arrange one when it has not reached you. VA lists workout options in order of preference: repayment plan, special forbearance, loan modification, short sale, and deed in lieu of foreclosure.
Read this rightCal. Civ. Code § 2924.12(a)(1)–(2), (b)
Most California foreclosures happen outside court, but you can sue to stop one. Before the trustee’s deed is recorded, a borrower may ask a court for an injunction for a material violation of key Homeowner Bill of Rights rules, such as dual tracking. The sale stays stopped until the court finds the violation was fixed. After the sale, you may be able to seek damages instead.
Read this rightConn. 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 rightConn. Gen. Stat. § 8-265ee(a)
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.
Read this rightDel. Code tit. 10, § 5062C(a)–(b)
Delaware runs an Automatic Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program for owner-occupied 1–4 family homes. A notice of foreclosure mediation must come with the complaint. Taking part lets you meet with the lender and a mediator to look for an alternative to foreclosure. File your answer on time unless a lawyer tells you otherwise.
Read this rightD.C. Code § 42-815.02
In a D.C. nonjudicial foreclosure, the lender must send you a mediation election form with the notice of default. If you return it to the Mediation Administrator and the lender within 30 days of its mailing, you get mediation before the foreclosure can go forward. The lender must also send a loss-mitigation application to fill out.
Read this rightHaw. Rev. Stat. § 667-71(a)
Hawaii’s Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution program applies to nonjudicial foreclosures of homes occupied by owner-occupants. If you elect it, you meet with the lender and a neutral to look for an alternative to foreclosure before the sale can go forward. Owner-occupants may instead convert the case to a court foreclosure, but not after electing dispute resolution.
Read this rightIdaho Code § 45-1506(2)
After the notice of default is recorded, the Idaho trustee must mail you the notice of sale by registered or certified mail at least 120 days before the sale. The notice is also served or posted and published. For a primary residence, a loan-modification request form comes with the notice of default.
Read this rightInd. Code § 32-30-10.5-8
Indiana homeowners in foreclosure can ask the court for a settlement conference with the lender to look for a way to keep the home, such as a loan modification. You must tell the court you want to take part no later than 30 days after you are served with the complaint.
Read this rightInd. Code § 32-30-10.5-8(a)
Before a lender can file a foreclosure on your Indiana home, it must send you a presuit notice by certified mail at least 30 days ahead. The notice explains your rights, including the right to a settlement conference, and how to find housing counseling.
Read this rightMe. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 6321-A
Maine’s Foreclosure Diversion Program offers court mediation in home foreclosure cases. The lender must attach a plain-language notice to the front of the complaint explaining how to answer and ask for mediation. If you ask for it on the answer form, a mediation session is scheduled with the lender.
Read this rightMd. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1(j)(1)
If the Maryland home in foreclosure is your owner-occupied home, you can ask the court for “postfile” mediation with the lender before a neutral mediator. The request is generally due 25 days after you are served with the order to docket and the final loss-mitigation affidavit. There is a filing fee, which may be waived if you cannot afford it.
Read this rightMd. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1(c)(1)–(4)
Before a Maryland foreclosure can be filed on a home, the lender must send you a written notice of intent to foreclose at least 45 days ahead. The notice must state the amount needed to cure the default and reinstate the loan, and it comes with a loss-mitigation application and housing-counseling information. After filing, the sale must also be advertised and you must be mailed notice before it.
Read this rightMinn. Stat. § 582.043subd. 7
Minnesota law requires servicers to follow loss-mitigation rules and limits foreclosure sales while a timely application is being reviewed. If a servicer violates those rules, you can go to court to stop (enjoin) the sale or set it aside, and a winning homeowner can recover reasonable attorney fees. You must record a lis pendens before the redemption period ends.
Read this rightNev. Rev. Stat. § 107.086(2), (3)
If you live in the home, the notice of default must tell you how to request mediation. To take part, you petition the district court within 30 days after the notice is served and pay a $25 fee (plus your share of the mediator fee). The trustee cannot sell while the mediation rules apply.
Read this rightN.J. Stat. § 2A:50-77
New Jersey runs a permanent foreclosure mediation program for homeowners. A court may order mediation when the homeowner files an answer. Mediation is free and puts you at the table with the lender and a trained mediator to look for a solution.
Read this rightN.Y. C.P.L.R. 3408(a)
If you live in the home and the loan is a home loan, the court must hold a settlement conference within 60 days after the lender files proof that you were served. The goal is to look for a solution such as a loan modification. Both sides must negotiate in good faith.
Read this rightOr. Rev. Stat. § 86.726(1)(a)
Before a lender files a notice of default or a foreclosure suit on a residential trust deed, it must first request a resolution conference (mediation) with you. You meet a housing counselor first; a small fee applies, with waivers available.
Read this right35 P.S. § 1680.403c
Before a lender can foreclose on most Pennsylvania homes, it must send you an Act 91 Notice. You then have 30 days (plus 3 for mail) to meet with a PHFA-approved counseling agency and apply for the Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP). The lender cannot foreclose during those 33 days.
Read this rightRCW 61.24.163
Under the Foreclosure Fairness Act, a housing counselor or attorney can refer you to mediation with your lender. The referral can be made any time after a notice of default, but no later than 90 days before the sale date in the notice of trustee sale. The lender must mediate in good faith.
Read this rightRCW 61.24.031
Before a notice of default on an owner-occupied home, the lender must contact you (or try diligently) about options. If you respond within 30 days, you get 60 more days to meet before a notice of default. When that pre-default letter was required, the notice of trustee sale must be recorded and sent at least 120 days before the sale.
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