Check your email
If has a MortgageAssist, a sign-in link is on its way. It works once, for 20 minutes.
Free help for homeowners
Behind on your payments? Your mortgage company isn’t on your side. MortgageAssist is.
Tell MortgageAssist where you stand. It shows your next step, writes the letter you need, and keeps track of the dates your mortgage company should answer by. You send every letter. It’s free.
- Know your next step today.
- Put it in writing, with proof they got it.
- See when they owe you an answer.
Four short questions.
Free, with no fees ever. Not a law firm, a government agency, or a foreclosure rescue company.
Built by American Default Research, run by Ross Kilburn.
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.”
MortgageAssist 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.”
MortgageAssist keeps your papers in one place. Enter the delivery date from your mail proof to see estimated response dates.
“My sale date is coming and they’re still ‘reviewing.’”
MortgageAssist shows dates to check from what you enter. A sale date needs prompt review with a HUD-approved counselor or lawyer; MortgageAssist cannot verify your legal deadline.
“They said I was approved. Nothing came in writing.”
MortgageAssist helps draft a dated written request for you to review and send. You can record delivery and check estimated response dates.
“I sat on hold for an hour and gave up.”
MortgageAssist shows your mortgage company’s phone number and a script to help you prepare. Calling with MortgageAssist isn’t turned on yet.
MortgageAssist calls them, gets through the phone menu and waits on hold. When a person picks up, we ring you and connect you. You do all the talking.
“I got a letter from them and I can’t tell what it means.”
Upload a photo or PDF of a letter from your mortgage company. MortgageAssist tells you what kind of letter it is, the dates in it and your next step. If it cannot read the letter, keep the original and ask a counselor for help.
They have deadlines. Track the dates to check.
Federal rules give most mortgage companies deadlines once they get your letter or application in writing. MortgageAssist 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.
These rules cover most home loans on the house you live in. A few kinds of loans and companies have different rules. MortgageAssist shows the rule next to each date so you can check yours.
The rule
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 one of your dates passes, MortgageAssist helps you follow up
- It can flag a date that passed, based on what you entered.
- It can draft a follow-up letter for you to check before sending.
- It shows you how to send a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency that oversees mortgage companies.
How it works
Tell us where you are
A few quick questions, mostly taps. MortgageAssist shows general paths and dates to check from your answers.
Show us their letters
Upload a photo or PDF of a letter from your mortgage company. MortgageAssist tells you what kind of letter it is, the dates in it and your next step. Check what it finds against the original.
Send your side in writing
MortgageAssist helps draft letters for you to review and send. For an identified Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan, it can prepare a Form 710 draft. For other loans, use your company’s current form.
Prepare your call
Find your mortgage company’s phone number and a script. You do the talking and can write down what they tell you.
Keep your record
Enter the delivery date from your own proof of mailing. MortgageAssist estimates dates for supported requests and can draft a follow-up for you to review.
Why you can trust it
Did you pay anyone to help with this?
Stop paying them. Keep talking to your mortgage company directly, and report them. Report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. In Washington, you can also file with the Washington attorney general’s consumer complaint page.
- Free. We never sell your information.
- MortgageAssist shows official sources alongside the rules it uses. Check the current rule and your documents before acting.
- MortgageAssist isn’t a law firm or a government office. It never talks to your mortgage company for you. You send every letter and do every call. What your mortgage company decides is up to them.
The details
Its fixed hold messages announce the call and ask about recording; you join and do the talking. Letters and calls go out only when you send or start them.
- Your papers stay yours. You choose what to upload and who sees it, and you can delete any paper or your whole MortgageAssist.
The details
Authorized support staff can access your MortgageAssist when needed. Account deletion may leave private-storage files that need a separate request.
Built by American Default Research
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.
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.
MortgageAssist is general information and your own letters, not legal advice.
Your MortgageAssist
A date passed
Your next step
A few quick questions first.
Your military protections
While you’re on active duty, and for a year after, your mortgage company usually needs a court order to sell your home at foreclosure. Interest on a loan from before your service is capped at 6% once you send them your orders in writing.
With a VA loan, VA assigns its own loan technician once you’re 61 days behind. Ask your mortgage company for yours.
