How to stop a foreclosure

Until the sale happens, there are usually still ways to stop or pause a foreclosure, though none is guaranteed. You can catch up on what you owe, get your mortgage company to agree to a payment plan, a loan modification or other help, sell the home, or file bankruptcy. Timing matters most. A complete application for help that arrives more than 37 days before a sale generally keeps the sale from happening while it's reviewed.

In May 2026, mortgage companies finished 15,855 payment plans, loan modifications and other deals to avoid foreclosure on loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 2,395 fewer than a year earlier, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

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By Ross Kilburn · Founder, American Default Research
Updated
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It's usually not too late to stop a foreclosure until the sale. Here's what still works at each stage

Each stage closes some doors, so it matters where you are.

What can still stop a foreclosure at each stage, and the rule behind it
Where you are What can still work The rule behind it
Behind, but less than 120 days Everything: a pause on payments, a payment plan, a loan modification, catching up, selling. Foreclosure can't start yet Source Regulation X. A complete application sent now keeps it from starting while you're reviewed Source CFPB.
Foreclosure has started; any sale is more than 37 days away Most things: applying for help, catching up if your mortgage or state allows it, selling, bankruptcy. Answer any court papers by their deadline. A complete application generally stops a judgment, an order of sale or the sale while you're reviewed Source Regulation X.
A sale is 37 days away or less Fewer: catching up in full before your state's cutoff, bankruptcy, a sale or short sale if the company postpones, or a lawyer finding a broken rule. A new application doesn't have to stop the sale. Some companies still review it or postpone; ask, and get the answer in writing.
The sale has happened The sale itself usually stands. Some states let you buy the home back for a time. You may be owed money if the sale brought in more than you owed. Your state's law. What happens after the sale.

Seven ways to stop or pause a foreclosure

  1. Apply for help from your mortgage company

    Help here means a payment plan, a pause on payments, a loan modification, or a way to leave without a foreclosure. Ask for an application and send every page it asks for. If your complete application arrives more than 37 days before a sale, the company has 30 days to tell you in writing what it will offer Source Regulation X. Your rights while you apply.

  2. Catch up in one payment

    Paying everything you're behind, plus fees and costs, is called reinstatement. Your mortgage or your state's law may let you do it up to a cutoff before the sale. Ask your mortgage company for the exact amount in writing. Your state's cutoff.

  3. Change the loan

    A loan modification is a lasting change to your loan's terms. It can mean more years to pay, a lower interest rate, or part of the balance set aside or reduced Source CFPB. If the trouble is short-term, a pause on payments, called forbearance, may fit instead. How a loan modification works · How forbearance works

  4. Sell the home

    If you owe less than the home is worth, selling before the sale can keep what you've built up. If you owe more, a short sale, a sale for less than what you owe, needs your lender's agreement Source CFPB. Either way, you'd move out. How a short sale works.

  5. Give the home back

    A deed in lieu means you turn the home over to the lender instead of going through foreclosure Source CFPB. How a deed in lieu works.

  6. File bankruptcy

    Filing usually starts an automatic stay, which pauses a foreclosure while it lasts Source 11 U.S.C. § 362. Chapter 13 can let you catch up on missed payments through a repayment plan, but only until the home is sold at the foreclosure sale Source 11 U.S.C. § 1322. If you had a bankruptcy case dismissed in the past year, the stay can end after 30 days or not start at all, and the lender can ask the court to lift it Source 11 U.S.C. § 362. A bankruptcy lawyer can tell you whether it fits. How bankruptcy works.

  7. Challenge it

    If your mortgage company broke a rule, a lawyer may be able to use that to delay the sale. The rules it has to follow.

Mortgage companies still finish more deals to avoid foreclosure than foreclosures they start

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored companies that back many U.S. mortgages. Each month it counts two things on those loans: the deals mortgage companies finish to avoid foreclosure, from loan modifications and repayment plans to short sales, and the foreclosures they start Source FHFA.

Put side by side, they show whether help is keeping up. In May 2026, the figure was 2.0 deals for every foreclosure started. A year earlier, in May 2025, it was 2.5. FHFA prints each count one month at a time; we keep the months together and work out the figure for each month. It covers only Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, not FHA, VA or bank-held loans.

