Start here. You are not alone.
If you are facing foreclosure
This page is for veterans and caregivers who are behind, in foreclosure, or already displaced. It is calm, practical, and free. Take it one step at a time, preserve your documents, reach vetted help, and ask your servicer the right questions.
If you are facing this, the four answers, fast.
After COVID, many veterans were told to pause mortgage payments under a federal program, then the program that let them catch up was taken away, and the replacement is not working at most servicers yet.
What is happening →This is not your fault and you are not alone: a government program changed under you. Free specialists handle exactly this situation.
Step 1 · call for help today →Do not sign anything, gather your paperwork, and call a specialist before any sale date.
Steps 2–3 →Start with the vetted help below, by your stage. If you have a sale date or eviction notice, act today.
Start at Step 1 →If you have a sale date or an eviction notice.
Act now. Call a legal-aid line below today and do not sign anything, including a “cash for keys” offer, before you speak with someone. A pending sale can sometimes be paused, but timing matters.
↓ Print the “First 72 Hours” checklistIf you got a letter like this
“Chose not to accept”? “Not resolved”? Here’s what those lines leave out
If a VA or servicer letter uses one of these lines, you are not alone. It is a documented pattern. See the plain-language rebuttal and exactly what to ask for, in writing.
See the Rebuttal Index →You may have heard: “they were offered help and refused it” →
The short checklist
Six steps, in order
If you do nothing else today, do these. Each is free, and each links to the national resource that handles it. Work down the list. You do not have to do it all at once.
-
1
Call for help today
Reach a person who can triage your case today. Every vetted number, veteran, legal, and local, is in Where to turn below, grouped by your stage.
-
2
Do not sign anything
Especially a “cash for keys” offer: it asks you to give up the home, and sometimes your legal claims, for a payment. Talk to legal aid or a housing counselor before you sign anything, no matter how short the deadline sounds.
-
3
Gather your documents
Save every letter, email, and voicemail, and write down every call: date, name, what was said. The full list is in gather these documents below.
-
4
Get free legal + counseling
A HUD-approved housing counselor is the strongest first call for a home you are trying to keep; an attorney finder and state legal aid come next. All three, with their numbers, are in Where to turn below.
-
5
File to build the record
CFPB, VA OIG, your State Attorney General, and Congress (202-224-3121). Every filing is evidence for the whole cohort.
-
6
You are not alone
Other families have been exactly here and triage new arrivals every week, find the family support group in Where to turnStage 3.
During foreclosure
Know your state’s process
Non-judicial
Deed-of-trust states, like Washington: the trustee can sell without a court hearing. Timelines are short, act fast.
Judicial
Court-ordered: you are served and can respond in court. Find out which type your state uses first.
Foreclosure runs one of two ways. Find out which your state uses first. Never sign a Cash for Keys agreement first. See Step 2.
State example, Washington
Washington’s Foreclosure Fairness Program provides mediation after a Notice of Default, but only if a housing counselor or attorney refers the case at least 90 days before the sale date (25 days before an amended date).
Vetted help, by where you are
Where to turn
Find the group that matches your situation right now. Everything here is vetted and free, and national unless marked. State and local lines sit in the dashed box under each group, we add them as families confirm them.
Key finding · read this before you call “legal aid”
PROJECT ANALYSISGeneral legal-aid lines are often grant-funded for specific problems. In some states that means landlord/tenant eviction only, not mortgage foreclosure (this is the case in Washington), and a referral to a private attorney may not work out. Ask any legal-aid line directly: “Do you handle mortgage foreclosure?” before you rely on it.
For a home you still own and are trying to keep, your strongest first call is a specialist: a HUD-approved housing counselor (1-800-569-4287) or your state’s foreclosure-prevention / mediation program. These counselors are free and specialize in mortgage and VA foreclosure. Dial 211 and ask for your state foreclosure-prevention center.
Stage 1
Still in your home, in foreclosure, not sold yet
The house has not been sold. The priority is pausing the sale and getting a workout on the record.
HUD-approved housing counseling
1-800-569-4287 · answers.hud.gov
Free counseling on your options. Ask them to point you to legal aid too.
NACA attorney finder
Find a consumer or foreclosure attorney in your state through the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
State / county legal aid
Dial 211 · LawHelp.org
Free civil legal aid near you, grant-limited, so read the caveat above before you rely on it.
CFPB Help for Homeowners
Federal plain-language guide to foreclosure options and your rights.
SSVF (prevention)
Homelessness-prevention help for veteran families. Ask about case management.
In your state / region
Washington: CLEAR legal aid, 1-888-201-1014. Outside WA, dial 211 and ask for your state’s foreclosure legal-aid line.
Stage 2
Post-foreclosure, facing eviction
The sale has happened and you may have received notices. The priority is eviction defense, your timeline, and not signing away rights.
Local legal aid
Dial 211
Connects you to local eviction-defense help, grant-limited, so read the caveat above before you rely on it.
File a CFPB complaint
Files a federal record on the servicer. Creates a paper trail even after a sale.
In your state / region
Washington: CLEAR, 1-888-201-1014 · Spokane Housing Justice Project, 1-855-657-8387 (post-eviction defense). Outside WA, ask 211 for your county’s eviction-defense line
Stage 3
Rebuilding, displaced or homeless
You have left the home. The priority is safe housing now, income and credit repair, and staying connected to people who have done this.
SSVF rapid re-housing
Move-in costs, rapid re-housing, and case management for veteran families. You do not have to sign away rights to get help.
Local resource line
Dial 211
Emergency shelter, rent, utility, and food help in your area.
Housing megalist & consumer help
shelterforce.org · nclc.org · self-help.org
A vetted national list of housing help, NCLC’s consumer resources for credit and debt, and Self-Help Federal Credit Union’s affordable-credit counseling for rebuilding.
Veteran-family support orgs
Operation Homefront · Semper Fi & America’s Fund
Emergency financial aid and case coordination. Caregivers: Elizabeth Dole Foundation; case navigation: Code of Support.
The family support group
On Facebook, via the Linktree
Other families who have been through this, triaging new arrivals and sharing what worked.
In your state / region
Ask 211 for local rapid-re-housing and veteran-specific shelter programs in your area. Add your state’s programs by writing veteranforeclosurecrisis@gmail.com.
Background, not an intake line: NPR’s multi-year investigation (Arnold / Lawrence), most recently April 2, 2026 ↗
Before you call anyone
Gather these documents
- □Your COVID forbearance approval letter (check whether a lump-sum balloon was disclosed)
- □Every loan modification offer, with its interest rate and new payment
- □All servicer letters, emails, and denial notices
- □A written log of every phone call: date, who you spoke with, what they said
- □Your original monthly payment amount and interest rate
- □Any foreclosure or sale-date notice, and any eviction paperwork
Want to add your experience to the record, safely and on your own terms? See how to share your story safely. It is entirely optional, and nothing is published without your consent.