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New Hampshire · Weigh your options

How to stop a foreclosure in New Hampshire

In New Hampshire most ways to stop a foreclosure must be used before the auction, because the sale can come just 45 days after your notice. The most important state-specific tool is a petition in superior court to enjoin the sale, which you must file and serve before the sale or lose most later challenges. Catching up on what you owe and applying for help with your servicer also work only before the sale. None of these is guaranteed to work in your case.

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

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

Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in New Hampshire

  • Apply to your servicer for a loan modification or other help

    As early as possible; at least 38 days before the sale per 603 Legal Aid

    603 Legal Aid says that if you send a complete application at least 38 days before the scheduled sale, the servicer must adjourn the sale, which reflects the federal loss mitigation rules. A free HUD-approved housing counselor can help you put the application together.

    12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(g)

  • Reinstate the loan

    Up to the foreclosure sale

    The Banking Department and 603 Legal Aid say you can stop the sale by paying all past-due payments plus costs, fees, late fees and penalties. Ask the servicer for the exact amount in writing, because it keeps growing.

  • Pay off the loan (redeem before the sale)

    Before the foreclosure sale

    State law lets you redeem by paying everything the mortgage secures, plus damages and costs, before the foreclosure. This usually means a refinance or the sale of the home.

    RSA 479:18

  • Petition the superior court to enjoin the sale

    Filed and served on the lender before the sale

    File a Complaint to Enjoin Foreclosure Sale in the superior court for your county and serve the lender or the agent conducting the sale. You must give the judge a reason the sale should not go forward, and the court may require a bond. 603 Legal Aid may be able to help with this.

    RSA 479:25, II(c)

  • Raise problems with the notice

    Before the sale if possible; never later than 1 year and 1 day after the deed is recorded

    If the notice reached you less than 45 days before the sale of your home, or left out required information, tell legal aid at once. Raising it before the sale in a petition to enjoin is far safer than waiting.

    RSA 479:25, II, II-a

  • Ask the lender to adjourn the sale

    Before the sale

    603 Legal Aid suggests asking the lender or servicer to postpone and giving a reason, such as a pending modification or a pending sale of the home. The lender does not have to agree. If it does, get it in writing.

  • Bankruptcy

    Before the sale is held

    603 Legal Aid says a bankruptcy filing automatically stops the sale, and Chapter 13 can give you up to 5 years to catch up if you can make regular payments. It has serious effects, so talk to legal aid or a licensed bankruptcy attorney first.

    11 U.S.C. § 362(a)

What New Hampshire law gives you

The right to catch up and stop the sale

Limited right

The power of sale statute does not set a reinstatement deadline. The New Hampshire Banking Department and 603 Legal Aid both say that up to the foreclosure sale you can reinstate by paying all past-due payments plus costs, fees, late fees and penalties, not just the missed payments. State law also lets you redeem before foreclosure by paying everything the mortgage secures plus costs. Get the exact amount from your servicer in writing.

RSA 479:18

Foreclosure mediation

No statewide program

We did not find a statewide foreclosure mediation program in New Hampshire. The foreclosure statute does not create one, and the Banking Department and New Hampshire Housing point homeowners to free HUD-approved housing counselors and legal aid instead. The courts' Office of Mediation and Arbitration offers free eviction diversion mediation, but that program is for landlord and tenant cases, not for stopping a foreclosure sale.

45 days' notice and a free hotline

For a mortgage on a home with 1 to 4 units, the notice of sale must reach you at least 45 days before the sale. If you live in the home, the notice must also name the lender's agent for legal papers and give the Banking Department's free foreclosure hotline number.

RSA 479:25, II(a), (b)

Right to ask the superior court to stop the sale

Every notice of sale must tell you that you can petition the superior court in your county to enjoin the sale, with service on the lender and any bond the court requires. If you do not file and serve that petition before the sale, you generally lose any later claim that the foreclosure was invalid. The New Hampshire Supreme Court applied that rule even to a homeowner who raised it later in the eviction case.

