Can my lender foreclose while my loan modification application is under review?

If your servicer receives a complete loss mitigation application after the foreclosure has started but more than 37 days before the sale, federal rules bar it from conducting the sale until one of three things happens: it denies you in writing and your appeal is denied, the appeal deadline passes without you requesting an appeal, or no appeal applies; you reject every option offered; or you stop performing under an option you accepted (12 CFR 1024.41(g)). The rules apply to a loan on your principal residence, small servicers are exempt from most of them, a servicer that already complied with these rules for a complete application from you does not have to repeat the process if you have been delinquent ever since you submitted it (section 1024.41(i)), and the servicer does not have to give you any particular option.

Do I have to pay someone to stop a foreclosure?

No. The CFPB says help is available at no cost from your servicer or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and HUD says foreclosure counseling is always free. A mortgage relief company cannot charge you until you have signed an agreement with your lender that includes the relief it obtained (12 CFR 1015.5).

Where are Tarrant County foreclosure sales held?

The Tarrant County Clerk says sales are held at the base of the courthouse steps on the west side of the building at 100 West Weatherford Street in downtown Fort Worth, on the first Tuesday of the month, at the times stated on each notice. The trustees conduct the sales on behalf of the lenders, not the clerk's office.

What happens if a Texas foreclosure sale brings less than I owe?

On a loan you are personally liable for, sold at a non-court sale under section 51.002, the lender can sue for the deficiency, but under Texas Property Code section 51.003 it has to bring that action within two years of the sale, and you can ask the court to determine the house's fair market value as of the sale date; if the value was higher than the sale price, the amount you owe is reduced by the difference, after other liens the sale did not wipe out. Texas home equity loans are different: the Texas Constitution makes them without recourse for personal liability unless the borrower obtained the loan by actual fraud (article XVI, section 50(a)(6)(C)). Talk to a Texas attorney.

Tarrant County · Owner Guide

How do I stop a foreclosure in Texas?

By Andrew ChavisUpdated November 5, 202610 min read

The Short Answer

Call your mortgage servicer and a free HUD-approved housing counselor ((800) 569-4287) now. Get the servicer's list of required documents and send a complete loss mitigation application more than 37 days before any sale date: under federal rules, that can require the servicer to evaluate you for every available option within 30 days and, once foreclosure has started, bars the sale while the review and any appeal run (12 CFR 1024.41). Never pay anyone upfront for foreclosure help. If a sale is days away, call a Texas attorney the same day.

How long does a foreclosure take in Texas?

If your loan is secured by a deed of trust with a power of sale, Texas lets the trustee sell the house at a public auction without filing a lawsuit (Texas Property Code section 51.002). Home equity loans are the exception: the Texas Constitution says those liens may be foreclosed upon "only by a court order" (article XVI, section 50(a)(6)(D)). For a power-of-sale loan, federal rules generally bar the first foreclosure notice or filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(1)). Texas also requires a notice of default by certified mail giving at least 20 days to cure (section 51.002(d)), which can arrive during the federal wait because it is mailed rather than filed, and a notice of sale posted at the courthouse door, filed with the county clerk, and mailed at least 21 days before the auction (section 51.002(b)). Sales happen on the first Tuesday of the month between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or the first Wednesday when that Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4 (section 51.002(a) and (a-1)). Twenty plus 21 is about six weeks from the default notice at the shortest, by my arithmetic, not a number the statute prints, and the sale still has to land on a first Tuesday, so the real calendar may run longer. If you or your spouse is on active military duty, say so in writing to whoever sent the notice; Texas requires these notices to ask for exactly that (section 51.002(i)). Separately, section 51.015 bars a sale of a home owned by a servicemember during active duty and for nine months after, when the loan was taken out before the service began and the servicemember is still obligated on it, unless a court order or a qualifying agreement allows it.

NoteThe Texas part of the clock is measured in weeks. The federal part is where the room is.

What is the 37-day rule?

