Skip to main content
How to Avoid
Foreclosure
Get free help

Georgia · Get help now

Free foreclosure help in Georgia

Free help exists in Georgia, but the calendar is short, so match the call to your situation. Legal aid is split by region: Atlanta Legal Aid Society serves Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, and Georgia Legal Services Program serves the rest of the state. The state's mortgage assistance fund is closed, so do not wait on it.

Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

Reviewed against Georgia law and official sources on October 11, 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Ask for help in Georgia

Free. A person replies with the options and official help that fit. Messages about a scheduled sale are answered first.

For example: a sale date, what your servicer has told you, or what changed in your income. Please do not include your loan number, Social Security number or bank details.

Free, and there is nothing to buy. A person reads your message and replies by email, or by phone if you leave a number. We never ask for a fee and we do not sell your details. See the privacy policy.

Who to call first, by situation

  • You are current but worried about the next payments

    This month

    Call your servicer and ask what hardship options your loan type allows, then talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor. The Georgia Consumer Ed: Foreclosure (Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division) pages explain lender solutions and housing counseling in plain language.

  • You are behind but have no sale notice yet

    Before you are 120 days behind

    Send your servicer a complete loss mitigation application in writing and keep copies. Read the guides on GeorgiaLegalAid.org: Foreclosure. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs: Georgia Mortgage Assistance program is closed to new applications, so it cannot pay your arrears.

  • A notice of sale came in the mail

    Within days; the sale can be 30 days away

    Call legal aid the same week. In Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton or Gwinnett County, contact Atlanta Legal Aid Society, which runs a Home Defense Program for homeowners facing foreclosure. Elsewhere, contact Georgia Legal Services Program. Have the notice, your loan statements and any letters from the servicer ready.

    O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.2

  • The first Tuesday sale is close

    Immediately

    Ask the foreclosing law firm for the reinstatement amount in writing and ask your servicer for a decision on any pending application. At the same time talk to legal aid or a licensed attorney about a superior court order or bankruptcy, because both must be filed before the sale.

  • Your servicer is not following the rules

    As soon as you have it documented

    Send a written complaint to the company by certified mail, then follow the steps on the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance: mortgage company questions and complaints page if the company is state licensed. The Department says to contact it if you have no response after 30 days. Banks and credit unions are not licensed by this department.

  • A company offers to save your home for a fee, or to buy it and rent it back

    Before you sign or pay anything

    Georgia Legal Aid says paying someone for loan modification help is most likely a scam. Report deceptive offers to the Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division. If you already signed a sale and rent-back deal while in default, state law gives you ten days to cancel, so call legal aid at once.

    O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393(b)(20)

  • The home was sold and you were served with eviction papers

    Within 7 days of service

    File an answer with the court named on the summons before the seventh day. The Georgia Courts: Self-Help Resources page links to court forms and legal aid, and Atlanta Legal Aid Society or Georgia Legal Services Program may be able to advise you.

    O.C.G.A. § 44-7-51

Official and nonprofit help in Georgia

None of these charge homeowners for foreclosure help.

Need a private foreclosure lawyer?

License-checked lawyers who represent homeowners, by area:

Georgia Mortgage Assistance (Georgia's Homeowner Assistance Fund program)

Georgia Mortgage Assistance, run by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) with federal Homeowner Assistance Fund money, is closed. DCA says it stopped taking new applications at 11:59 p.m. on February 28, 2026, and its program page says no new applications are accepted as of March 1, 2026. The U.S. Treasury says the federal funding period ended on September 30, 2026, so states can no longer pay out this aid. We did not confirm any other state-run emergency mortgage help that is open today.

Check the program’s current status

Common questions in Georgia

Where can I get a free foreclosure lawyer in Georgia?

Free civil legal aid is income based. Atlanta Legal Aid Society covers Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, and Georgia Legal Services Program covers the other counties. GeorgiaLegalAid.org also has a finder for organizations that handle foreclosure cases.

Is Georgia Mortgage Assistance still taking applications?

No. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs stopped accepting new applications at 11:59 p.m. on February 28, 2026, and the U.S. Treasury says the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund period ended on September 30, 2026. Anyone asking for a fee to get you into the program is not from the state.

Does the State Bar of Georgia refer foreclosure lawyers?

No. The State Bar of Georgia says it cannot refer attorneys because it represents all of its members equally. It points people to local and voluntary bar associations, many of which run their own referral services.

Who regulates mortgage servicers in Georgia?

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance licenses mortgage lenders and servicers, and its website lets you check whether a company is licensed. It asks you to complain to the company in writing first. Banks and credit unions are exempt from that state license and answer to their own regulators.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Georgia

Understand the process

What is happening and how much time there is.

Weigh your options

What can stop it, and what happens if it goes ahead.

Get help now

Who to call, and what to do when a sale is scheduled.

Back to the Georgia overview

Free, official, nationwide

Free help anywhere in the country

Sources for this page

  1. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-53 (writ of possession if tenant fails to answer; trial if answered), FindLaw (unofficial mirror), current as of March 28, 2024
  2. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-55 (judgment and writ of possession effective after seven days), FindLaw (unofficial mirror), current as of March 28, 2024
  3. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162 (sales under power: where, when, advertisement, recording before sale), FindLaw (unofficial mirror), current as of March 28, 2024
  4. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.1 (definition of debtor), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  5. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.2 (30-day notice to debtor), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  6. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.3 (waiver of notice not valid in security instrument), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  7. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.4 (recitals in deed under power), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  8. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-161 (confirmation of sale before deficiency judgment), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  9. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-190 (disposition of sale proceeds and surplus), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  10. O.C.G.A. § 9-13-161 (public sales on first Tuesday, hours, holiday rule), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  11. O.C.G.A. § 9-13-141 (advertisement once a week for four weeks), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  12. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50 (demand for possession and dispossessory filing), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  13. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-51 (dispossessory summons, seven days to answer), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  14. O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393 (Fair Business Practices Act, paragraph (b)(20) on homeowners in default), FindLaw (unofficial mirror)
  15. Georgia General Assembly: House Bill 948 (2025-2026), committee substitute text showing current O.C.G.A. §§ 44-14-162.2 and 44-14-190 with proposed changes
  16. Georgia General Assembly: House Bill 948 status page (last action: Senate Read Second Time; not enacted)
  17. GeorgiaLegalAid.org: What to Know About Foreclosure (reviewed February 13, 2026)
  18. GeorgiaLegalAid.org: Georgia Foreclosure Law Help and Legal Aid
  19. Atlanta Legal Aid Society brochure: Facing Foreclosure? (updated 2024), hosted on GeorgiaLegalAid.org
  20. Georgia DCA public notice, February 26, 2026: Georgia Mortgage Assistance Announces Revised Final Application Deadline
  21. Georgia DCA: Georgia Mortgage Assistance Program
  22. U.S. Department of the Treasury: Homeowner Assistance Fund
  23. Georgia Department of Banking and Finance: I have a question or complaint about my mortgage company
  24. Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division: File a Complaint
  25. Georgia Department of Revenue: Unclaimed Property
  26. State Bar of Georgia FAQ: Where can I get an attorney referral?