Day 1: the payment is due and unpaid
Under the federal servicing rules you are delinquent from the date a monthly payment becomes due and is not paid, and you stay delinquent until nothing is past due. Days are counted as calendar days.
Your note and your monthly statement say whether you have a grace period and what the late fee is. If a letter about a late payment has already arrived, see what a late payment notice means.
By day 36: a phone call
Your servicer must reach you by phone, or make a good faith effort to, no later than the 36th day you are behind. It must then tell you about ways to avoid foreclosure if any fit. It has to do this again after each later payment you miss.
Take the call. Ask what options exist for your loan and how to apply. Write down the name of the person, the date and what they said.
By day 45: a letter and staff assigned to you
- The servicer must send a written notice by the 45th day. It must give a phone number for the staff assigned to you, the servicer's mailing address, examples of options, how to apply, and HUD's toll-free number for free housing counseling.
- By the same day it must assign staff you can reach by phone who can explain your options, what you need to send, where your application stands, and when the loan could be sent to foreclosure.
Around day 60: extra steps on VA and USDA loans
- VA loans: VA assigns one of its own loan technicians to review the loan once it is 61 days past due. You can call VA at 877-827-3702 and choose option 6. See VA loans.
- USDA guaranteed loans: before the loan is 60 days past due with no arrangement in place, the lender must send a certified letter asking for an interview. See USDA loans.
Day 120: the earliest a foreclosure can start
In most cases a servicer may not make the first notice or filing for a foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. This applies to a mortgage on the home you live in, and small servicers must follow it too. The deadline calculator works out your date.
If your servicer receives a complete application for help before that first notice or filing, it cannot start the foreclosure until it has reviewed you, any appeal is over, and you have had your chance to accept an offer. That is why applying before day 120 matters so much. See your federal rights.
What to ask for, depending on how far behind you are
- Not behind yet, but about to be: tell your servicer now. Fannie Mae's modification and FHA's options can both be reviewed for a default that is about to happen.
- One or two payments behind and the problem is over: ask about a repayment plan or catching up in one payment (reinstatement).
- Two to six payments behind, the problem is over, and you can make the regular payment again: on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans ask about a payment deferral, which moves the missed payments to the end of the loan.
- The hardship is still going on: ask about forbearance, which lowers or pauses payments for a time.
- You cannot afford the old payment any more: ask to be reviewed for a loan modification.
What you can get depends on who backs the loan. See help by loan type.
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 my servicer foreclose after one missed payment?
In most cases no. Federal rules bar the first foreclosure notice or filing until a loan on your main home is more than 120 days behind. The main exceptions are a foreclosure for transferring the home without the lender's consent, or the servicer joining a foreclosure that another lienholder started.
From what date are the 120 days counted?
From the date the oldest unpaid monthly payment was due. You stay delinquent until no payment is due and unpaid. The deadline calculator counts the days for you.
Nobody called me or sent a letter. What now?
Call the servicer yourself and ask to apply for loss mitigation; an application can start by phone. Keep a record that the call and letter did not come, and tell a free HUD-approved counselor at (800) 569-4287. You can also file a complaint with the CFPB.
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. § 1024.39, early intervention (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.40, continuity of contact (CFPB)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41, loss mitigation procedures (eCFR)
- VA: Help to avoid foreclosure
- 7 C.F.R. § 3555.301, USDA guaranteed loan servicing duties (eCFR)
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-06, Flex Modification
- Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D2-3.2-04, payment deferral
- Freddie Mac: Payment deferral
- HUD Handbook 4000.1, Update 18 (August 2026), FHA loss mitigation