Mortgage Relief Programs: Your Options by Loan Type, and Where to Get Free Help

How mortgage relief programs work today

A few years ago, “mortgage relief” often meant a pandemic grant or a special government program. Most of those have closed. Today, the main help is called loss mitigation: the options your servicer must consider before it can move ahead with foreclosure. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes loss mitigation as the ways a servicer can work with you to avoid foreclosure.

Which options you can get depends mostly on who backs or owns your loan. FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac each set their own rules, and servicers must follow them. Private or portfolio loans follow the lender’s own policies plus federal servicing rules.

Three things are true for almost everyone:

• Earlier is better. You have more options and more legal protection before you are far behind.
• A complete application matters. Many protections only start once the servicer has every document it asked for.
• Help is free. Applying to your servicer and talking with a HUD-approved counselor cost nothing.

What happened to the Homeowner Assistance Fund

The Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) sent about $9.96 billion to states, territories, and tribes to help homeowners catch up after COVID-19. Treasury says the period of performance for HAF awards ended on September 30, 2026, and recipients can no longer provide financial help from HAF funds.

That means state HAF programs are no longer taking applications. Some states run other housing programs with their own money, so ask your state housing finance agency or a housing counselor what is available. Do not pay anyone who says they can still get you HAF money. For an example of what one state offers after HAF, see our Michigan mortgage relief program guide.

Finding out who owns your loan

Your servicer collects payments, but your loan may be insured or owned by someone else. That owner decides which relief programs apply. Here is how to find out:

• Check your closing papers. An FHA case number, a VA loan number, or USDA paperwork tells you it is a government-backed loan.
• Use the lookup tools. Freddie Mac’s loan lookup tool shows whether Freddie Mac owns your loan. Fannie Mae has a similar loan lookup on its website.
• Ask your servicer. You can ask in writing who owns your loan, and the servicer must tell you.

Common relief options explained

The names vary a little by program, but most options fall into these groups:

• Forbearance: your payments are paused or lowered for a short time. It is not forgiveness. The missed amount still has to be repaid later.
• Repayment plan: you pay your normal payment plus an extra amount each month until you catch up. Freddie Mac describes these plans as lasting more than one month and no more than 12 months.
• Payment deferral: missed payments are moved to the end of the loan, due when you sell, refinance, or pay it off. Your monthly payment stays the same.
• Loan modification: the loan terms change for good, often by adding missed payments to the balance, extending the term, or lowering the rate, to make the payment more affordable.
• Partial claim: for FHA and VA loans, the government pays the past-due amount to bring the loan current. You repay it later, usually when you sell or pay off the loan.
• Leaving the home: a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure can be less damaging than a foreclosure if keeping the home is not realistic.

FHA loans and HUD loss mitigation

FHA loans are insured by HUD, and HUD tells servicers which options to offer and in what order. Key points for homeowners:

• Options include forbearance, repayment plans, partial claims, loan modifications, and the FHA payment supplement, which pairs a partial claim with a temporary payment reduction.
• Partial claim: HUD pays past-due amounts and records a no-interest second lien that you repay when you sell, refinance, or pay off the loan. Federal law limits total partial claims on an FHA loan, so ask your servicer how much room remains on yours.
• 24-month limit: under HUD rules in effect since October 1, 2025, you generally cannot receive more than one permanent home-retention option in a 24-month period, except in some disaster cases.
• COVID-era options closed: HUD’s COVID-19 recovery options and FHA-HAMP ended on September 30, 2025.

If your servicer is not responding, you can call the FHA Resource Center at 800-225-5342. A HUD-approved counselor can also help you understand which FHA option fits.

VA loans and the VA partial claim

If you have a VA-backed home loan, the VA’s page for borrowers having trouble making payments lists these options: special forbearance, a repayment plan, a traditional loan modification, a 30-year or 40-year modification, and the new VA partial claim.

• VA partial claim: VA works with your servicer to pay your missed payments and bring the loan current. You repay it when you pay off the loan or sell the home.
• Trial plan first: you must complete a 3-month trial payment plan, paying on time for 3 straight months.
• Rollout: VA says servicers have until November 28, 2026, to add partial claims to their systems.
• VASP is closed: the VA Servicing Purchase program stopped taking new cases in 2025.

