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Free help for homeowners
Behind on your payments? Your mortgage company isn’t on your side. HomeBase is.
Falling behind is overwhelming. HomeBase takes the confusing process of getting help from your mortgage company and makes it simple: you’ll always know where you stand, what to do next and by when.
- Reads every letter from your mortgage company and explains it in plain English
- Writes your replies
- Helps you prepare a call with your mortgage company’s phone number and a script
- Tracks every deadline your mortgage company has to meet
Built on the same rules your mortgage company follows. Free.
Sound familiar?
What homeowners say again and again in complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“Every time I call, I get a different answer.”
HomeBase helps you prepare what to ask. Write down who you spoke with, when, and what they told you, and keep any written reply.
“They keep saying they never got my papers.”
HomeBase keeps your papers in one place and tracks your mail, with the day it was delivered, so you can show when they got it.
“My sale date is coming and they’re still ‘reviewing.’”
HomeBase shows your dates, including the last day a complete application can usually still pause the sale, and points you to free help the same day.
“They said I was approved. Nothing came in writing.”
HomeBase writes your request in plain words, so what you asked for is on paper with a date, and tracks the dates they should answer by.
“I sat on hold for an hour and gave up.”
HomeBase shows your mortgage company’s phone number and a script to help you prepare. Calling with HomeBase isn’t turned on yet.
“I got a letter from them and I can’t tell what it means.”
HomeBase reads it with you: snap a photo and it explains, in plain English, what the letter says, which dates in it matter, and what to do next.
They have deadlines. Track the dates to check.
Federal rules give most mortgage companies deadlines once they get your letter or application in writing. HomeBase estimates the usual response dates from delivery. Coverage, special requests and exceptions can change them.
When they get your application (45 or more days before any sale)
Most have 5 business days to tell you whether anything is missing.
When it’s complete, more than 37 days before a sale
Most have 30 days to decide, and usually can’t move ahead with the sale while they review it.
When you point out a mistake or ask a question in writing
When it goes to the address they list for these letters, most have 5 business days to confirm they got it and usually 30 business days to answer.
Until you’re more than 120 days behind
For covered loans, they generally cannot make the first foreclosure notice or filing until more than 120 days delinquent. Due-on-sale and other-lien foreclosure exceptions apply.
Application protections generally cover your principal residence. Small servicers, reverse mortgages and certain Farm Credit loans are exempt from many application requirements; small servicers still have specific foreclosure restrictions. Repeat applications can have different protections (12 CFR 1024.30(b), 1024.41(i), (j)).
When they miss one, HomeBase shows you what to do next
- It flags the deadline the day it passes.
- It writes a follow-up letter that names the rule and the date.
- It shows you how to send a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency that oversees mortgage companies.
Built by American Default Research, which tracks the federal mortgage rules, the program guidelines from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and USDA, and foreclosure timelines in every state, and links its research to official sources.
How it works
Tell us where you are
A few quick questions, mostly taps. HomeBase lays out your path and your dates.
Show us their letters
Snap a photo of anything your mortgage company sends. HomeBase explains it in plain English and adds its dates to your file.
Send your side in writing
HomeBase writes your letters and your application, addressed to your mortgage company, and checks your application the way they will. You send them; they’re yours.
Prepare your call
Find your mortgage company’s phone number and a script. You make the call and write down what they tell you.
Hold them to it
Every letter is tracked to delivery, and every deadline they have is on your calendar. Miss one, and HomeBase shows you what to send.
Why you can trust it
- Free. We never sell your information.
- Every rule we show links to the official source: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, U.S. Department of Agriculture and federal mortgage rules.
- Not a law firm and not a government agency. HomeBase never speaks for you: letters and calls go out only when you send or start them, and you do the talking. We can’t promise what your mortgage company will decide.
- Your paperwork is yours: only you see it unless you share it, and you can delete it any time.
Free help, always
A HUD-approved housing counselor is a trained advisor, free to you, who can go over your options and help you reach your mortgage company. Call HUD at (800) 569-4287 to find one.
See where you stand and what to do next.
HomeBase is general information and your own letters, not legal advice.
Your HomeBase
Your path
Dates ahead are estimates. Your path updates when your situation changes.Your path appears after a few quick questions.
A date passed
Your next step
Your next step appears after a few quick questions.
A few details help your letter
Your record
My mailYour record fills in as you make letters, mail them and call.
