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Free foreclosure help in Tennessee

Free foreclosure help is available in Tennessee, and who to call first depends on where you are in the process. The Tennessee Homeowner Assistance Fund is closed, so most help today is free counseling, legal aid and complaint handling. Every organization below is a government office, a court or a nonprofit, except the bar's attorney finder, which lists private lawyers. None of them should charge you an upfront fee to save your home.

Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

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

Ask for help in Tennessee

Free. A person replies with the options and official help that fit. Messages about a scheduled sale are answered first.

For example: a sale date, what your servicer has told you, or what changed in your income. Please do not include your loan number, Social Security number or bank details.

Free, and there is nothing to buy. A person reads your message and replies by email, or by phone if you leave a number. We never ask for a fee and we do not sell your details. See the privacy policy.

Who to call first, by situation

  • You are not behind yet but expect to be

    As soon as you see trouble coming

    Call your servicer and ask about hardship options. Then call Tennessee Housing Development Agency: Foreclosure Prevention at 1-888-HUD-THDA (483-8432) for free, confidential counseling with a HUD-certified counselor.

  • You are behind but no sale has been advertised

    Before you are 120 days behind

    Ask your servicer for a loss mitigation application and send everything it asks for. A THDA counselor can help you build a step-by-step plan. This is your best window, because a sale can follow just 20 days after the first newspaper notice.

  • You got a notice of trustee's sale

    The same week; the sale can be as soon as 20 days after the first ad

    Use Help4TN, run by the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, to find free civil legal help near you. Bring the certified mail notice, the envelope and your deed of trust.

    Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101(b), (d)

  • The sale date is close

    Today

    Call the trustee named on your notice to confirm the date and ask for a written reinstatement or payoff figure, and call your servicer about any pending application. If legal aid cannot take your case, the Tennessee Bar Association: Find an Attorney tool can help you find a licensed lawyer.

  • Your servicer is not following the rules

    Before the sale if possible

    File a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions: File a Complaint, which regulates mortgage lenders and servicers. Missing notices or wrong amounts can also matter in court, so talk to legal aid too.

  • A rescue company or investor contacted you

    Before you sign or pay anything

    THDA warns against anyone who guarantees to save your home, asks you to sign over your deed, tells you not to contact your servicer, or wants your mortgage payments sent to them. Report it to the Tennessee Attorney General: Division of Consumer Affairs.

Official and nonprofit help in Tennessee

None of these charge homeowners for foreclosure help.

Need a private foreclosure lawyer?

License-checked lawyers who represent homeowners, by area:

Tennessee Homeowner Assistance Fund (TNHAF)

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency has announced the closure of the Tennessee Homeowner's Assistance Fund. Its page says submissions for reinstatement help closed on August 6, 2023, and tells homeowners who are behind to contact their servicer. THDA still offers free HUD-certified housing counseling for homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

Check the program’s current status

Common questions in Tennessee

Where can I find free legal help for foreclosure in Tennessee?

Start with Help4TN, a statewide site run by the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services. Its foreclosure page lists free information and a way to ask a volunteer lawyer a question online if you cannot afford one. For court forms if you are sued after a sale, see the Tennessee Courts: Self Help Center.

Is the Tennessee Homeowner Assistance Fund still open?

No. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency has announced the closure of the Tennessee Homeowner's Assistance Fund, and the federal HAF program ended on September 30, 2026. THDA still offers free HUD-certified housing counseling for homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

Who takes complaints about mortgage servicers in Tennessee?

The Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions regulates state-licensed mortgage lenders and servicers and takes consumer complaints. Some banks are overseen by federal regulators instead. Report rescue scams and other deceptive practices to the Tennessee Attorney General's Division of Consumer Affairs.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Tennessee

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 Tennessee overview

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Sources for this page

  1. JCR, LLC v. Hance, No. E2022-00765-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 28, 2023)
  2. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 65.05, Injunction bond
  3. Help4TN: Homeowner, Mortgage Default and Foreclosure
  4. Tennessee Public Chapter 515 (2025), rewriting Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101 (including (g), sale location), effective July 1, 2025
  5. Tennessee Public Chapter 1001 (2010), deficiency judgments (codified at § 35-5-118)
  6. Tennessee Public Chapter 834 (2010), notice of the right to foreclose (former § 35-5-117)
  7. Tennessee Public Chapter 122 (2011), repealing § 35-5-117 effective January 1, 2013
  8. THDA: Homeowner's Assistance Fund
  9. THDA: Foreclosure Prevention
  10. JCR, LLC v. Hance, No. E2022-00765-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 28, 2023)