What to do before foreclosure starts

Most people do not fall behind through carelessness. They fall behind because something happened: a job ended, someone got ill, a marriage broke down, a business had a bad year. By the time the letters start arriving, the hardest part has usually already happened, and what is left is a paperwork problem wearing the costume of a catastrophe.

That distinction matters, because the paperwork problem has a shape. Lenders deal with missed payments constantly and have established processes for them. Those processes work best when there is time, and time is the one thing that only ever gets scarcer.

Open the letters

This sounds too simple to be advice, and it is the single most common thing people do not do. Unopened envelopes are an entirely understandable response to a frightening situation. They are also how a deadline passes without anyone deciding to let it pass.

You do not have to act on everything in them. You do need to know which stage you are at, because what is available to you depends on it. If opening them alone is more than you can face today, open them with someone else in the room.

Work out what you can actually pay

Almost every option a lender can offer depends on one number: what you can sustainably pay each month from here. Not what you wish you could pay, and not what you used to pay. A realistic figure opens doors. An optimistic one leads to an arrangement that fails a second time, which is a materially worse position than the one you are in now.

Write down income and outgoings as they genuinely are. Lenders ask for this in some form for most workout options, so the work is not wasted, and having it ready tends to shorten everything that follows.

Talk to the servicer earlier than feels comfortable

The company you send payments to is the servicer, and they are usually the ones who decide what can be arranged. Contacting them before they contact you changes the conversation. It is the difference between someone managing a problem and someone reacting to one, and it is noticed.

Ask what loss mitigation options exist for your loan specifically. Loan type matters more than people expect — what is available on a government-backed loan may differ from a conventional one. Ask them to confirm in writing what they have told you.

Know roughly how much time the process takes

Under federal mortgage servicing rules, a servicer generally cannot start a foreclosure until a loan is more than about 120 days delinquent. That does not apply to every loan, and it is not a promise about your situation, but it explains why the early months feel quiet and why they are the most useful ones you have.

Texas has its own sequence after that point, with defined notice periods. Our timeline page sets those out stage by stage, alongside what tends to still be open at each one.

Get independent advice, free

HUD-approved housing counselling agencies advise homeowners at no cost. They have nothing to sell, they are independent of your lender and of us, and they do this every day. If you would rather start there than with an estate agent, that is a completely reasonable thing to do, and we would suggest it in your position.

Be cautious with anyone who contacts you unexpectedly, asks for money up front, or asks you to sign over your deed. Legitimate help does not work that way, and pressure is the tell in almost every version of it.

What none of this requires

Nothing above commits you to selling, and nothing above requires a decision. Understanding where you stand is not the same as choosing a direction, and the point of doing it early is precisely that you get to choose later, from more options, with less pressure.

• You do not have to decide anything to ask what your options are.
• Asking questions is not an application, and it is not reported anywhere.
• You can stop at any point, including after one conversation.