RSA 479:25, II(c); Bank of New York Mellon v. Dowgiert, No. 2015-0485 (N.H. 2016)

Lender must try to get a fair price

New Hampshire courts treat a lender selling under a power of sale as owing you a duty of good faith and due diligence. It must make every reasonable effort to get a fair and reasonable price under the circumstances.

Murphy v. Financial Development Corp., 126 N.H. 536 (1985); Bascom Constr. v. City Bank & Trust, 137 N.H. 472 (1993)

No lockout without a court order

A buyer at a foreclosure sale must give you written notice and then use the court eviction process to get possession. 603 Legal Aid says you cannot legally be put out on the day of the foreclosure, and only a sheriff can carry out a writ of possession.

RSA 540:12

The options your servicer can offer

Common questions in New Hampshire

What happens if I do not ask a New Hampshire court to stop the sale in time?

RSA 479:25 says that if you do not file and serve your petition before the sale, you are barred from any later action based on the validity of the foreclosure. In Bank of New York Mellon v. Dowgiert (2016), the New Hampshire Supreme Court applied this even when the homeowner raised the issue later in the eviction case.

What do I need to file to stop a foreclosure sale in New Hampshire?

The Judicial Branch form NHJB-2834-Se, Complaint to Enjoin Foreclosure Sale, asks for the sale date, what you did to stay current, any payment arrangement you tried, and specific reasons the sale would not be fair. You file it in the superior court for the county where the home is and serve the lender. The court may require a bond.

Does New Hampshire have foreclosure mediation?

We did not find a statewide foreclosure mediation program. The courts' free eviction diversion mediation is for landlord and tenant disputes, not foreclosure sales. New Hampshire Housing and the Banking Department point homeowners to free housing counselors and legal aid instead.

Can I sue a New Hampshire lender that sold my home for too little?

New Hampshire courts say a lender selling under a power of sale owes you a duty of good faith and due diligence to get a fair price (Murphy v. Financial Development Corp., 1985). Claims about how the sale was run must be brought within 1 year and 1 day after the foreclosure deed is recorded (RSA 479:25, II-a). Talk to a lawyer quickly.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in New Hampshire

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. RSA 479:25, Sale Under the Power
  2. RSA 479:26, Return; Effect
  3. RSA 479:27, Mortgagee May Buy
  4. RSA 479:18, Redemption After Condition Broken
  5. RSA 479:22, Decree for Sale
  6. RSA Chapter 479 table of contents, Mortgages of Realty
  7. RSA Chapter 479-B, Foreclosure Consultants and Pre-Foreclosure Conveyances
  8. RSA Chapter 540, Actions Against Tenants (including 540:12 and 540:13 as amended by 2026, 308:1)
  9. RSA 397-A:1, Definitions (dwelling)
  10. RSA 72:38-a, Tax Deferral for Elderly and Disabled
  11. New Hampshire Banking Department: Foreclosure Information & Assistance
  12. New Hampshire Banking Department: Foreclosure Information Guide (brochure)
  13. New Hampshire Banking Department: Consumer Complaints
  14. New Hampshire Housing: Resources for Homeowners
  15. New Hampshire Housing: NH Homeowner Assistance Fund Program to Close March 8
  16. U.S. Department of the Treasury: Homeowner Assistance Fund
  17. 603 Legal Aid: Foreclosure Basics
  18. 603 Legal Aid: A Walk Through Foreclosure Eviction
  19. 603 Legal Aid: Mortgage Scams
  20. New Hampshire Legal Assistance
  21. New Hampshire Department of Justice: Consumer Protection & Antitrust Bureau
  22. New Hampshire Department of Justice: Consumer Protection Hotline
  23. New Hampshire Judicial Branch: Complaint to Enjoin Foreclosure Sale (NHJB-2834-Se)
  24. New Hampshire Supreme Court: Bank of New York Mellon v. Dowgiert (2016)
  25. U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire: Hynes v. Bank of New York Mellon, 2019 DNH 187 (restating the Murphy and Bascom duty)
  26. New Hampshire Judicial Branch: Landlord/Tenant, District Division
  27. New Hampshire Bar Association: Lawyer Referral Service