About two deals to avoid foreclosure for every foreclosure started

Foreclosure prevention actions completed for each foreclosure started, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, United States, monthly, June 2024 to May 2026

1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Jun 2024Sep 2024Dec 2024Mar 2025Jun 2025Sep 2025Dec 2025May 2026 May 2026 2.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Jun 2024Dec 2024Jun 2025May 2026 May 2026 2.0
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report, through May 2026; American Default Research calculation American Default Research · americandefault.org/help/foreclosure/stop-foreclosure/

The deals alone, month by month, are charted in our guide to being behind on your mortgage.

Five things to do first to stop a foreclosure

  1. Open every letter and write down every date. Sale dates, court deadlines and answer dates are on them.
  2. Call your mortgage company and ask for an application for help. The number is on your monthly statement. Write down who you talked to and what they told you, and ask them to put it in writing.
  3. Send the application complete, and keep proof. Keep copies of every page, and send it a way that shows when it arrived.
  4. If you got court papers, answer by the deadline on them. Legal aid may help for free if your income qualifies.
  5. If a sale is 37 days away or less, talk to a lawyer. Fewer of the ways above still work, and a lawyer can tell you which.

Questions about stopping a foreclosure

Can bankruptcy stop a foreclosure?

It usually pauses one. Filing starts an automatic stay that halts most collection, including a foreclosure, while it lasts. The stay can be short, or not start, if you had a case dismissed in the past year, and the lender can ask the court to lift it. Chapter 13 can let you catch up through a repayment plan, up until the sale.

Source 11 U.S.C. § 362 Source 11 U.S.C. § 1322

Can you stop a foreclosure once it's started?

Often, until the sale. A complete application that arrives more than 37 days before a sale generally stops the sale while you're reviewed. Catching up, selling or bankruptcy can also stop or pause it. See what still works at each stage.

Source Regulation X

My mortgage company says it's too late. Is it?

Not always. Until the sale, catching up or bankruptcy can still work in many cases. Ask for the reason in writing, and talk to a lawyer before you take the company's word for it.

I was turned down for a loan modification. What now?

If your complete application arrived 90 days or more before a sale, you have 14 days to appeal, and different staff decide it. The denial has to give the specific reason. A denial for one option doesn't rule out others.

Source Regulation X Source Regulation X

Your state sets the foreclosure deadlines. Find yours here

Your state sets how long you have to catch up, how much notice comes before a sale, and whether you can buy the home back after it. Each state page lists them, with the law behind each one.

Protect yourself from scams

The FTC and CFPB describe these warning signs and the rules behind them:

  1. Upfront fees for promised relief are a warning sign. Under FTC mortgage-assistance rules, most companies that sell mortgage help cannot charge until a homeowner accepts a written offer from the mortgage company or lender. A separate FTC rule covers debt-relief companies that sell by phone and ties fees to a completed debt arrangement. It bars a fee until at least one debt has been settled or changed, the customer agrees to the arrangement, and the customer has made a payment under it. The FTC describes a narrow exception for lawyers who give help as part of the practice of law and are licensed in the state where the client or dwelling is. The lawyer follows that state's rules for attorneys, and advance fees are placed in a client trust account before services begin under state trust-account rules.
  2. HUD-approved foreclosure-prevention counseling is free. HUD’s national counselor line is 800-569-4287. The CFPB counselor finder lists agencies and their services. If an organization charges for help described as free HUD counseling, the CFPB finder can verify the agency and its listed services before any payment.
  3. A request to sign over a deed is a warning sign. The CFPB identifies title-transfer schemes among foreclosure-relief scams. Signing over title can mean losing ownership of the home; a lawyer can explain what a proposed document would do.
  4. Foreclosure protections depend on timing and the loan. Regulation X generally bars the first foreclosure notice or filing on a principal-residence loan until the borrower is more than 120 days behind, subject to exceptions. A complete assistance application can delay some foreclosure steps, but that depends on when it arrives; it does not necessarily stop every step. The CFPB warns about promises to “save” a home.

Fraud reports: CFPB · FTC · state attorney general offices.

Free help with foreclosure

A HUD-approved housing counselor. A housing counselor works at a nonprofit approved by HUD, the federal housing department. Their foreclosure help is free, and they can help you talk to your mortgage company Source CFPB. To find one, call HUD at 800-569-4287, use the CFPB's counselor finder, or see our directory.

Legal aid. Legal aid offices give free legal help to people with low incomes, including help with foreclosure. Find yours at lsc.gov or in our directory.

You now know what still works where you are. Find the dates on your papers, ask your mortgage company for an application, and send it complete with proof of when it arrived; more than 37 days before a sale, that generally holds off the sale while you're reviewed. Falling behind is usually something that happened to you, not something you did, and you don't have to work through it alone.

Sources

We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.