The rule
For a covered obligation on real or personal property owned before service and secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, a sale, foreclosure, or seizure during service or within one year afterward is invalid unless made under a court order granted before the sale, foreclosure, or seizure, or under an agreement permitted by 50 U.S.C. § 3918.
For a covered obligation incurred before military service, interest above 6% per year must be forgiven during service after the servicemember gives the creditor written notice and a copy of military orders or another appropriate indicator of service. The notice may be provided no later than 180 days after termination of or release from service. For a covered mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, the 6% limit continues for one year after service.
VA says it automatically assigns a VA loan technician when a VA-guaranteed loan is 61 days past due. The technician can review the loan and help the borrower and servicer identify an available option.
Source Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043) Source VA loan loss mitigation
A few details help your letter
Your path
Your path appears after a few quick questions.
Dates ahead are estimates. Your path updates when your situation changes.
Your HOA
Who to contact about the HOA debt.
An HOA is the group that runs your neighborhood or building and bills you dues. The company you pay your mortgage to is a different company with a different debt.
Coming up
Your dates appear after a few quick questions.
What your mortgage company owes you
These are the usual federal rules for a home you live in. They say what your company is supposed to do, not what it did. Exceptions apply, so call a free HUD counselor or legal aid if a date passes.
Your record
Your application
Your loan
- You pay
- Loan number
- Amount due
- Behind
- Loan type
- Home worth
- You owe
- Equity
Estimated from the ranges you picked. Not an appraisal.
The loan type decides which program’s rules your mortgage company follows.
Your denial letter
Check your appeal window.
You told us you were denied, but not the date on the letter. The rule gives you at least 14 days from that date to appeal in writing (12 CFR 1024.41(h)).
Something went wrong with my mortgage company
Put a mistake in writing.
A payment that was not applied, a bill that jumped, a fee you do not understand, papers they say they never got. Put it in writing.
What to know and what to ask.
Three money basics
Late fees, credit reports and partial payments.
What is the late fee?
The amount is in your note, the loan contract you signed. Many loans cap it. A late fee is generally charged once for each late payment. A company generally can’t charge a new late fee only because you didn’t pay an earlier one. Your monthly statement lists any fees.
When does a late payment hit my credit?
Mortgage companies generally report a payment as late once it is 30 days past due. A payment that is less than 30 days late usually isn’t reported. That is how companies usually report, not a federal rule, so check your own credit reports.
Can I send part of a payment?
Your mortgage company may hold a partial payment in a separate holding account, called a suspense account, instead of applying it to your loan. Once the held money adds up to a full payment, it generally has to apply it. Your statement has to show how much is being held.
Free help
A HUD-approved housing counselor is free.
What’s going on?
Choose at least one.
Choose all that apply.
Did your mortgage company make a mistake? You can put it in writing.
How many payments have you missed?
Look for “past due since” on your mortgage statement. Not sure? Leave it blank and your dates will say they are estimates.
It’s on the notice. Leave it empty if there isn’t one yet.
Choose one.
Your loan
Use the name on your latest statement. Loans are often sold, so it may not be the company you started with.
Is the loan in your name?
Whose name is it in?
Does one of these fit the other person?
Pick the one that fits best. If none fit, skip this and keep going.
Are you or your spouse active‑duty military or a veteran?
Which fits best?
What kind of loan is it?
Is it a direct loan from U.S. Department of Agriculture, or through a mortgage company?
It’s on your statement or closing papers. Not sure is fine. Ask your mortgage company who owns or guarantees the loan.
Your best guess is fine for both.
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 link to your address. Open it to keep going. It works for 20 minutes.
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 MortgageAssist 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.
Letters you sent
Letters you send with tracking show here.
Track my lettersLetters they sent you
Upload one and MortgageAssist explains it: what kind of letter it is, its dates and your next step.
What does this letter mean?Your application papers
What changed?
These are your answers now. Change the one that’s different, and your next step updates.
Your sale date is close
Make these calls today. A free HUD-approved housing counselor can help you make them.
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Call legal aid today
A legal aid office or a foreclosure lawyer can tell you what is still possible and may be able to ask for more time. Ask for the foreclosure or housing line, and say your sale date.
Find legal aid near meAlso call a free HUD-approved housing counselor: 800-569-4287
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Call your mortgage company today
Say your sale date. Ask them to postpone the sale and to confirm it in writing. Write down the name of the person, the date and the time.
