Step 1: find out who owns your loan
- Fannie Mae Loan Lookup. Fannie Mae warns that results may not be complete, so confirm with your mortgage company.
- Freddie Mac Loan Look-Up. It asks for your address and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
You can also ask your servicer in writing who owns the loan.
Fannie Mae: options to stay in the home
- Forbearance: set up for no more than three months at a time, and generally no more than 12 months in total. No late charges build up during the plan.
- Repayment plan: the monthly plan payment cannot be more than 150 percent of your normal payment. Plans longer than six months need a full application.
- Payment deferral: for a loan two to six months behind when the hardship is over and you can make the full payment again, but cannot catch up at once or afford a repayment plan. The missed principal and interest moves to the end of the loan with no interest, due when the loan matures or is paid off, or the home is sold or refinanced. There is a lifetime limit of 12 months of deferred payments, the loan must be at least 12 months old, and you cannot have had another deferral in the past 12 months. Disaster deferrals do not count toward the limits.
- Flex Modification: see below.
Fannie Mae's Flex Modification
This is the main loan modification for Fannie Mae loans. You can be reviewed if the loan is a conventional first mortgage made at least 12 months ago, and you are at least 60 days behind or about to default. You are not eligible if the loan has already been modified three or more times (deferrals do not count), or if you failed a Flex Modification trial plan in the past 12 months.
The missed payments are added to the balance. The servicer then works through a lower rate (only when you owe at least half of what the home is worth), a longer term of up to 480 months, and setting part of the principal aside, aiming to cut the principal and interest payment by 20 percent. Any principal set aside charges no interest and is due when the loan matures or is paid off, or the home is sold or refinanced. You make three trial payments first (four if you are current or less than 31 days behind). There are no fees.
Fannie Mae: options to leave the home
- Short sale: on loans without mortgage insurance, or where the insurer has given Fannie Mae authority, you are released from the remaining debt. There is a $7,500 relocation payment when the home was your main residence and you are not asked to contribute cash. A cash contribution is only looked at when you have more than $10,000 in cash reserves outside retirement accounts.
- Mortgage Release (deed in lieu): you can move out right away, stay three months rent-free, or lease the home for twelve months at market rent. The remaining debt is released on the same terms as a short sale, with the same $7,500 relocation payment for a main residence.
Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac tells homeowners it offers these options for staying: forbearance, payment deferral, modification, a repayment plan (longer than one month and no more than 12), and partial or full reinstatement. For leaving, it offers a short sale and a deed in lieu, each of which may come with a relocation payment.
Freddie Mac's payment deferral is for borrowers 60 to 180 days behind whose short-term hardship is over and who can go back to the old payment but cannot catch up at once or afford a repayment plan. Ask your servicer for the exact terms of any Freddie Mac modification, since they are set in Freddie Mac's own guide.
How much time do you have? It depends on your state.
See the foreclosure timeline, deadlines and free local help for the state where the home is.
Common questions
My servicer never mentioned Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Does it still have to follow their rules?
Yes. A servicer handles the loan for whoever owns it, under that owner's rules. If the lookup shows Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, name the option you want (for example "payment deferral" or "Flex Modification") and ask to be reviewed for it.
Is a short sale's forgiven debt taxable?
It can be. The federal exclusion for forgiven debt on a main home expired for 2026 unless the arrangement was in writing before 1 January 2026. Other exclusions may apply. See taxes after foreclosure.
Keep reading
- What to do firstThe earlier you act, the more options you have. These are the first six things to do, in order, whether you are about to miss a payment or are already a few months behind.
- A sale date is setA sale date means time is short, not that it has run out. Each option below has its own cutoff, so the order you act in matters. Start today.
- Avoid foreclosure rescue scamsPeople facing foreclosure are a target. Federal law bans most upfront fees for mortgage relief, so any company that asks to be paid before you have an offer from your servicer is breaking the rules.
- Your federal rightsFederal rules (Regulation X) set the floor in every state. They do not force your servicer to approve any option, but they control when it can start a foreclosure and how it must handle your application.
- Help by loan typeYour servicer collects the payments, but the rules for what it can offer you come from whoever owns or insures the loan. Find that out first.
- Taxes after foreclosureThe IRS treats a foreclosure as a sale, and forgiven debt is usually income. The main home exclusion many people relied on has expired for most 2026 cases, but insolvency and bankruptcy exclusions still apply.
Sources
- Fannie Mae Loan Lookup Tool
- Freddie Mac Loan Look-Up Tool
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-01, forbearance plan
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-02, repayment plan
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-04, payment deferral
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-06, Flex Modification
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide F-1-27, processing a Flex Modification
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.3-01, short sale
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.3-02, Mortgage Release (deed in lieu)
- Freddie Mac: Options to stay in your home
- Freddie Mac: Options to leave your home
- Freddie Mac: Payment deferral
- IRS Publication 4681, canceled debts, foreclosures, repossessions and abandonments