Who these rules cover
They apply to a mortgage on your principal residence. Small servicers (about 5,000 loans or fewer that they or an affiliate own), housing finance agencies, and reverse mortgages are exempt from most of them. Small servicers still must follow the 120-day rule and may not foreclose while you are keeping up with a loss mitigation agreement.
Early contact
- By day 36 of being behind, the servicer must try to reach you by phone and tell you about options.
- By day 45, it must send a letter describing options, how to apply, and HUD's number for free housing counseling.
- By day 45, it must assign staff you can reach who can explain options and the status of your application.
The 120-day rule
A servicer may not make the first notice or filing for any foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. Use the deadline calculator to see your date. The main exceptions are a foreclosure for selling the home without the lender's consent, or joining a foreclosure another lienholder started.
If you send a complete application before the first filing, the servicer cannot start the foreclosure until it has denied you (and any appeal is over), you have turned down every offer, or you have not kept to an agreement.
How your application must be handled
- An application can start orally or in writing. It is complete when the servicer has everything it requires.
- If it arrives 45 or more days before a sale, the servicer must tell you within 5 business days whether it is complete, and what is missing.
- If a complete application arrives more than 37 days before a sale, the servicer must review you for every available option and give you a written decision within 30 days.
- A denial of a loan modification must give the specific reasons.
- You get at least 14 days to accept an offer (at least 7 days if your application arrived fewer than 90 days before a sale).
No dual tracking after day 37
If your complete application arrives after the foreclosure has started but more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer may not ask for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or hold the sale, until it has denied you and any appeal is over, you have turned down every offer, or you have not kept to an agreement. An application received 37 days or fewer before the sale does not get this protection.
Appeals
If you are denied a loan modification and your complete application arrived 90 or more days before a sale, you can appeal within 14 days. Different staff must review it and decide within 30 days, and you get at least 14 more days to accept any offer that follows.
When your loan is transferred, or you apply again
A change of servicer does not wipe out your protections. The new servicer must meet the old one's deadlines. If you became current after an earlier application and then fall behind again, you get the full protections again.
If you inherited the home, or got it in a divorce
A family member who receives the home when the borrower dies, a spouse who gets it in a divorce, and some others can be confirmed as a "successor in interest". Once confirmed, you are treated as a borrower under these rules, including for loss mitigation. Ask the servicer in writing what documents it needs to confirm you.
If your servicer breaks these rules
Write down what happened and send your servicer a written complaint, file a complaint with the CFPB, and talk to legal aid or a lawyer. You can enforce the application rules in court.
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
Does my servicer have to give me a loan modification?
No. The federal rules control the process, deadlines and notices, not the result. What you can get depends on who owns or insures your loan; see help by loan type.
I am in the military. Do I have extra protection?
Yes. If your mortgage was taken out before your service, a foreclosure sale during your service or within one year after it is not valid without a court order or your written waiver, and a court can pause the case if your service affects your ability to pay.
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.
- 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. § 1024.30, scope and successors in interest (eCFR)
- 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)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.36, requests for information (eCFR)
- 50 U.S.C. § 3953, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, mortgages (govinfo)
- CFPB: Submit a complaint