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Kentucky · Weigh your options

How to stop a foreclosure in Kentucky

In Kentucky, the ways to stop or slow a foreclosure are working out a deal with your servicer, answering the lawsuit, objecting to a defective sale, bankruptcy, and in limited cases redeeming after the sale. Kentucky law does not give you a right to reinstate or a mediation program, so most outcomes depend on the servicer or the judge. None of these is guaranteed.

Ask for help in Kentucky Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

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

Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in Kentucky

  • Apply to your servicer for loss mitigation

    Best before the lawsuit; a complete application more than 37 days before the sale must be reviewed

    Call the servicer and ask for the loss mitigation department. The Kentucky Homeownership Protection Center can connect you with free housing counseling to help with the application. The state's Homeowner Assistance Fund stopped taking applications on June 30, 2025, so servicer options are the main path now.

    12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(c)(1)

  • Answer the complaint

    Within 20 days after you are served

    A written answer filed with the circuit court clerk keeps the lender from taking a default judgment. If your answer raises a legitimate defense, a commissioner's hearing may be held. It also matters for money: if you were only constructively summoned and never appear, the court cannot enter a personal judgment against you, so get legal advice about how you were served before you decide how to respond.

    Ky. R. Civ. P. 12.01; KRS 454.165

  • Work out a deal before the sale

    Any time until the home is actually sold

    Kentucky Housing Corporation says a homeowner can still reach a workout with the servicer until the property is sold, though the servicer is not legally required to agree. A workout is informal and does not go through the court, so get the terms in writing and confirm that the lender's lawyer has asked to withdraw the sale.

  • Pay the judgment

    Before the sale

    Kentucky's legal aid programs explain that the judgment gives you a short time to pay the full amount before the property is sold. This means the whole judgment, not only the missed payments, so it usually takes a refinance or a sale of the home.

  • Object to the report of sale

    After the sale and before the court confirms it

    The sale can be confirmed only if the commissioner's report is not objected to. If the home was not appraised, the notice was not published 7 to 21 days ahead, or the sale was not handled as the rules require, a lawyer can file objections (called exceptions) for you.

    KRS 426.540; KRS 426.520; Ky. AP Part IV, § 5

  • File bankruptcy

    Before the sale to stop it

    A bankruptcy filing puts an automatic stay on the case. Kentucky's legal aid programs explain that a Chapter 13 plan can let you catch up on the mortgage over three to five years while you make your regular payments. It has lasting costs, so talk to a bankruptcy attorney or legal aid first.

    11 U.S.C. § 362(a)

  • Redeem after the sale

    Within 6 months of the sale, only if it sold for less than two-thirds of appraised value

    Pay the circuit court clerk the purchase price plus 10% yearly interest and the buyer's reasonable costs for upkeep. The master commissioner then conveys the property back to you.

    KRS 426.530

What Kentucky law gives you

The right to catch up and stop the sale

No statutory right

Kentucky has no statute that gives you the right to stop a foreclosure by paying only the missed payments. State law allows the court to order a sale without giving extra time to pay. Your mortgage contract may still give you a right to reinstate, and your servicer can agree to a reinstatement or other workout at any point before the sale. Ask your servicer for a written reinstatement quote and check your loan documents.

KRS 426.005(2)

Foreclosure mediation

No statewide program

Kentucky has no statewide foreclosure mediation program. Jefferson County (Louisville) started a Foreclosure Conciliation Project in 2009 that homeowners had to request, but we could not confirm that it still operates: it is not in the current Jefferson Circuit Court local rules or on the master commissioner's website. If your case is in Jefferson County, ask the Legal Aid Society or the judge's office whether conciliation is offered. Anywhere in the state, you can ask the court or the lender's lawyer about a settlement talk.

Appraisal before the sale

The home must be appraised by two disinterested people before the commissioner sells it, and the written appraisal is filed in the court record before the sale. That appraisal is what the two-thirds redemption rule is measured against.

KRS 426.520; Ky. AP Part IV, § 5(2)

Two-thirds rule and 6 month redemption

If the home sells for less than two-thirds of its appraised value, you can redeem it within 6 months by paying the sale price, 10% yearly interest and the buyer's reasonable upkeep costs.

KRS 426.530

No personal judgment without real service

If you were only constructively summoned and never appeared in the case, the court cannot enter a personal money judgment against you. The home can still be sold.

KRS 454.165

No advance fees for foreclosure help

Anyone who charges for foreclosure assistance or mortgage debt negotiation in Kentucky is a debt adjuster. They cannot collect a fee on mortgage debt before all promised services are finished, and you can cancel the contract within 14 days.

KRS 380.010; KRS 380.040(2)(d); KRS 380.060

The options your servicer can offer

Common questions in Kentucky

Can I reinstate my mortgage after a foreclosure is filed in Kentucky?

Only if your loan contract allows it or your lender agrees. Kentucky has no statute giving a right to reinstate, and KRS 426.005 lets the court order a sale without giving time to pay. Ask the servicer for a written reinstatement quote as early as you can.

Does Kentucky have a foreclosure mediation program?

There is no statewide program. Jefferson County began a Foreclosure Conciliation Project in 2009, but we could not confirm that it still operates. If your case is in Louisville, ask legal aid or the judge's office whether conciliation is offered.

What is a warning order attorney in a Kentucky foreclosure?

When the lender cannot serve you in person, the court can use a warning order attorney to try to notify you. Kentucky Housing Corporation lists this as one of the two ways homeowners are served. Under KRS 454.165, a defendant who was only constructively summoned and did not appear cannot have a personal judgment entered against them, though the home can still be sold.

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

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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