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Michigan · Weigh your options

How to stop a foreclosure in Michigan

In Michigan there is no court hearing before a foreclosure by advertisement, so most ways to stop it involve your servicer, the timing of the sale, or the redemption period after it. Each has a cutoff, so start early. None of these is guaranteed to work. A housing counselor or legal aid can help you pick the right path.

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

Reviewed against Michigan law and official sources on October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in Michigan

  • Apply for help through your servicer and a counselor

    As early as possible; more than 37 days before the sale for federal review protection

    Ask your servicer for a loss mitigation application, such as a loan modification, forbearance or repayment plan, and send everything it asks for. Use the MSHDA Housing Education Locator to find a free housing counselor who can help.

    12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(g)

  • Catch up or pay off the loan

    Before the sheriff's sale

    Michigan Legal Help says you can avoid the sale during the notice period by paying all missed payments and late fees, refinancing or selling. No Michigan statute we found requires the lender to accept a catch-up payment, so ask your servicer for a written reinstatement quote right away.

  • Ask the lender to adjourn the sale

    Before the scheduled sale time

    Only the party foreclosing can ask the sheriff to adjourn. If you have a pending application or a plan to pay, ask your servicer and the foreclosing attorney named in the notice to request an adjournment, and get any agreement in writing.

    MCL 600.3212(1)(h), 600.3220

  • Raise problems with the foreclosure

    Before the sale if at all possible

    A foreclosure by advertisement must follow the rules: the party foreclosing must have a recorded right to foreclose, and the notice must be published, posted and contain the required information. Because there is no hearing, raising these problems means going to court, so talk to legal aid or a licensed attorney quickly.

    MCL 600.3204, 600.3208, 600.3212

  • Tell the lender your home is not abandoned

    Within 15 days of an abandonment notice, or before redemption ends

    If you get a notice saying the lender considers your home abandoned, send written notice by first-class mail within 15 days that it is not, to the address in the notice. Under the other abandonment rule, give the lender a sworn statement that you live there or plan to, and record a copy with the register of deeds. This protects your full redemption period.

    MCL 600.3241, 600.3241a

  • Redeem after the sale

    Before the redemption period ends

    Even after the sheriff's sale, you can keep the home by paying the winning bid, interest at your mortgage rate, the sheriff's fee and certain costs the buyer paid, such as taxes and insurance. Michigan Legal Help says refinancing or selling during this time are other ways to use it.

    MCL 600.3240

  • Bankruptcy stay

    Before the sheriff's sale

    Filing bankruptcy stops a foreclosure sale while the stay lasts. Bankruptcy has serious costs and effects, so talk to a licensed bankruptcy attorney or legal aid before filing.

    11 U.S.C. § 362(a)

What Michigan law gives you

The right to catch up and stop the sale

Limited right

We did not find a Michigan statute that gives you a right to catch up on missed payments and cancel a foreclosure by advertisement. Michigan Legal Help says you can avoid the sale during the notice period by paying all missed payments and late fees, refinancing, selling, or getting a loan modification. Whether your lender must accept a catch-up payment depends on your mortgage and loan type, so ask your servicer for a written reinstatement quote right away.

Foreclosure mediation

No statewide program

Michigan has no foreclosure mediation program today. The law that once required a pre-foreclosure meeting and loan modification review was repealed effective June 30, 2013.

You can stay during redemption

You may live in the home through the redemption period without making mortgage payments. The buyer must give at least 72 hours' notice before an interior inspection, and damage to the property during this time can lead to an eviction case before the period ends.

MCL 600.3238, 600.3240

Fair value defense to a deficiency

When the lender buys at its own sale and then sues for a shortfall, you can argue the home was worth the debt or the bid was far too low.

MCL 600.3280

The foreclosing party must have a recorded right to foreclose

The party foreclosing must own the debt or be the servicing agent. If it is not the original lender, a recorded chain of mortgage assignments must exist before the sale.

MCL 600.3204

Required contents of the notice

The notice must state the amount claimed, the length of the redemption period, the foreclosing attorney's name and phone number, and a message to military service members.

MCL 600.3212

You can stop a shortened abandonment redemption period

If the lender posts and mails a notice saying it considers your home abandoned, send the lender written notice by first-class mail, within 15 days, at the address in the notice, saying the home is not abandoned. That keeps your full redemption period.

MCL 600.3241a

The options your servicer can offer

Common questions in Michigan

Does Michigan have a foreclosure mediation program?

No. Michigan's old pre-foreclosure meeting and loan modification review law (MCL 600.3205a to 600.3205d) was repealed effective June 30, 2013, and we found no replacement. You can still work with a free housing counselor, who can talk with your servicer for you.

Can I sell my Michigan home to stop the foreclosure?

Michigan Legal Help lists selling as one way to avoid the sheriff's sale during the notice period. If the sale has already happened, you may still be able to pay off the redemption amount during the redemption period under MCL 600.3240. A sale for less than you owe needs the lender's approval, so talk to your servicer and a counselor first.

Can I stop a Michigan property tax foreclosure?

You can redeem by paying the delinquent taxes, interest, penalties and fees before the deadline, which is March 31 after the foreclosure judgment, or 21 days after judgment in a contested case (MCL 211.78k). The law also lets the court hold back a property or extend the redemption period in some hardship cases. Call your county treasurer as early as you can.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Michigan

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 Michigan overview

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Sources for this page

  1. MCL 600.3216, Sale; time and place
  2. MCL 600.3241, Abandonment of premises; presumption
  3. MCL 600.3241a, Abandoned residential property; notice
  4. MCL 600.5714, Summary proceedings to recover possession
  5. MCL 600.5744, Writ of restitution; timing
  6. MCL 211.78g, Tax delinquency; forfeiture to county treasurer
  7. MCL 211.78k, Tax foreclosure judgment; redemption
  8. MCL 211.78t, Claims for remaining proceeds after tax foreclosure
  9. MCL 600.3204, Foreclosure by advertisement; circumstances
  10. MCL 600.3205a to 600.3205d, Repealed
  11. MCL 600.3208, Notice of foreclosure; publication; posting
  12. MCL 600.3212, Notice of foreclosure by advertisement; contents
  13. MCL 600.3220, Sale; adjournment
  14. MCL 600.3238, Inspection of property during redemption
  15. MCL 600.3240, Redemption of premises
  16. MCL 600.3252, Disposition of surplus money
  17. MCL 600.3280, Foreclosure by advertisement; deficiency; defenses
  18. MCL 445.1822, Credit Services Protection Act, definitions
  19. MCL 445.1823, Credit Services Protection Act, prohibited conduct
  20. Michigan Legal Help, Foreclosure and Eviction for Homeowners
  21. MSHDA, Michigan Homeowner Assistance Fund application period to end December 8, 2023