Short answer: the CFPB says that if you can’t pay your mortgage or are worried about missing a payment, “call your mortgage servicer right away” and also contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency for free help (CFPB, read October 30, 2026). Federal rules give you contact, notice and review steps before a foreclosure can start. This is general information, not legal advice.
Call your servicer first
Your servicer’s phone number is on your monthly mortgage statement, your coupon book or the servicer’s website. The CFPB says to be ready to explain (CFPB):
- Why you are unable to make your payment.
- Whether the problem is temporary or permanent.
- Your income, expenses and other assets, such as cash in the bank.
- If you are a servicemember, whether you have permanent change of station (PCS) orders.
Fill out a mortgage assistance application if your servicer gives you one. If your loan was recently transferred, see what happens when your loan is sold to a new servicer.
Loss mitigation options
The CFPB lists these options that a servicer might make available: refinance, a loan modification, a repayment plan, forbearance, a short sale, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (CFPB). Two of them in the CFPB’s words:
- Forbearance: “Your servicer or lender arranges for you to temporarily pause mortgage payments or make smaller payments. You still owe the full amount, and you pay back the difference later” (CFPB). Ask how much you pay, how interest accrues, and when and how you pay the paused amounts back.
- Repayment plan: “an agreement between you and your lender to make up missed mortgage loan payments by adding part of the past-due amount to your regular payments over a period of time” (CFPB). The CFPB adds that your servicer may still treat the loan as delinquent until you repay all missed payments.
Federal rules do not promise any one option: “Nothing in § 1024.41 imposes a duty on a servicer to provide any borrower with any specific loss mitigation option” (12 CFR 1024.41(a)).
What federal servicing rules require
- Live contact: a servicer must make good faith efforts to reach a delinquent borrower “no later than the 36th day of a borrower’s delinquency” and inform the borrower about loss mitigation options, if appropriate (12 CFR 1024.39(a)).
- Written notice: no later than the 45th day of delinquency, with the servicer’s phone number, examples of loss mitigation options if applicable, and where to find housing counselors (12 CFR 1024.39(b)).
- Application received: if you apply 45 days or more before a foreclosure sale, the servicer must tell you in writing within 5 days (not counting legal public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays) whether your application is complete or incomplete (12 CFR 1024.41(b)).
- Evaluation: for a complete application received more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale, the servicer must evaluate you for all available options within 30 days (12 CFR 1024.41(c)).
- The 120-day rule: a servicer “shall not make the first notice or filing required by applicable law for any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process unless” the loan “is more than 120 days delinquent”, with narrow exceptions such as a due-on-sale violation (12 CFR 1024.41(f)).
- Appeal: for a complete application received 90 days or more before a sale, you can appeal a loan modification denial within 14 days, and different staff must review it (12 CFR 1024.41(h)).
Regulation text as in eCFR on October 28, 2026. State foreclosure law also applies; a housing counselor or attorney can explain it.
Free help from a HUD-approved counselor
The CFPB says HUD-approved housing counseling agencies “provide foreclosure prevention counseling free of charge” and can help you talk to your servicer (CFPB). Find one with the CFPB’s Find a Counselor tool, or call the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673. A counselor can’t promise you will keep your home. If you have been served with legal papers, the CFPB says you may also need an attorney (CFPB).
Watch for rescue scams
“You don’t have to pay anyone to help you avoid foreclosure” (CFPB). Warning signs the CFPB lists:
- You are asked to pay upfront for help.
- The company guarantees a change to your mortgage terms, or that you will not lose your home.
- You are asked to sign over title to your home or sign documents you do not understand.
- You are told to send payments to someone other than your servicer, or to stop paying your mortgage.
- The company offers a “forensic audit” or claims a government link, or uses a seal that looks like a government one.
A mortgage relief company may not collect fees until you have a written offer from your servicer that you find acceptable (CFPB). You can report a company to the CFPB at (855) 411-2372.
Why a personal loan may not fix it
- A loan to catch up adds its own monthly payment on top of your mortgage payment, so it does not lower what you pay each month.
- If your problem is permanent, the gap between income and payments stays, and you would owe two lenders instead of one.
- Forbearance, repayment plans and modifications come from your servicer, and counseling is free (CFPB).
Borrowing against the home again also puts the home at stake: see HELOC vs personal loan. For an older homeowner, see reverse mortgage vs personal loan. Before you add any payment, see how to budget for a loan payment.
Checklist
- Call your servicer as soon as you know you will be short.
- Say whether the problem is temporary or permanent.
- Send a complete loss mitigation application and keep copies.
- Call a HUD-approved housing counselor for free help.
- Never pay upfront for foreclosure help or sign over your title.
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Sources
- CFPB: If I can’t pay my mortgage loan, what are my options? (reviewed August 28, 2026)
- CFPB: What is mortgage forbearance? (reviewed August 28, 2026)
- CFPB: What is a repayment plan on a mortgage? (reviewed January 2, 2025)
- CFPB: What is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and how can they help me? (reviewed September 11, 2024)
- CFPB: What are mortgage loan modification scams? (reviewed September 11, 2024)
- CFPB: Find a housing counselor
- 12 CFR 1024.39, Early intervention requirements for certain borrowers (eCFR)
- 12 CFR 1024.41, Loss mitigation procedures (eCFR)
Disclosure: Modern Lending Solutions is not a lender, loan broker or agent for any lender or loan broker, and does not make credit decisions. Any compensation we receive is paid by participating lenders, only for advertising services. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.