- Who sends it
- Your lender or servicer, with the 90-day Right to Cure Notice, by first-class and certified mail
- What it starts
- 30 days to tell the lender, in writing, whether you want a modification or another option
- Do this first
- Fill in the options form and mail it back well before day 30, keeping proof of mailing
What this notice is in Massachusetts
M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B applies to a "certain mortgage loan": a personal loan on an owner-occupied home of 4 or fewer units that has at least one risky feature. The list includes a teaser rate of 3 years or less that is at least 2 points below the fully indexed rate, interest-only payments, a payment option that does not fully pay down the loan, no full documentation of income or assets, prepayment penalties above legal limits, a loan-to-value of 90 percent or more with a debt-to-income ratio above 38 percent, or a combined loan-to-value above 95 percent. Loans from MassHousing and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund are not covered.
The Division of Banks calls this the Right to Request a Modified Mortgage Loan Notice, and it comes with a Mortgage Modification Options Form. It must include contact information for the Attorney General's modification help, and a copy goes to the Attorney General.
How to count your 30 days
- You have 30 days after the notice is delivered to tell the lender whether you want a modified loan, another option such as a short sale or deed in lieu, or to go ahead without a modification. Proof of delivery by the Postal Service or a similar carrier is treated as proof you got it.
- If you ask for a modification, the lender must send you a written assessment within 30 days. It must cover your income and debts, its net present value analysis, what it expects to recover from a foreclosure, and either a modification offer or a statement that it will not offer one.
- You then have 30 days after you receive the assessment to accept, make a reasonable written counteroffer with supporting papers, or decline. If you counteroffer, the lender has 30 days to answer.
- The whole process must take no longer than 150 days. The Division of Banks says this 150-day review still applies even though the cure period itself is now 90 days.
What it does and does not mean
- It is not an offer. It is your chance to ask for one and have the lender compare a modified loan with what it would get from a foreclosure.
- Before the lender can publish a notice of sale, it must record an affidavit at the registry of deeds saying it followed section 35B.
- If you do not answer within 30 days, you lose this review and keep only the regular cure period in your 90-day Right to Cure Notice.
- Section 35B still mentions a 150-day cure period in places. The Division of Banks says the cure period is 90 days for everyone, so do not count on extra time.
What to do this week
- Check the box for the option you want on the options form, sign it and mail it back by a method that gives you proof of delivery.
- Gather pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements and a hardship letter so you can answer the lender's requests fast.
- Ask a free HUD-approved housing counselor to help you review any offer before day 30 after you get it.
- If the lender misses its 30 days, call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400.
- Read our national loss mitigation letters page and how long a Massachusetts foreclosure takes.
The rest of the Massachusetts process
See how foreclosure works in Massachusetts, the timeline, ways to stop it and free help in Massachusetts, or read the national guide to this letter.
Common questions
How long do I have to return the Massachusetts modification options form?
30 days after the notice is delivered to you, under M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B(c). If you miss it, you keep only the regular 90-day right to cure.
Does every Massachusetts homeowner get this notice?
No. Only borrowers with a certain mortgage loan, meaning an owner-occupied home loan with at least one risky feature listed in section 35B, get it. Anyone can still ask a servicer for a modification.
Can a Massachusetts lender advertise a sale while my modification request is pending?
It must first record an affidavit at the registry of deeds that it complied with section 35B. If you returned the form on time and never got the written assessment, tell a lawyer or legal aid before the sale.
Other Massachusetts letters
- Right to Cure Notice (90-day notice)Before a Massachusetts lender can call your whole loan due or start a foreclosure for missed payments, it must send you this notice and wait at least 90 days. If you pay the past-due amount by the cure date, the lender cannot speed up the loan for that default. You get this right once in any 5-year period.
- Servicemembers Complaint and Order of NoticeA Servicemembers case is a short court case a lender files, usually in the Land Court, before it forecloses. It decides only whether an owner has military protections under federal law. It is not the foreclosure itself, but it is a sign that a sale notice may come soon.
- Notice of Intention to Foreclose and of Deficiency After Foreclosure of MortgageThis registered-mail notice warns that you may owe money if the foreclosure sale brings in less than the debt. A Massachusetts lender can sue you for that shortfall only if it mailed this notice at least 21 days before the sale. It also tells you a sale is close.
- Mortgagee's Sale of Real Estate (notice of sale)This is the notice of the foreclosure auction. It must run in a local newspaper once a week for 3 weeks, the first at least 21 days before the sale, and be mailed to you by registered mail at least 14 days before. In Massachusetts the auction itself ends your right to redeem.
- Notice to Quit and Summary Process Summons and ComplaintAfter a Massachusetts foreclosure auction, the new owner must use a court eviction case, called summary process, to remove you. It usually starts with a written notice to quit, then a Summary Process Summons and Complaint. You cannot be locked out without a court judgment.