Who counts as a successor in interest
Under the federal servicing rules, you are a successor in interest if you received an ownership interest in the home from the borrower in one of these ways:
- You were a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety with a borrower who died.
- You are a relative who received the home when the borrower died.
- You are the borrower's spouse or child and became an owner.
- You became an owner through a divorce decree, a legal separation agreement or a related property settlement with the borrower.
- The home was moved into a living trust in which the borrower is and stays a beneficiary, without giving up the right to live there.
Step 1: write to the servicer
Send the servicer a written request that names the borrower, gives enough detail to identify the loan, and says you may be a successor in interest. The servicer must write back with a description of the documents it reasonably needs to confirm who you are and that you own the home, and with contact details.
Servicers that are not small servicers must also have procedures to talk with you promptly after they learn of the borrower's death, tell you promptly which documents they need, and tell you promptly whether you are confirmed. See successor in interest letters, and use the free letter templates to write the request.
Step 2: once confirmed, apply for help as a borrower
A confirmed successor in interest is treated as a borrower under all of the federal servicing rules. That includes the rules on applications for help, the 120-day rule, and the limits on holding a sale while an application is under review. See your federal rights.
Payments keep coming due while you wait, and a foreclosure that has already started does not stop on its own. Send the request early, and ask a free HUD-approved counselor at (800) 569-4287 to help you follow up.
If the loan is FHA-insured
FHA lets someone who is not on the loan, but who received the home through a protected family transfer, be reviewed for repayment plans, forbearance, FHA's permanent options and its options for leaving the home. The trial payment plan before a permanent option is six months for these owners, instead of three. See FHA loans.
If the loan is a reverse mortgage
A reverse mortgage (HECM) works differently. It becomes due when the last borrower dies, unless a spouse who qualifies as an eligible non-borrowing spouse still lives in the home. The servicer must then notify the estate or heirs, who get 30 days to pay the balance, sell the home, or give a deed in lieu. A sale has to be for at least the amount HUD sets, which may not be more than 95 percent of the appraised value. See reverse mortgage foreclosure.
Probate and title are state law
Whether you need a probate case to prove you own the home, and how long that takes, depends on your state. A servicer can only ask for documents it reasonably needs, but it can ask for proof of ownership. Legal aid on your state's page or a lawyer in your city can tell you what your state requires.
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
I am not on the loan. Will the servicer even talk to me?
It has to answer a written request from a possible successor in interest by telling you which documents it needs. If it will not, send the request again in a way you can prove, and file a complaint with the CFPB.
I got the house in a divorce. Does this cover me?
Yes, if you became an owner through the divorce decree, a legal separation agreement or a related property settlement with the borrower. Send the servicer the decree or agreement with your written request.
Does this apply to small lenders?
Partly. Small servicers are exempt from the duty to have successor procedures and from most of the application rules, but they still have to answer your written request for the list of documents, and they still must wait until a loan is more than 120 days behind before starting a 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
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31, definitions (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.30, scope and successors in interest (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.36, requests for information (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41, loss mitigation procedures (eCFR)
- HUD Handbook 4000.1, Update 18 (August 2026), FHA loss mitigation
- 24 C.F.R. § 206.27, HECM mortgage provisions (eCFR)
- 24 C.F.R. § 206.55, deferral for an eligible non-borrowing spouse (eCFR)
- 24 C.F.R. § 206.125, HECM due and payable procedures (eCFR)