What Is Forbearance?
Forbearance is an arrangement with your mortgage servicer that temporarily pauses or reduces required mortgage payments. It does not forgive the missed amounts. Eligibility, payment terms, duration, interest and fees, credit reporting, and what happens when the plan ends depend on your loan, hardship, current program rules, and the agreement you accept.
Key Facts
- Do not stop or reduce payments until your servicer confirms that you are approved and tells you what is due; missing payments without an agreement can create or deepen a delinquency.
- Before accepting, get the start and end dates, payment amount, treatment of interest and fees, expected credit reporting, and available exit or repayment options in writing.
- Forbearance does not erase missed payments. Depending on the loan and eligibility, the exit may involve reinstatement, a repayment plan, a loan modification, a payment deferral or Partial Claim, another workout option, or foreclosure if the delinquency is not resolved.
- Regulation X sets procedures for covered loss-mitigation applications but does not require a servicer to offer any particular option.
- While a borrower performs under an approved short-term forbearance offered under Regulation X, the rule restricts specified foreclosure actions; it does not mean that every foreclosure step is automatically canceled.
- HUD-approved foreclosure-prevention counseling is free and can help you compare the written terms with other options.
Live Data
How Does Mortgage Forbearance Work?
Forbearance is an arrangement with your mortgage servicer to accept smaller payments or no payments for a limited period. It can provide temporary breathing room after a hardship, but it is not payment forgiveness. Do not stop paying until the servicer confirms that you are approved and tells you what is due.
There is no single set of terms for every mortgage. Eligibility and terms depend on the loan owner or guarantor, the type and expected length of the hardship, the status of the loan, and current program rules. Regulation X governs procedures for many covered loss-mitigation applications, but it does not require a servicer to offer any particular option.
What Should Be in the Agreement?
Before accepting, ask the servicer to confirm these points in writing:
- Plan dates: when the forbearance starts, when it ends, and how any extension is requested and approved.
- Payments: whether payments are paused or reduced and the exact amount and due date of any payment.
- Balance and charges: how interest, escrow, late charges, and other amounts will be handled.
- Credit reporting: how the servicer expects to report the account, based on its status when the arrangement begins.
- Exit terms: how the missed amounts may be resolved and what information the servicer will need before the plan ends.
Acceptance and exit terms vary. A verbal request, pending review, or unanswered application is not the same as an approved forbearance arrangement.
What Happens When Forbearance Ends?
Missed or reduced payments remain due. Depending on your loan and eligibility, the next step may be full reinstatement, a repayment plan, a loan modification, a payment deferral or Partial Claim, another workout option, or a home-disposition option. Some arrangements can require the paused amount when regular payments restart; others spread, modify, or defer amounts. No single exit is guaranteed.
Contact the servicer before the plan ends, ask for every option available for your loan, and compare the payment, total balance, interest, lien, maturity, and sale-or-payoff consequences. Get the selected terms in writing before agreeing.
Does Forbearance Stop Foreclosure?
If you are performing under an approved short-term forbearance offered under Regulation X, the rule prohibits specified first-filing, judgment, and sale actions. Separate protections may apply to a complete loss-mitigation application depending on when the servicer receives it and when a sale is scheduled. Forbearance does not automatically cancel every foreclosure step, and a request alone is not a promise that a sale has been postponed. If a sale is scheduled, confirm its status with the servicer and contact a HUD-approved housing counselor or foreclosure attorney promptly.
How Can Forbearance Affect Credit?
Your servicer can report that the account is in forbearance. CFPB says that if the account was otherwise current, the servicer or creditor must report it as current. If you stop making payments without a forbearance agreement, the missed payments can be reported and can have a lasting negative effect on your credit history. Review your credit reports and dispute inaccurate information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does forbearance hurt your credit score?
Do not assume that forbearance has no effect. Your servicer can report that the account is in forbearance. CFPB says that if the account was otherwise current, the servicer or creditor must report it as current; stopping payments without an agreement can lead to reported delinquencies. Ask how the servicer expects to report the account, then review your credit reports for accuracy.
How long does mortgage forbearance last?
There is no universal term. The initial period, any extension, and the total limit depend on the loan program, hardship, and approval. Get the start date, end date, payment amount, and extension process in writing, and contact the servicer before the arrangement ends.
Do you have to pay back forbearance all at once?
Possibly. CFPB describes arrangements in which the entire paused amount is due when payments restart, as well as arrangements that repay, modify, or defer the amount. Program-specific options may be available if you qualify, but no exit is guaranteed. Get the exit terms in writing before accepting.
Can you request forbearance if you are already behind?
You can ask about forbearance whether the account is current or delinquent, but approval and terms are not guaranteed. Tell the servicer the account status and hardship, ask which options are available, and do not stop or reduce payments until the servicer confirms an arrangement.
What is the difference between forbearance and loan modification?
Forbearance temporarily pauses or reduces required payments and does not itself permanently change the note. A loan modification permanently changes one or more loan terms. A modification may be an exit option if you qualify, but it is not automatic.
Does an approved forbearance stop foreclosure?
Regulation X restricts specified foreclosure actions while a borrower performs under an approved short-term forbearance offered under the rule. It does not cancel every step or guarantee that a request has postponed a scheduled sale. Confirm any postponement with the servicer and seek prompt help if a sale is scheduled.