Skip to main content
How to Avoid
Foreclosure
Get free help

Kentucky · Get help now

Free foreclosure help in Kentucky

In Kentucky, free help starts with the Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, HUD-approved housing counselors and the state's four legal aid programs. Once court papers arrive, a lawyer matters more than anything else, because the answer deadline is only 20 days. No one legitimate will charge you an upfront fee to stop a foreclosure, and Kentucky law forbids it on mortgage debt.

Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

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

Ask for help in Kentucky

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 not behind yet but expect trouble

    Before you miss a payment

    Call your servicer and ask about hardship options, then visit Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center (Protect My Kentucky Home) for alternatives to foreclosure and its directory of housing counselors. If you are 65 or older or totally disabled, see Kentucky Department of Revenue: Homestead Exemption for a property tax reduction you apply for through your county property valuation administrator.

  • You are behind but have no court papers

    Within the first 120 days of missed payments

    Ask your servicer for the loss mitigation department and send a complete application. Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center (Protect My Kentucky Home) tells homeowners to call the servicer first and offers free guidance. The Team Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund is closed, so do not wait for state money.

  • You were served with a summons and complaint

    Right away; you have 20 days to answer

    Use Kentucky Justice Online: Find Legal Help Near You to find which legal aid program covers your county and apply. If you do not qualify, Kentucky Bar Association: Lawyer Referral Services lists the regional referral services. Kentucky Court of Justice: Legal Self-Help has court information if you must respond on your own.

    Ky. R. Civ. P. 12.01

  • A master commissioner's sale date is set

    The same day you learn of it

    Call your legal aid program or a licensed attorney and your servicer the same day. Ask the master commissioner's office in your county to confirm the sale date and the appraised value. Read Kentucky Justice Online: Foreclosure for what happens at and after the sale.

  • Your servicer or lender is not following the rules

    As soon as you have it in writing

    File with Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions: Submit an Online Complaint, which covers mortgage lenders and loan officers it regulates. The department cannot act as your lawyer, so keep working with legal aid or an attorney on the court case at the same time.

  • A rescue company or investor contacted you

    Before you sign or pay anything

    In Kentucky, anyone who charges for foreclosure assistance is a debt adjuster. They may not take a fee on mortgage debt before all promised services are done, they must register with the Attorney General, and you can cancel within 14 days. Report problems through Kentucky Attorney General: Consumer Complaints, and never sign a deed or power of attorney without advice from legal aid or an attorney.

    KRS 380.010; KRS 380.040; KRS 380.060

Official and nonprofit help in Kentucky

None of these charge homeowners for foreclosure help.

Team Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund

The Team Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund is closed. The Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, run by Kentucky Housing Corporation, says the fund stopped taking applications on June 30, 2025 and that no new applications can be made. The U.S. Treasury also reports that the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund ended on September 30, 2026. We did not find another state mortgage payment program that is open now. The Protection Center (Protect My Kentucky Home) still points homeowners to free housing counseling and legal aid. Separately, homeowners who are 65 or older or totally disabled can apply to their county property valuation administrator for the homestead exemption, which lowers the taxable value of the home ($49,100 for the 2025 to 2026 assessment years).

Check the program’s current status

Common questions in Kentucky

Who gives free foreclosure legal help in Kentucky?

Kentucky has four civil legal aid programs that divide the state by county: AppalReD Legal Aid, Kentucky Legal Aid, Legal Aid of the Bluegrass and Legal Aid Society. Kentucky Justice Online has a county search that shows which one serves you. Each program sets its own eligibility rules and may not be able to take every case.

Is the Team Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund still open?

No. The Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center says the fund stopped taking applications on June 30, 2025, that unfinished applications will not be accepted, and that no new applications can be made. Use only protectmykyhome.org for official information; the state warns that look-alike sites are not affiliated with it.

Does the Kentucky Bar Association have a lawyer referral service?

Not its own. The Kentucky Bar Association lists three regional lawyer referral services that it is not affiliated with, covering Central Kentucky, the Louisville area and Northern Kentucky. Attorneys from these services may charge fees.

Is it legal for a company to charge upfront for foreclosure help in Kentucky?

Not on mortgage debt. KRS 380.040 bars a debt adjuster from accepting any fee in advance of the complete performance of all promised services when the debt is secured by a mortgage on a home, and it says putting the fee in escrow is also prohibited. Kentucky attorneys acting in their law practice are exempt from the chapter.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Kentucky

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 Kentucky overview

Free, official, nationwide

Free help anywhere in the country

Sources for this page

  1. Kentucky Court of Justice, Master Commissioners (auction websites for judicial sales)
  2. Kentucky Justice Online, Find Legal Help Near You
  3. CFPB, Regulation X, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 Loss mitigation procedures
  4. 11 U.S.C. § 362, Automatic stay (Legal Information Institute)
  5. KRS 426.005, Personal judgment in action to enforce mortgage or lien
  6. KRS 426.006, Other liens to be stated in action to enforce lien
  7. KRS 426.205, Sale of vacant and abandoned real property
  8. KRS 426.260, Motion for possession by purchaser
  9. KRS 426.500, Surplus proceeds of sale
  10. KRS 426.520, Appraisal of real property before judicial sale
  11. KRS 426.522, Public, judicial sale by licensed auctioneer (amended effective July 15, 2026)
  12. KRS 426.525, Mortgage foreclosure forbidden; rights of mortgagee after default
  13. KRS 426.530, Right of redemption
  14. KRS 426.540, Redemption right may be sold; report of sale
  15. KRS 426.560, Newspaper advertisement required in execution and judicial sales
  16. KRS 426.700, Time, place and terms of sale; notice
  17. KRS 426.705, Bond required of purchaser
  18. KRS 424.130, Times and periods of publication
  19. KRS 454.165, Personal judgment against defendant constructively summoned forbidden
  20. KRS 427.060, Homestead exemption; exceptions
  21. KRS 286.2-020, Required disclosure of Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center services
  22. KRS 380.010, Debt adjusting definitions
  23. KRS 380.030, Persons exempt from classification as debt adjuster
  24. KRS 380.040, Persons engaged in debt adjusting: prohibitions and registration
  25. KRS 380.060, Contract, disclosure and debtor's right to cancel
  26. KRS 380.110, Cause of action for violation of KRS Chapter 380
  27. Supreme Court of Kentucky Order 2024-40 (corrected, entered January 21, 2025), AP Part IV, Master Commissioners of the Circuit Court
  28. Jefferson Circuit Court local rules
  29. Jefferson Circuit Court Master Commissioner
  30. Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, home page (HAF closure notice)
  31. Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, Homeowner Assistance Fund eligibility page
  32. Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, Foreclosure Process
  33. Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center, Resources
  34. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Homeowner Assistance Fund
  35. Kentucky Justice Online, Foreclosure (last updated August 20, 2024)
  36. Kentucky Court of Justice, Legal Self-Help
  37. Kentucky Attorney General, Consumer Complaints
  38. Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, Submit an Online Complaint
  39. Kentucky Bar Association, Lawyer Referral Services
  40. Kentucky Department of Revenue, Homestead Exemption