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Massachusetts · Weigh your options

How to stop a foreclosure in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts the firm cutoff is the auction itself: once the home is sold under the power of sale, your right to redeem is gone. Before that, you can cure during the 90-day period, apply for a modification, ask for a short delay through the Division of Banks, challenge a flawed foreclosure in court, or file bankruptcy. None of these is a promise of a result.

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

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

Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in Massachusetts

  • Cure the default within 90 days

    By the cure date on your right to cure notice

    Pay the past-due amount shown on the notice, plus allowed late fees and daily interest. The lender cannot charge you a fee for using the right to cure, or attorney fees for the cure period. After the 90 days, the lender may still allow reinstatement, but the law does not require it.

    M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A(d)

  • Apply for a loan modification or other option

    As early as possible, and before the sale

    The Attorney General says you can use the cure period to apply for a loan modification, and that you can apply even if you never got a right-to-modify notice. If you got the section 35B notice, return the election form within 30 days. Send everything in writing and keep copies.

    M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B

  • Ask the Division of Banks for a short delay

    When the auction is within the next 7 days

    The Massachusetts Division of Banks can make a one-time request asking your servicer to pause the foreclosure for up to 60 days. The servicer does not have to agree, so keep working on your application at the same time.

  • Challenge a flawed foreclosure in court

    Before the auction, by filing your own case

    Massachusetts courts require lenders to follow the default notice in the mortgage strictly, and a lender must hold the note or act for the note holder. Problems with these steps can void a sale. You have to start a case and usually ask a judge for an order stopping the sale, so get a lawyer.

    M.G.L. c. 244, § 35C; Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co., 472 Mass. 226 (2015)

  • Claim military protection

    Before the return day on the Order of Notice

    If you or someone you depend on is on active duty and the mortgage started before that service, file an Answer in the Servicemembers case. Where the protection applies, the Land Court says the lender cannot foreclose without a court order or your written agreement.

    Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

  • Sell the home or redeem it

    Any time before the foreclosure sale

    Your right to cure notice must tell you that you may sell the home before the sale and use the money to pay off the mortgage, or redeem by paying the total amount due. Ask the servicer for a written payoff figure.

    M.G.L. c. 244, §§ 18, 35A(c)

  • File bankruptcy

    Before the auction

    MassLegalHelp says the bankruptcy petition must be filed before the foreclosure sale to stop it. Chapter 13 can give you up to 5 years to repay what you are behind, while Chapter 7 may only delay the sale. Talk to a bankruptcy lawyer first.

    11 U.S.C. § 362

What Massachusetts law gives you

The right to catch up and stop the sale

Limited right

You have a 90-day right to cure by paying everything that is past due, without the full loan balance being called due. This right applies to your principal residence with four or fewer units, and you get it only once in any five-year period. After the 90 days end, state law does not guarantee a right to reinstate, so any later chance to catch up depends on your mortgage terms and your servicer.

M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A

Foreclosure mediation

No statewide program

Massachusetts does not have a statewide foreclosure mediation program. A 2024 law (the Affordable Homes Act) created a voluntary foreclosure mediation pilot run by the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration at UMass Boston in up to five communities, but only if the state funds it. We could not confirm that the pilot is operating. If you live in a pilot community, the offer would come attached to your 90-day right to cure notice, with 15 days to send back the request form.

90-day right to cure

The lender cannot speed up the loan or foreclose until at least 90 days after a written default notice that tells you the amount to cure, the deadline, and who to contact if you dispute the default.

M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A

Good faith effort to avoid foreclosure on certain loans

For loans with risky features, such as interest-only payments or short teaser rates, the lender cannot publish a sale notice until it has compared the value of a modified loan with what it expects to recover from a foreclosure.

M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B

The foreclosing party must hold the note

A lender may not publish a foreclosure notice when it knows or should know that it is not the holder of the mortgage note or the note holder's authorized agent. It must record an affidavit of compliance at the registry of deeds first.

M.G.L. c. 244, § 35C

Division of Banks request for a delay

If an auction is set within the next seven days, the Division of Banks can make a one-time request asking your servicer for a 30 to 60 day stay. The servicer does not have to agree.

Itemized accounting after the sale

The lender must send you a written breakdown of the sale price, legal fees, auctioneer fees and other costs, and any surplus due to you.

M.G.L. c. 183, § 27

The options your servicer can offer

Common questions in Massachusetts

Does Massachusetts have foreclosure mediation?

There is no statewide program. The Affordable Homes Act of 2024 allows a voluntary mediation pilot run by the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration in up to 5 communities, if it is funded. In a pilot community, the offer would come attached to your right to cure notice, and you would have 15 days to send back the request form.

What does the Massachusetts Division of Banks do if my auction is days away?

If your auction is within the next 7 days, its Consumer Assistance Unit at (617) 956-1501 can make a one-time request asking the servicer for a pause of up to 60 days. The Attorney General notes that the request is not guaranteed to postpone the sale.

Can I be charged lawyer fees to cure my default in Massachusetts?

Not for the cure period. Section 35A says you are not liable for the lender's attorney fees tied to your default that were incurred before or during the cure period, and you cannot be charged a fee for using the right to cure. You do have to pay allowed late fees and daily interest.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Massachusetts

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.

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Sources for this page

  1. M.G.L. c. 244, § 15, Copy of notice; affidavit; recording
  2. M.G.L. c. 244, § 15A, Mortgagee taking possession or conveying title; notice
  3. M.G.L. c. 239, § 1, Persons entitled to summary process
  4. Land Court, Frequently asked questions about Servicemembers cases
  5. Division of Banks, FAQ about the January 1, 2016 updates to the Right to Cure Notice
  6. Division of Banks, Help for Distressed Homeowners
  7. MassLegalHelp, Homeowners facing foreclosure (reviewed October 2025)
  8. M.G.L. c. 244, § 14, Foreclosure under power of sale
  9. M.G.L. c. 244, § 17A, Limitation of actions
  10. M.G.L. c. 244, § 17B, Notice of intention to foreclose
  11. M.G.L. c. 244, § 18, Persons authorized to redeem
  12. M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A, Right to cure a default
  13. M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B, Good faith effort to avoid foreclosure
  14. M.G.L. c. 244, § 35C, Creditor actions in violation of chapter
  15. M.G.L. c. 183, § 27, Disposition of proceeds of foreclosure sale
  16. Acts of 2024, Chapter 150 (Affordable Homes Act), foreclosure mediation pilot
  17. Mass.gov, Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF)
  18. Mass. Attorney General, Frequently asked questions about mortgages and foreclosure
  19. Mass. Attorney General, Preventing Foreclosure
  20. Mass. Attorney General, Foreclosure-related scams
  21. 940 CMR 25.00, Foreclosure rescue transactions and foreclosure-related services
  22. Land Court Servicemembers Cases Resources
  23. Trial Court Law Libraries, Massachusetts law about mortgage foreclosure