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Minnesota · Weigh your options

How to stop a foreclosure in Minnesota

You can stop a Minnesota foreclosure by getting a workout from your servicer, reinstating the loan any time before the sheriff's sale, or redeeming the home after it. State law also bars dual tracking, lets a homestead owner postpone the sale once, and lets you sue to stop a sale if the servicer broke the loss mitigation rules. Bankruptcy is a last resort that pauses the sale.

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

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

Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in Minnesota

  • Call the counseling agency in your preforeclosure notice

    The week the notice arrives

    The lender must give your contact information to a nonprofit counseling agency. When the agency starts working with you, it sends the lender a form, and the lender must reply within 15 days with the name of an agent who can negotiate.

    Minn. Stat. § 580.021, subds. 3, 4

  • Apply for loss mitigation

    Before referral to an attorney, or before midnight of the 7th business day before the sale

    If your application arrives after a sale is set but before that cutoff, the servicer must halt the sale and review it. After a denial or a rejected offer, it must wait 60 days before holding the sale. The federal 37-day protection may also apply.

    Minn. Stat. § 582.043, subd. 6

  • Reinstate the loan

    Any time before the sheriff's sale

    Pay the missed amount plus interest, insurance, delinquent taxes, notice costs and limited attorney fees, and the foreclosure must be dropped. The lender must give you the figure within three days of your request, and it is good for seven days.

    Minn. Stat. § 580.30, subd. 1

  • Postpone the sale by affidavit

    At least 15 days before the sale date in the notice

    Sign the sworn affidavit, record it with the county recorder or registrar of titles, and give copies to the sheriff and the foreclosing attorney. The sale moves 5 months later, or 11 months for a 12-month redemption case, but your redemption period becomes five weeks.

    Minn. Stat. § 580.07, subds. 2, 3

  • Sue over loss mitigation violations

    Before your redemption period ends

    If the servicer sold or plans to sell in violation of the dual tracking rules, you can ask a court to stop or undo the sale, with attorney fees if you win. You must record a lis pendens before the redemption period runs out.

    Minn. Stat. § 582.043, subd. 7

  • Talk to a bankruptcy attorney

    Before the sheriff's sale

    Filing pauses the sale through the automatic stay. If you already recorded a postponement affidavit, your choice of a five-week redemption period still applies after the stay ends.

    11 U.S.C. § 362(a); Minn. Stat. § 580.07, subd. 2(b)

  • Redeem after the sale

    Within the redemption period, usually 6 months

    Pay the sale price plus interest at the rate in the sheriff's certificate and allowed costs. A refinance, a sale of the home, or family help can make this possible.

    Minn. Stat. § 580.23

What Minnesota law gives you

The right to catch up and stop the sale

Right to reinstate

You have a right under state law to reinstate at any time before the sheriff's sale. You must pay the amount actually in default, plus interest, any unpaid insurance and delinquent property taxes, the costs of publishing and serving the notice, and limited attorney fees. You do not have to pay the full loan balance.

Minn. Stat. § 580.30

Foreclosure mediation

No statewide program

We did not find a statewide foreclosure mediation program for Minnesota homeowners. State law instead requires the servicer to review you for loss mitigation, and it lets a homestead owner postpone the sheriff's sale once, by 5 months or, in 12-month redemption cases, 11 months.

Foreclosure prevention counseling notice

Before recording the foreclosure on an owner-occupied home of one to four units, the lender must send you a notice about free counseling and give your name, address and phone number to an approved counseling agency within one week.

Minn. Stat. §§ 580.021, 580.022

Dual tracking limits

A servicer cannot refer your loan to foreclosure while a complete loss mitigation application is pending. If your application arrives after a sale is set but before midnight of the seventh business day before the sale, the servicer must halt the sale and review it, and after a denial or a rejected offer it must wait 60 days before holding the sale.

Minn. Stat. § 582.043, subd. 6

Right to postpone the sale

The owner of a homestead with one to four units can postpone the sheriff's sale once, by 5 months if the redemption period would be six months or 11 months if it would be 12 months, by recording a sworn affidavit and delivering copies to the sheriff and the foreclosing attorney. The trade-off is a five-week redemption period. Since August 1, 2025 this also applies to foreclosure by action.

Minn. Stat. § 580.07, subd. 2

No deficiency in most home foreclosures

When the lender forecloses by advertisement with a six-month redemption period, it cannot get a judgment against you for any shortfall.

Minn. Stat. § 582.30, subd. 2

Right to sue over loss mitigation violations

You can ask a court to stop or set aside a sale if the servicer broke the loss mitigation rules. You must record a notice of the lawsuit before your redemption period ends.

Minn. Stat. § 582.043

The options your servicer can offer

Common questions in Minnesota

Is there foreclosure mediation for Minnesota homeowners?

We did not find a statewide mediation program for Minnesota homes. Instead, Minn. Stat. § 582.043 requires most servicers to review you for every loss mitigation option before foreclosing, and § 580.021 connects you with a free counselor who can negotiate for you. Nothing requires the servicer to agree to a particular option.

Should I use Minnesota's five-month postponement?

It depends on your plan. The postponement under Minn. Stat. § 580.07, subd. 2 gives you more time before the sale, but you give up most of your redemption period, which becomes five weeks. The Attorney General suggests getting advice first, so talk to a foreclosure counselor or legal aid before you record it.

What if my Minnesota servicer sold my home while my application was pending?

Minn. Stat. § 582.043, subd. 7 lets you sue to set the sale aside, and you can recover attorney fees if you win. You must record a lis pendens before your redemption period ends, or the law presumes the servicer followed the rules. Contact legal aid quickly.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Minnesota

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. Minn. Stat. § 580.022, Forms (Preforeclosure Notice)
  2. Minn. Stat. § 580.032, Request for notice; notice of pendency
  3. Minn. Stat. § 580.04, Requisites of notice
  4. Minn. Stat. § 580.12, Certificate of sale
  5. Minn. Stat. § 580.225, Satisfaction of mortgage
  6. Minn. Stat. § 580.24, Redemption by creditor
  7. Minn. Stat. § 504B.285, Eviction actions; grounds
  8. Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, Complaint and summons
  9. Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, Judgment; execution
  10. Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, Execution of the writ of recovery
  11. Laws of Minnesota 2025, chapter 35, article 10 (Mortgage Foreclosure)
  12. Minnesota Homeownership Center
  13. Minn. Stat. § 580.021, Foreclosure prevention counseling
  14. Minn. Stat. § 580.03, Notice of sale; service on occupant
  15. Minn. Stat. § 580.041, Foreclosure advice notice to owner
  16. Minn. Stat. § 580.07, Postponement
  17. Minn. Stat. § 580.10, Surplus
  18. Minn. Stat. § 580.23, Redemption by mortgagor
  19. Minn. Stat. § 580.30, Mortgages, when reinstated
  20. Minn. Stat. § 582.032, Five-week redemption period for abandoned property
  21. Minn. Stat. § 582.043, Loss mitigation; mortgage foreclosure dual tracking
  22. Minn. Stat. § 582.30, Deficiency judgments
  23. Minn. Stat. § 325N.03, Contract
  24. Minn. Stat. § 325N.04, Violations
  25. Minnesota Attorney General, Facing Mortgage Foreclosure
  26. Minnesota Judicial Branch, Foreclosures
  27. Minnesota Housing, Deadline to apply for HomeHelpMN is July 7