What changed
The COVID-19 Recovery options, the COVID-19 Advance Loan Modification and FHA-HAMP all ended on 30 September 2025. If a website or a company still talks about them, it is out of date. The permanent options below took effect on 1 October 2025.
The order your servicer must follow
- 1. Repayment plan.
- 2. Forbearance.
- 3. A check of whether you already had a permanent option in the past 24 months.
- 4. A partial claim on its own, if you confirm you can go back to your current payment.
- 5. A loan modification on its own.
- 6. A loan modification combined with a partial claim.
- 7. A payment supplement.
- 8. A pre-foreclosure sale (FHA's short sale), then a deed in lieu.
Options that keep you in the home
- Repayment plan: you pay what you owe in equal monthly installments on top of your regular payment, for no longer than 24 months. It is generally for up to four months of missed payments. Any foreclosure must be suspended or ended once a plan is approved.
- Forbearance: reduced or paused payments for one to three months at a time, up to 12 months for each default. It is not available once the first legal step to start a foreclosure is complete.
- Partial claim: HUD covers what you are behind with a second loan that charges no interest. The minimum is $1,000. All partial claims and payment supplements together cannot be more than 30 percent of what you owed when you first defaulted, and that cap is fixed for the life of the loan.
- Loan modification: a new 30-year or 40-year term at no more than HUD's market rate, alone or together with a partial claim.
- Payment supplement: partial claim money brings the loan current and then lowers your monthly payment for 36 months without changing the loan itself. Fixed-rate loans only.
The limits to know
- One permanent option every 24 months, except after a disaster. This was 18 months before 2025. A disaster option or a COVID-19 option in the past 24 months does not count against you.
- A trial payment plan comes first: three months, or four if you are being reviewed before you have fallen behind. You do not have to sign the trial plan agreement; making the first payment accepts it.
- For a permanent option you must have made at least four payments on the loan and have three or more full payments due and unpaid, unless you are being reviewed before falling behind.
- If you failed a trial payment plan during this default, you are not eligible for a repayment plan.
New in 2026
HUD tightened the rules again in June 2026, and servicers had to follow them by 21 September 2026:
- Not accepting a trial payment plan agreement a third time counts as failing the plan.
- Your permanent payment can be higher than the trial payment if your taxes or insurance went up.
- Asking for repeated re-reviews to hold off a foreclosure is now limited.
The practical point: accept a trial plan you can afford the first time it is offered, and make every trial payment on time.
If you cannot keep the home
When no option to stay works, the servicer reviews you for a pre-foreclosure sale and then a deed in lieu. In an FHA pre-foreclosure sale the lienholders release their liens and forgive what the sale does not cover. See short sale and deed in lieu, and read taxes after foreclosure before you agree to any forgiven debt.
Who to call
- Your servicer, to ask for a review under FHA's loss mitigation rules.
- The FHA Resource Center: 800-CALL-FHA (800-225-5342).
- A free HUD-approved housing counselor: (800) 569-4287.
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
Can I apply to HUD directly for a partial claim?
No. FHA's options are offered through your servicer, which must review you in the order above. If the servicer says you do not qualify, ask which step of the order above it stopped at and why, and ask a HUD-approved counselor to check.
I had a COVID partial claim. Can I get help again?
A COVID-19 option in the past 24 months does not block a permanent option. The partial claim cap still applies: all partial claims and payment supplements together cannot pass 30 percent of the balance you owed when you first defaulted.
Do the federal application rules also apply to my FHA loan?
Yes. FHA's rules decide which options exist. The federal servicing rules on timing, such as the 120-day rule and the 37-day cutoff before a sale, apply on top. See your federal rights.
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.