- Who sends it
- Your mortgage servicer
- What it starts
- A deadline for you: send papers, accept an offer, or appeal
- Do this first
- Find the date in the letter and answer before it, in writing
1. The acknowledgment letter
If your application arrives 45 days or more before a foreclosure sale, your servicer must, within 5 days (not counting weekends and legal holidays), send a written notice saying it received the application, whether it is complete or incomplete, and if incomplete, what is missing and a reasonable date to send it.
An application can start with a phone call; it does not have to be written. Ask for this letter if you do not get one.
2. The incomplete-application letter
This letter lists what the servicer still needs. Send every item by the date given, keep copies, and ask the servicer to confirm in writing when your file is complete. Your strongest protections start only when the application is complete, and they are measured from the date the servicer receives the last piece.
- Your servicer must use reasonable diligence to get what is missing.
- It may offer a short-term forbearance or repayment plan on an incomplete application, with a written notice of terms. While you are performing under that plan, it may not start a foreclosure, move for judgment or sale, or hold a sale.
- If it is waiting on something outside your control, such as an investor's approval, it generally cannot deny you only for that reason, and it must tell you what it lacks.
3. The approval or offer letter
If your complete application arrived more than 37 days before a sale, your servicer must evaluate you for every available option and send a written decision within 30 days. If it offers something, you get time to accept:
- At least 14 days, if the complete application arrived 90 days or more before a sale.
- At least 7 days, if it arrived fewer than 90 but more than 37 days before a sale.
- Many permanent modifications start with a trial payment plan. For FHA loans, making the first trial payment counts as accepting. Read the offer for the exact rule and pay on time.
4. The denial letter and your right to appeal
A denial of a loan modification must give the specific reason for each trial or permanent modification you were turned down for. Check the numbers it used, such as your income and the home's value.
- You can appeal a modification denial if your complete application arrived 90 days or more before a sale, or before the foreclosure started.
- You have 14 days from the decision to appeal. Different staff must review it, and the servicer must decide within 30 days. You get at least 14 more days to accept any offer that results.
- The appeal decision is final; it cannot be appealed again.
- If you were denied for everything, ask about short sale or deed in lieu, and talk to a counselor about a new application if your situation changes.
Some states add their own letter here. Idaho requires the lender to answer a modification request form within 45 days, Arkansas requires a denial notice at least 10 business days before a sale, and Oregon requires a letter within 10 days explaining why you do not qualify. See Idaho, Arkansas and Oregon.
What to do this week
- Put every date from every letter on a calendar.
- Answer each letter in writing, keep copies, and note how and when you sent things.
- If you were denied, decide within 14 days whether to appeal. A free HUD-approved counselor at (800) 569-4287 can help you write the appeal.
- Use the deadline calculator to check the 37-day and 90-day lines against any sale date.
- If your servicer misses its deadlines, write it down and file a complaint with the CFPB. You can also enforce these rules in court; talk to a lawyer.
Scams tied to these letters
- Anyone who asks for a fee before you have signed an agreement with your servicer. A company that is not your lawyer cannot charge for mortgage relief until then.
- Anyone who tells you to stop talking to your servicer, your housing counselor or your lawyer.
- Anyone who wants payment by wire, cashier's check or a payment app, or who asks you to sign over your deed.
- Anyone who says they are with the government or your lender without proof. Call the number on your own statement or letter to check.
- Anyone who says they can get a denial reversed for a fee paid now. Under federal rules, a company that is not your lawyer cannot collect until you sign an agreement with your servicer based on an offer it got for you.
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
Do these rules apply to every servicer?
No. Small servicers (5,000 or fewer loans they own) and reverse mortgages are exempt from most of them, although small servicers must still wait until you are more than 120 days behind and cannot foreclose while you are performing under an agreement.
I applied before. Do I get these protections again?
If you became current after your earlier application, yes. If you have been behind the whole time and the servicer already followed the rules on a complete application, it does not have to do so again.
My loan was transferred during my review. Do I start over?
No. The new servicer must meet the old servicer's deadlines and must evaluate a pending complete application within 30 days of the transfer. See servicing transfer notice.
Keep reading
- Late notice and early intervention letterThis letter is a warning, not a foreclosure. Federal rules make your servicer reach out early and tell you about help. In most cases a foreclosure cannot start until you are more than 120 days behind, so this is the best time to act.
- Breach letter (demand or notice of intent to accelerate)A breach letter says you are in default and gives you a date to catch up. If you do not, the lender can call the whole loan due and move toward foreclosure. Many standard mortgages and deeds of trust require at least 30 days to cure.
- Notice of defaultIn many states that foreclose without a court, a recorded notice of default is the official start of the foreclosure. It is not a sale and not an eviction. It starts a waiting period before a sale can be set, and you can usually still catch up or apply for help.
- Notice of intent to forecloseMany states make the lender send a warning letter before it can start a foreclosure. These letters often give you a set number of days, a cure amount and a list of free counselors. The deadline in the letter matters, so act on it now.
- Lis pendens (notice of pendency)A lis pendens is a public notice, filed in the land records, that a lawsuit or foreclosure affecting your home is pending. It does not mean the home is sold or that you must move. It usually means the court papers are coming or have already been served.
- Foreclosure summons and complaintA summons and complaint means the lender has sued to foreclose. You have a short, firm deadline to respond in writing, often 20 to 30 days from the day you were served. Missing it can let the lender win without your side being heard.
Sources
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41, loss mitigation procedures (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31, definitions (eCFR)
- 12 C.F.R. § 1024.30, scope and successors in interest (eCFR)
- HUD Handbook 4000.1, Update 18 (August 2026), FHA loss mitigation
- HUD Mortgagee Letter 2026-08, updates to loss mitigation requirements
- CFPB: Submit a complaint
- CFPB: Find a housing counselor
- 12 C.F.R. § 1015.5, ban on advance fees for mortgage relief (eCFR)
- FTC: Mortgage relief scams