Behind on Your Mortgage in Massachusetts or New Hampshire? What Should You Do Right Now?

Open every letter and call your servicer. The servicer is the company you send your payment to. The number is on your statement.

Ask for the loss mitigation department. That's the team whose job is helping people who are behind. You can say this:

"I'm behind on my mortgage, and I'd like to talk to loss mitigation about my options."

Before you call, gather your latest statement, proof of income, a rough list of monthly bills and any letters you've gotten. Write down who you spoke to, the date and any reference number.

Want the numbers and programs for your servicer? Use our servicer guides for 20 major servicers that work with Massachusetts and New Hampshire homeowners.

Free help is real. You never need to pay anyone upfront to save your home.

• HOPE Hotline: 888-995-4673, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• HUD housing counselors: 800-569-4287, or search the CFPB's counselor list
• Massachusetts AG HomeCorps Loan Modification Hotline: 617-573-5333
• Massachusetts Division of Banks, auction within 7 business days: 617-956-1501, Monday to Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• 603 Legal Aid in New Hampshire: 1-877-399-9995
• NH Banking Department Homeowner Hotline: 1-800-437-5991
• New Hampshire 2-1-1: dial 2-1-1 for local help

A HUD-approved counselor knows the rules your servicer has to follow. They can help you fill out the forms and talk to the servicer for you.

Massachusetts gives you a 90-day right to cure. That means your servicer must give you 90 days to catch up before it can move forward.

Federal rules add more time. A servicer can't make the first foreclosure filing until you're more than 120 days behind.

Before a sale, Massachusetts also requires a notice tied to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. That's a step that protects people on active military duty. Then the servicer must mail you a Notice of Sale at least 14 days before the auction.

If an auction is set within 7 business days, call the Division of Banks right away. If it's your main home and you've never asked for a delay before, they may ask the servicer for a 60-day delay. It isn't a promise, so don't wait for this step.

New Hampshire usually moves faster. Most foreclosures there don't go through a full court case.

The federal 120-day rule still applies. After that, the lender must send you a notice at least 45 days before a sale on a home. The notice also runs in a local paper once a week for 3 weeks.

The notice will tell you that you can ask the superior court to stop the sale. You must file and serve that before the sale. If you don't, most later challenges to the foreclosure are barred.

So if your home is in Derry NH, Salem NH or Londonderry NH, please don't wait. Call 603 Legal Aid or a housing counselor this week.

Most servicers can offer a pause, a payment plan or a change to your loan. Ask about each one.

• Forbearance: a short pause or lower payment. The missed money still has to be paid back later.
• Repayment plan: you add part of what you owe to each payment until you're caught up. It fits when the hard stretch is over.
• Loan modification: a lasting change to your loan, like a new rate or a longer term, so the payment fits.

Send a complete application as early as you can. If your servicer gets it 45 or more days before a sale, it has 5 business days to tell you if anything is missing. If a complete application arrives more than 37 days before a sale, the servicer must review it within 30 days. In most cases, it can't hold the sale while it decides.

If you're turned down for a loan modification, you can often appeal within 14 days. Ask your counselor if that applies to you.

If your home is worth more than you owe, selling on your own terms can protect what you've built.

At closing, the sale pays off the loan, the missed payments and the fees. What's left is yours. You choose the timing, the price and the buyer.

Selling takes time, so start early. In New Hampshire, the window is shorter. If things get better, you can take a home off the market.

Want a private look at what your home could sell for? I walk you through three things. What sellers near you said yes to lately. Every home for sale within about 10 miles in your price range. The accurate similar sales from the last 30 days. Then you choose your price. We don't set it for you.

A short sale may be the path. That's when the lender agrees to take less than what's owed so the home can sell.

The lender has to approve it, and that takes time. Ask the lender in writing whether it will waive the rest of the debt. That leftover amount is called a deficiency. Have a real estate attorney read the approval letter. I often bring in Eric Pacy, my go-to real estate attorney, for this part.

A deed in lieu is another choice. You sign the home over to the lender, and the lender releases the loan. Lenders don't have to accept it, and many want you to try a short sale first.

Please talk to a tax pro first. Canceled debt is generally taxable income. The IRS says the special break for a main home isn't available for debt canceled after December 31, 2025.

Anyone who asks for money upfront to save your home is a red flag. In Massachusetts, the Attorney General's rules ban upfront fees for loan modification help.

• Never sign your deed over to someone who promises you can rent it back and buy it later.
• Be careful with "We buy houses for cash" and "Avoid foreclosure now" mailers.
• No one can promise to stop a foreclosure.
• Never sign anything under pressure. Have an attorney or counselor read it first.

To report a scam, call the Massachusetts AG Consumer Hotline at 617-727-8400 or the NH AG Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-888-468-4454.

Yes, and it doesn't fit. Shame is what keeps the letters sealed and the phone quiet.

The people who come through this well are the ones who asked for help early. Some kept their homes with a new plan. Some sold, kept their equity and started fresh.

I've sat at kitchen tables with families in hard moments for 20 years, across almost 2,000 families. Lisa Sevajian has been featured by HGTV, Forbes, HousingWire, Boston magazine, RealTrends Verified and Boston Agent Magazine, among many others. If selling becomes part of your plan, I'm here. If it doesn't, I'll still point you to the free help first.