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Call the trustee or sheriff named on your notice today
Your sale notice names who runs the sale. Ask whether the sale is still set for your date, and ask for a postponement. A request can be refused.
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Put it in writing, fax or email first
Send anything in writing by fax or email first so it arrives today, then mail a copy. Keep the fax confirmation or the sent email. Certified mail is too slow for this.
Ask for your catch-up amount
A short written request for the full amount to catch up in one payment, and the last day to do it. The letter uses only your answers.
Your sale may come before they answer in writing. Call your mortgage company too, and ask for the amount today.
The day you want the amount good through. We start it at your state’s last day to catch up when we have one. Change it to the day you plan to pay.
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Track my requestTalk 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.
The rule
Covered providers generally cannot collect fees until you sign the lender agreement for the relief they obtained. Certain attorneys meeting the rule’s requirements are exempt. Free HUD-approved counseling is available. 12 CFR 1015.5; 1015.7.
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.
Source 12 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 your mortgage company confirms you own the home, federal rules say it has to treat you like the borrower: answer you, and review you for help. A few loans are exceptions.
The rule
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).
Pick 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 itAfter your mortgage company answers
Gather these papers. Your mortgage company will tell you which ones it needs.
- A death certificate
- The will or the probate papers (the court papers that name you)
- Proof you live there, like a license or a bill with the home’s address
Did your mortgage company confirm you in writing?
Ways 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.
Source Truth in LendingYour numbers
How your mortgage company 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?
Name the help you want
Pick any that fit. Leave these blank and the letter asks for the kind of help you picked above.
Is your application going in the same envelope?
If yes, the letter says your complete application is enclosed and asks for a written decision (12 CFR 1024.41(c)(1)).
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 itWrite your appeal
You ask for a second look. The letter uses only what you tell us here.
What did they deny?
The federal appeal right covers a denial of a loan modification option (12 CFR 1024.41(h)). For another kind of denial you can still ask in writing for the reasons.
Copy it from the letter. Leave it blank and the letter will ask them to state the reasons.
For example, your income changed or they used a wrong number. Two or three sentences is plenty.
Copy the address from the letter. One line per line. We do not guess this one.
One per line, like “Pay stubs for September”. Leave it blank and the letter gets a blank checklist to fill in by hand.
The PDF adds a mailing sheet. Send it by Certified Mail with an electronic return receipt, and keep the receipt. A letter does not stop a sale.
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Mail it, and we’ll track itAsk for the reasons in writing
Your mortgage company has to give you the specific reasons for a denial if you ask (12 CFR 1024.41(d)). This letter asks.
Leave it blank if the letter is not in front of you.
Leave it blank and the letter only asks for the reasons and the numbers they used.
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.
What went wrong?
Pick the one that is closest.
Pick the one that is closest.
What happened?
A legal aid lawyer can act on a sale faster than a letter can. Call today.
Find legal aid near meMortgage companies sell and move loans all the time. The loan terms stay the same, but the new company gets the old company’s records, and mistakes happen in the handoff: a payment lost, an application never passed along, a balance that doesn’t match. Ask both companies for a payment history and compare them.
The letter uses your words and the facts below. Nothing else.
Leave it blank if you do not know.
Leave it blank if you do not know.
Leave it blank if you do not know.
Leave it blank if you do not know.
If your loan moved, you get 60 days of protection. A payment you sent on time to the old company during the 60 days after the move is not late, and the new company can’t charge a late fee for it (12 CFR 1024.33(c)(1)). Keep proof of the date you sent it.
Which trial payments did you make?
A row needs a day and an amount. Leave a row blank and it is left out. Leave them all blank and the letter says nothing about payments.
Leave it blank if you do not know.
It is on the sale notice. Leave it blank if you do not have it.
Attach these to the letter.
Your error letter
Read it. You can change the words in the first box. You mail it.
A legal aid lawyer can act on a sale faster than a letter can. Call today.
Find legal aid near meThis comes from your answers. Change anything that is not right.
The PDF adds a mailing sheet. Send it by Certified Mail with an electronic return receipt, and keep the receipt. A letter does not stop a sale.
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Mail it, and we’ll track itAlso ask for the records
The PDF could not be made. Try again.
