Call VA as well as your servicer
VA assigns one of its loan technicians to review a VA-guaranteed loan once it is 61 days past due. You do not have to wait for that. Call 877-827-3702 (TTY 711) and choose option 6 for help avoiding foreclosure, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
The options VA lists
- Special forbearance.
- A repayment plan.
- A loan modification: VA's traditional modification, a 30-year modification or a 40-year modification.
- The VA partial claim.
- If you cannot keep the home: extra time to arrange a private sale, a short sale, or a deed in lieu.
The VA partial claim (new in 2026)
Congress authorized a VA partial claim program in July 2025 and VA launched it on 15 June 2026. The servicer puts you on a three-month trial payment plan. After the trial, VA pays the overdue amount to bring the loan current. You repay that amount later, when the loan is paid off or refinanced or the home is sold.
- You cannot apply to VA for it. It is offered only through your servicer, and only when VA's order of options leads to it.
- Servicers were given until 28 November 2026 to finish putting it in place, so your servicer may not be offering it yet. Ask, and call VA at the number above if the answer is no.
- The amount needed to bring the loan current has to fit within VA's limit, which is 25 or 30 percent of the unpaid balance depending on the loan. You cannot pay part of what you owe to get under the limit.
- You are not eligible if you signed a loan modification in the past 24 months, had a partial claim in the past 24 months, or ever had a partial claim paid on this loan, including the COVID-era VA partial claim or a Refund Modification.
VASP is closed
The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program (VASP) stopped taking new cases on 1 May 2025. Anyone offering to get you into VASP now is wrong or is not being honest with you.
VA's foreclosure help page, last updated in September 2026, does not list any pause on VA foreclosures. Do not wait for one.
What a foreclosure costs you with VA
If the loan ends in a foreclosure, a short sale or a deed in lieu, you have to repay VA's loss before your full home loan entitlement is restored for a future VA loan. That is one more reason to ask about every option for staying first.
If you are on active duty, or were in the past year
A separate federal law can make a foreclosure sale invalid during your service and for one year after it, if you took out the mortgage before you entered service. See military protection from foreclosure.
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 says it does not offer the VA partial claim yet. Is that allowed?
Until 28 November 2026 it can be. VA gave servicers 180 days from the published policy to finish putting the program in place. Ask the servicer for its date, ask what else it can offer now, and call VA at 877-827-3702, option 6.
Do the federal application rules apply to VA loans?
Yes. The 120-day rule, the review deadlines and the limits on holding a sale while a complete application is pending apply to VA loans like any other mortgage on your main home. 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.
Sources
- VA: Help to avoid foreclosure
- VA: Partial Claim Program launch (June 15, 2026)
- VA: Partial claim servicer FAQ
- VA: Servicer news, partial claim implementation deadline
- VA Circular 26-25-2, end of VASP
- 50 U.S.C. § 3953, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, mortgages (govinfo)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41, loss mitigation procedures (eCFR)