VA loan technicians can step in with your servicer. Call 877-827-3702 and select option 6, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Our guide to foreclosure assistance for veterans covers VA options and military protections in more detail.

USDA rural home loans

USDA Rural Development backs two kinds of home loans, and help works differently for each.

• Guaranteed loans: these are made and serviced by private lenders. Call your servicer and ask about USDA loss mitigation, such as forbearance, repayment plans, and modifications.
• Direct loans: these are serviced by USDA itself. USDA lists its Customer Service Center at 800-414-1226. Borrowers whose income has dropped can ask about payment assistance, and those with a hardship outside their control can ask about a moratorium, a temporary pause in payments that must be repaid later. USDA also takes some requests through its online RD loan portal.

Rules and contact options can change, so confirm details with USDA or your servicer.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans

If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owns your loan, both offer a similar set of tools through your servicer:

• Forbearance while you cannot pay, with a plan to catch up afterward.
• Repayment plans for people who can afford a little extra each month.
• Payment deferral when the hardship is over but you cannot repay the missed amount at once.
• Flex Modification, which generally aims to cut your principal and interest payment by about 20 percent through steps like extending the term, lowering the rate, or setting aside part of the balance.

Freddie Mac explains these choices on its options to stay in your home page. Exact eligibility depends on your loan, your hardship, and how far behind you are, so ask your servicer to review you for every option.

Relief options by loan type

This table sums up the main mortgage relief programs for each loan type.

Any homeowner, with any loan type, can get free advice from a HUD-approved housing counselor at 800-569-4287.

Your rights under federal servicing rules

Federal mortgage servicing rules in 12 CFR 1024.41 give most homeowners important protections:

• 120-day wait: in most cases, a servicer cannot make the first notice or filing for foreclosure until you are more than 120 days delinquent.
• Acknowledgment: if you send an application 45 days or more before a scheduled sale, the servicer must tell you within 5 business days whether it is complete and what is missing.
• Review and decision: if a complete application arrives more than 37 days before a sale, the servicer must evaluate you for all available options within 30 days and tell you in writing.
• No dual tracking: in that case, the servicer generally cannot move for a foreclosure judgment or hold a sale while your complete application is under review.
• Appeals: if your complete application arrived 90 days or more before a sale and a loan modification is denied, you can appeal within 14 days.

Keep copies of everything you send, note the date, and send documents in a way you can track. State laws may add more protections, such as mediation programs.

Why call a housing counselor?

A HUD-approved housing counselor works for a nonprofit, not for your lender. Counselors can review your budget, explain which mortgage relief programs fit your loan, help you fill out the servicer’s application, and sometimes talk with the servicer for you. Their foreclosure help is free. Find one through HUD’s counselor search or by calling 800-569-4287. If you are also behind on credit cards or other debt, a counselor can help you decide what to pay first so your housing stays protected.

Spotting foreclosure rescue scams

People in mortgage trouble are a top target for scammers. The CFPB’s guide to foreclosure relief scams lists warning signs. Be wary of anyone who:

• Asks for a fee before doing any work, or promises to save your home for certain.
• Tells you to stop talking to your servicer, lawyer, or counselor.
• Tells you to send your mortgage payments to them instead of your servicer.
• Asks you to sign over the deed to your home.
• Claims to be from the government or uses an official-sounding name.

Real help from your servicer, HUD-approved counselors, and government programs never requires an upfront fee.

Asking for mortgage help, step by step

1. Call your servicer as soon as you know you will miss a payment. Ask for a loss mitigation application.
2. Find out your loan type and who owns your loan.
3. Call a HUD-approved housing counselor at 800-569-4287 for free help with the application.
4. Gather documents: recent pay stubs or benefit letters, bank statements, tax returns, a hardship letter, and your monthly budget.
5. Send a complete application and keep copies with the date sent.
6. Follow up in writing and respond to every request quickly.
7. Review any offer carefully, including the new payment, the new balance, and any trial plan dates, before you accept.

Related guides

• California mortgage relief program
• Catholic Charities mortgage assistance
• Foreclosure assistance grants for seniors
• Debt relief

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Program rules change, and your servicer and loan documents control your options. National Relief Program is an independent website and is not affiliated with any lender, servicer, or government agency.