Last reviewed: 1 October 2026
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Loss mitigation and foreclosure referral: the federal timelines, explained
The short answer: under Regulation X, a servicer generally cannot make the first notice or filing for foreclosure until your loan is more than 120 days delinquent; it must generally try to reach you by the 36th day of delinquency and send a written notice by the 45th; and if it receives a complete loss mitigation application more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale, it must evaluate it within 30 days and tell you in writing what it will offer.[1, 2] What this term means: “loss mitigation” refers to the ways your servicer can work with you to avoid foreclosure.[4] A “complete” application is one where the servicer has received all the information it requires to evaluate the options available to you.[1]
The rules set timing and process. They do not promise any particular outcome: nothing in the loss mitigation rule imposes a duty on a servicer to provide any specific loss mitigation option.[1]
The timeline in order
| When | What the servicer must do | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Generally by the 36th day of delinquency, and again within 36 days after each missed due date while delinquent | Establish or make good-faith efforts to establish live contact and, if appropriate, tell you about loss mitigation options[2] | § 1024.39(a) |
| Generally by the 45th day of delinquency | Send a written notice that encourages you to contact the servicer, gives a phone number and address, and points to the CFPB or HUD list of housing counselors, and assign personnel to you by this date. The notice need not be sent more than once in any 180-day period, and the rule modifies or excuses it for borrowers in bankruptcy or who have sent a cease-communication notice under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act[2] | § 1024.39(b); § 1024.40(a) |
| Until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent | No first notice or filing for foreclosure, except where the foreclosure is based on a due-on-sale violation or the servicer is joining another lienholder’s foreclosure[1] | § 1024.41(f)(1) |
| You apply at least 45 days before a sale | Within 5 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal public holidays), confirm in writing that it received your application and whether it is complete; if incomplete, say what is missing and give a reasonable date to submit it[1] | § 1024.41(b)(2) |
| Complete application more than 37 days before a sale | Evaluate you for all options available and send a written decision within 30 days; if a loan modification is denied, give the specific reasons[1] | § 1024.41(c)–(d) |
| Complete application before the first foreclosure filing | No first notice or filing unless the servicer has told you that you are not eligible for any option and any appeal period has passed or been denied, you reject all offers, or you fail to perform on an agreement[1] | § 1024.41(f)(2) |
| Complete application after filing but more than 37 days before a sale | No motion for foreclosure judgment or order of sale, and no sale, on the same three conditions[1] | § 1024.41(g) |
Offers and appeals
If a complete application arrives 90 days or more before a sale, the servicer may require you to accept or reject an offer no earlier than 14 days after making it. If it arrives less than 90 but more than 37 days before a sale, the minimum is 7 days.[1] If a complete application is received 90 days or more before a sale or during the 120-day pre-referral period, a servicer must let you appeal a denial of a loan modification option within 14 days after the servicer’s determination notice, and it must decide the appeal within 30 days using different personnel from those who made the first decision.[1]
Who is covered, and who is not
- The early intervention, continuity-of-contact and loss mitigation sections (§§ 1024.38 to 1024.41) do not apply to small servicers, to reverse mortgages, or to loans where the servicer is a qualified lender under a Farm Credit rule. A small servicer is still bound by the 120-day foreclosure referral limit and may not proceed while you are performing under a loss mitigation agreement.[1, 3] In general, a small servicer is one that services, together with its affiliates, 5,000 or fewer mortgage loans, all of which it or an affiliate owns or holds, or a housing finance agency or certain nonprofit servicers; if you are unsure, ask your servicer whether it is a small servicer.[6]
- Sections 1024.39 to 1024.41 apply only to a mortgage secured by a property that is the borrower’s principal residence.[3]
- The servicer must follow the loss mitigation rule for each application you submit. It need not repeat the process only if it already complied for an earlier complete application and you have been delinquent at all times since that application.[1]
- Borrowers in bankruptcy have a partial exemption from the early intervention duties.[2]
What you can do next
- The CFPB advises calling your servicer as soon as you know you cannot make a payment, saying why, and asking for help, and notes that the earlier you complete an application, the more protections you get.[4]
- Submit your application to the servicer. If it is received 45 or more days before a foreclosure sale, the servicer must confirm in writing within 5 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal public holidays) whether it is complete, so check that you get that acknowledgment.[1]
- The CFPB points to housing counseling agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which can offer independent advice, often at little or no cost.[5]
- The CFPB warns that you should not have to pay anyone to help you avoid foreclosure, and lists upfront fees and guarantees of success among foreclosure scam warning signs.[4] Federal rules also limit advance fees for this kind of help; see our MARS Rule guide.
- If you think the servicer gave you wrong information about options or took a foreclosure step it should not have, a written notice of error covers both.[1]
- If a sale date is set, deadlines can be short and state law matters; a housing counselor or a lawyer licensed in your state can look at your specific situation.
If the delinquency traces back to a force-placed insurance charge or an escrow shortage, see our guides to force-placed insurance and escrow shortages. If your servicing moves to a new company mid-process, the loss mitigation rule has its own transfer provisions, and our servicing transfer guide covers the notices.[1]
Limits and unknowns
This page covers the federal servicing rule only. It does not predict what a servicer will offer, which options exist for any loan, how a foreclosure sale date is set in your state, or whether a servicer complied on any account. Investor and government program rules can add requirements, and the loss mitigation rule says it does not create a right to enforce the terms of any agreement between a servicer and the owner of the loan; a borrower may enforce the section itself through section 6(f) of RESPA.[1] We name no servicer, counselor or law firm and do not recommend any.
When we update this page
We revise this page, and log the change, when any of the following happens:
- 12 CFR §§ 1024.30 to 1024.41 is amended.
- The CFPB updates its foreclosure-avoidance guidance.
- A reader reports an error we confirm.
If something here looks wrong, report an error; we review reports within 5 business days. This page explains rules and names no lender, servicer or loan officer; it does not grade anyone. See how we check and the Register for how we assess individual originators.