Your short sale letter
A short sale is a sale for less than you owe, and your mortgage company has to approve it. Fill in what’s missing. The letter uses only your answers.
An estimate from the home value and balance you picked. It leaves out the costs of selling, so treat it as a rough guide.
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.
Your deed in lieu letter
A deed in lieu is giving the home back to your mortgage company instead of a foreclosure, if it agrees. Fill in what’s missing. The letter uses only your answers.
An estimate from the home value and balance you picked. It leaves out the costs of selling, so treat it as a rough guide.
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.
What to say when you call
Calling with MortgageAssist 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.
What are you asking for?
Your loan moved to a new company
Mortgage companies sell and move loans all the time. The loan terms stay the same, but the new company gets the old company’s records, and mistakes happen in the handoff: a payment lost, an application never passed along, a balance that doesn’t match. Ask both companies for a payment history and compare them.
If your loan moved, you get 60 days of protection. A payment you sent on time to the old company during the 60 days after the move is not late, and the new company can’t charge a late fee for it (12 CFR 1024.33(c)(1)). Keep proof of the date you sent it.
It’s on the notice that your loan moved. Leave it blank if you don’t know.
Leave it blank if you don’t know.
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Ask your new company for your records, in writing
Ask for your payment history and the status of any application you sent. Mortgage companies generally have to send a loan’s records to the new company, and the new company has to get anything that is missing. (12 CFR 1024.38(b)(4))
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If a payment or your papers got lost, put it in writing
A notice of error asks the company to look into the mistake and answer you in writing.
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Keep proof of every payment
Keep the proof of the date you sent each payment, especially in the 60 days after the move.
Your records request
A short letter to your new company. It asks for the transfer records, your payment history and where any application stands.
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.
Your HOA is not your mortgage company
An HOA is the group that runs your neighborhood or building and bills you dues. The company you pay your mortgage to is a different company with a different debt.
Whether an HOA can foreclose, and how fast, depends on your state. Some states let an HOA foreclose over unpaid dues. Others limit it or add steps.
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Talk to legal aid first
A legal aid lawyer, or a lawyer who handles HOA cases, can read your papers and tell you your state’s rules and your deadlines. Legal aid is free if you qualify.
Find legal aid near me -
Read every paper the HOA sent
Look for a date by which you must pay or answer. Write it down, and keep the envelope.
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Behind on your mortgage too?
Go back to your answers and tap “Behind on payments” as well. MortgageAssist will then show the steps for your mortgage company.
MortgageAssist holds back its mortgage-company letters here, because they go to a different company than your HOA.
A HUD-approved housing counselor is free and can go over your whole situation: 800-569-4287.
Help after a disaster
A fire, a flood or a storm can hurt your home, your job or both. Tell your mortgage company about it. Some loans have special help after a disaster.
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Ask your mortgage company about disaster help
Ask your mortgage company what disaster help your loan has.
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Say it was a disaster in your hardship letter
MortgageAssist can write your hardship letter with “Disaster” as the reason.
Papers to gather
- Your insurance claim: the claim number, the adjuster’s name and any letters about it
- Your FEMA registration number, if you registered with FEMA
- Photos of the damage, and anything that shows lost work or income, if you have them
Your military protections letter
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) can cap interest at 6% on a mortgage taken out before service, and it limits foreclosure during service and for a year after (50 U.S.C. § 3937, § 3953).
To ask for the 6% cap, you give your mortgage company written notice and a copy of your orders. This letter is that notice. You send it with a copy of your orders.
Papers to gather
- A copy of your orders, and any orders that extended your service
Whose service is it?
Did you take out the loan before the military service began?
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.
Source 50 U.S.C. § 3937 Source 50 U.S.C. § 3953
Ask to be treated as the borrower
Once your mortgage company confirms you in writing as a successor in interest, the servicing rules generally treat you as a borrower. That includes being reviewed for help to keep the home (12 CFR 1024.30(d)).
It also covers the notices and statements a borrower gets. Your mortgage company must say in writing what it will send you (12 CFR 1024.32(c)).
Papers to gather
- A death certificate
- The will or the probate papers (the court papers that name you)
- Proof you live there, like a license or a bill with the home’s address
Leave it blank and the letter has no phone number.
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.