Your application
Fill out my mortgage company’s applicationWhat’s going on?
Pick all that apply.
Pick at least one.
How far behind are you?
It’s on your statement.
It’s on the notice. Leave it empty if there isn’t one yet.
Pick one.
Your loan
The name on your latest statement. Loans get moved.
Is the loan in your name?
Whose name is it in?
Are you or your spouse active-duty military or a veteran?
Your best guess is fine.
Enter a five-digit ZIP code.
Enter your mortgage company.
Is the hardship over?
Pick one answer for “Is the hardship over?”
Your best guess is fine. Lenders ask the same thing.
Saved
Check your email
We sent a sign-in link to . It works once, for 20 minutes. Use it to get back in from any device.
Open the link to save the answers you’ve entered so far to your account. Until then, sensitive answers stay in this tab and are lost when you close or reload it. If you already have a saved file, the link opens that file without replacing it.
Your words appear in the box. Your phone’s or browser’s speech service turns your voice into text.
Type, or tap the mic on your keyboard to talk.
Quick picks
Have you gotten any letters or notices from your mortgage company?
Snap a photo or upload it now, and HomeBase will read it for you.
One letter at a time. Add as many as you have.
When did it start?
Your best guess is fine. Your letter and your application both ask.
When did you send your application, and what did they say?
What did they say?
Paperwork
Your letters
Your letters appear after a few quick questions.
Your mail
Mail you send with tracking shows here.
Open my mailLetters from your mortgage company
Upload one and HomeBase explains it: what kind of letter it is, its dates and your next step.
What does this letter mean?Your application papers
Talk to someone today
A free HUD-approved housing counselor
They can tell you what’s still possible and help you reach your mortgage company.
A legal aid office or foreclosure lawyer
Some can ask a court or your mortgage company to postpone the sale.
Find legal aid near meThe PDF could not be made. Try again.
Get a complete application in
If your mortgage company gets a complete application more than 37 days before the sale, it usually can’t go ahead with the sale while it reviews you. There are exceptions, so ask a counselor or lawyer to check your dates.
Source12 CFR §1024.41(g)Also call a free HUD counselor at (800) 569-4287. They can help you finish fast.
This shows how the rules work. It's not a decision. Only your mortgage company decides.
Start my application nowYou can ask to be treated as the borrower
How did the home come to you?
- Ask your mortgage company to confirm you as the owner
- They reply in writing with the papers they need
- Once confirmed, they treat you like the borrower: they answer you and review you for help
Once the company confirms your identity and qualifying ownership interest, Regulation X treats you as a borrower for its applicable servicing protections. Loan and servicer exceptions still apply (12 CFR 1024.30(d), 1024.31).
SourceRegulation XPick how the home came to you.
Your letter
Ask your mortgage company to confirm you as the owner.
The PDF adds a mailing sheet. Send it by Certified Mail with an electronic return receipt and keep the receipt.
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Mail it, and we’ll track itWays to catch up
Your mortgage company can hold a partial payment in a separate account until it adds up to a full payment, instead of applying it.
SourceTruth in LendingSpread it out
A repayment plan: your normal payment plus part of what you missed, until you’re caught up.
Move it to the end of the loan
A payment deferral: the missed amount waits, with no interest, until you sell, refinance or pay off. Your payment stays the same.
Pay it all at once
Ask your mortgage company for the exact amount in writing first.
Example using Fannie Mae’s program. Confirm who owns your loan before using these rules. FHA and VA loans have their own version, called a partial claim.
Your numbers
How a lender would likely work it out.
Enter your payment and how many payments you’ve missed, or the amount behind.
Spread it out
Move it to the end
Example using Fannie Mae’s program. Confirm who owns your loan before using these rules.
This shows how the rules work. It's not a decision. Only your mortgage company decides.
Your hardship letter
Fill in what’s missing. The letter uses only your answers.
What are you asking for?
Your words appear in the box. Your phone’s or browser’s speech service turns your voice into text.
Type, or tap the mic on your keyboard to talk.
What happened? Pick any that fit
The PDF adds a mailing sheet. Send it by Certified Mail with an electronic return receipt and keep the receipt.
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Mail it, and we’ll track itWhat to say when you call
Calling with HomeBase isn’t turned on yet. For now, here’s what to say when you call your mortgage company.
Built from your answers. This is a script, not legal advice.