VA help to avoid foreclosure

• If you’re a Veteran or the surviving spouse of a Veteran, we’ll provide counseling—even if your loan isn’t a VA-guaranteed loan
• If you have a VA-guaranteed loan, you can contact us anytime to discuss your loan
• If you have a VA-guaranteed loan and it’s 61 days past due, we’ll automatically assign a VA loan technician to review your loan

If you’re having trouble making your mortgage payments, contact your loan servicer right away. They will work with you to try to find a solution to your situation.

If you’re nervous about contacting your servicer, or if you’d like our help and advice, contact a VA loan technician at (TTY: 711). We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.

You can also send us a message online through our Loan Guaranty support portal. You’ll need to sign in or create an account first.

Go to our Loan Guaranty support portal

Be careful of potential scams

If you’re behind on your mortgage payments, contact us or your mortgage servicer to get help avoiding scams or third-party companies trying to take advantage of you. Work only with trusted organizations.

Our VA loan technicians can help you figure out which option is best for you. Contact a VA loan technician at and select 6.

You can also learn more about your options for avoiding foreclosure from our video.

Go to our video to learn about your options (YouTube)

These are your options for trying to avoid foreclosure:

1. Special forbearance: This plan gives you extra time to repay missed mortgage payments. It doesn’t add your missed payments to the end of your loan. You’ll need to contact your servicer to discuss how you’ll make payments after the special forbearance ends.
2. Repayment plan: If you’ve missed a few mortgage payments, this plan lets you go back to making your regular payments. You’ll pay an extra amount each month to cover the payments you missed.
3. VA traditional loan modification: This plan lets you add missed mortgage payments and any related legal costs to your total loan balance. You and your servicer will create a new mortgage payment schedule.
   Note: Due to rising interest rates, your new monthly payment could be higher.
4. 30-year modification: With this option, your servicer will reset your mortgage to 30 years if the monthly principal and interest payment is lower than the current payment.
5. VA partial claim: This option lets us work with your servicer to pay your missed mortgage payments and bring your loan current. You pay the partial claim back when you pay off your loan or sell your home. Before you can get a partial claim, you must complete a 3-month trial payment plan. This trial shows that you can pay the mortgage on time for 3 straight months. You must work with your servicer to begin the Partial Claim Program. Servicers have until November 28, 2026, to add partial claims to their systems. Work with your servicer to find your best foreclosure avoidance option.
6. 40-year modification: With this option, your servicer extends your existing mortgage term to 40 years.

Other alternatives to foreclosure:

You and your servicer may also want to explore these other alternatives to avoid foreclosure:

• Extra time to arrange a private sale: If you need to sell your home, this plan lets you delay a foreclosure, so you have time to sell.
• Short sale: If you owe more money than your house is worth, your servicer might agree to a short sale. This means your servicer will accept the total proceeds from the home sale (even if it’s less than the full amount you owe on the mortgage) as full payment of the debt you owe.
  Note: This option could result in a loss or reduction in your future home loan benefit.
• Deed in lieu of foreclosure: This plan lets you avoid the foreclosure process by signing over the deed to the home to your servicer. The home will then belong to the servicer.
  Note: This option could result in a loss or reduction in your future home loan benefit. 

If you’re having trouble working with your loan servicer or if you have questions about your mortgage, our VA loan technicians can help you. Contact a VA loan technician at and select 6. 

If you’re homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, we offer many programs and services that may help. We can connect you with resources in your community, like homeless shelters or faith-based organizations. Call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at . We’re here 24/7.

If your loan closed before January 1, 1990, and we have to pay back the amount of your loan to the servicer, you may need to pay this amount back to the government. If you can’t repay a VA debt, you may be able to get a waiver.

Learn more about waivers for VA debt

If your loan closed on or after January 1, 1990, and we must pay the servicer the foreclosure costs up to the guaranty maximum, you’ll need to pay this amount back to the government if we find evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith on your part.

If your loan ends in foreclosure, short sale, or deed in lieu of foreclosure, you’ll need to pay back the amount we lost on your loan to restore your future benefit. We call this process “restoration of entitlement.”

To find out the amount you need to pay to restore your entitlement, contact a VA loan technician at .

• Talk with a VA loan technician to discuss foreclosure avoidance options
• Read HUD’s homeowner’s guide to success (PDF)
• Find out how to identify a foreclosure relief scam. Read the advisory from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
• Find out how the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) helps Veterans and their families who are behind on their mortgages and other housing-related expenses due to the impacts of COVID-19. Learn about the HAF on the National Council of State Housing Agencies website
• Schedule a free consultation with a credit or financial counselor through our Veterans Benefits Banking Program (VBBP). Get more information about financial counseling on the VBBP website