If you are holding a default notice and no sale date yet, you are early, and early is where the strongest protection is: if a complete application reaches the servicer before it has made the first foreclosure notice or filing, it cannot make that first notice or filing until one of three things has happened: it has told you in writing that you do not qualify for any option and your appeal was denied, the appeal deadline passed without you requesting an appeal, or no appeal applies; you turned down every option it offered; or you stopped keeping up with an option you accepted (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(2)). Do not wait for a sale notice to apply: if the notice of sale arrives with only the 21 days the law requires, the 37-day line is already behind you. Once a sale is on the calendar, the line is 37 days. Under 12 CFR 1024.41, if your servicer receives a complete loss mitigation application, meaning every piece of information it requires from you, more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale, it generally has 30 days to evaluate you for all the options available to you and tell you in writing what it will offer (section 1024.41(c)(1)). If that complete application arrives after the foreclosure has started but still more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer cannot conduct the sale unless one of three things has happened: it has told you in writing that you do not qualify for any option and your appeal was denied, the appeal deadline passed without you requesting an appeal, or no appeal applies; you turned down every option it offered; or you stopped keeping up with an option you accepted (section 1024.41(g)). If the application arrives 45 days or more before a sale, the servicer has to tell you in writing within five business days whether it is complete (section 1024.41(b)(2)(i)). Four limits: the rule guarantees a review, not a yes (section 1024.41(a)); it applies only to a loan on your principal residence (section 1024.30(c)(2)); small servicers are exempt from most of it, though they still cannot foreclose while you keep up with an option you agreed to (section 1024.41(j)); and a servicer that already complied with these rules for a complete application from you does not have to repeat the process if you have been delinquent ever since you submitted it (section 1024.41(i)).

The notice

The date that matters is the auction date.The date that matters is more than 37 days before it.

What are my options to stop a foreclosure in Texas?

Start with your servicer and a HUD-approved housing counselor. HUD says foreclosure counseling is "always free"; call (800) 569-4287, or the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673, which the CFPB says answers 24 hours a day. Then the options, roughly from keeping the house to leaving it on your own terms: reinstatement (paying the entire past-due amount plus fees by an agreed date; the Texas 20-day cure notice is the first deadline for it, giving you at least 20 days before the sale can be noticed, and the federal rules can hold the sale notice back longer, so ask whether you can still reinstate after that); a repayment plan; forbearance, and if a servicer offers a short-term forbearance or repayment plan before your application is complete, it cannot start a foreclosure or hold a sale while you keep up with that plan (12 CFR 1024.41(c)(2)(iii)); a loan modification; for FHA loans, HUD's partial claim and Payment Supplement; for VA loans, special forbearance, a repayment plan, a VA loan modification, and a VA partial claim after a three-month trial payment plan (the VA says veterans who cannot reach a resolution with their servicer can call 877-827-3702, option 6); a sale you control on the open market before the auction date (listing does not, by itself, stop or move the sale date: the sale has to close before the auction, or the servicer has to agree in writing to postpone); a short sale, which needs approval from your servicer and the owner of your loan; and a deed in lieu of foreclosure, where Texas lets the lender void the deed within four years if you did not disclose another lien it did not know about (Property Code section 51.006(b)). Which ones you qualify for is the servicer's decision.

NoteEvery option on this list starts with a phone call that costs nothing.

How do I spot a foreclosure rescue scam?

The CFPB: "You don't have to pay anyone to help you avoid foreclosure. The help you need is available at no cost to you from your servicer, or through a HUD-approved housing counseling agency." Under the federal Mortgage Assistance Relief Services rule, a company cannot take a fee until you have signed an agreement with your lender or servicer that includes the relief it got you (12 CFR 1015.5); lawyers are a narrow exception under conditions the FTC spells out. The CFPB's warning signs include being asked to pay upfront, a guarantee that you will not lose your home, being asked to sign over title, being told to send your payment to someone other than your servicer, an offer of a "forensic audit," and being told to stop paying your mortgage. Texas Business and Commerce Code chapter 21 adds rules for paid foreclosure consultants once a notice of sale is filed on a home of up to four units where one is the owner's principal residence (attorneys working for a client and some licensed professionals acting within their licenses are exempt, unless the "help" is designed to transfer the title to them or an associate): a written notice before you sign that you "may, at any time, cancel or rescind this contract, without penalty of any kind" (section 21.052), no power of attorney except to inspect documents and no interest in your property to secure a fee (section 21.102), and no collecting until fully performed unless the consultant maintains a qualifying surety bond or surety account (section 21.101). A violation is a Class C misdemeanor (section 21.151). If you think you have been targeted, the Texas Attorney General asks you to cut off contact and file a complaint; its line, (800) 252-8011, can give you a list of legal clinics.

NoteFree is the tell. Outside a qualified attorney, a mortgage relief company that charges before you sign a written agreement with your lender or servicer that includes the relief it got you is breaking a federal rule.

What if my foreclosure sale is days away?

Three calls, all of them today, without waiting on one to make the next: a Texas attorney, your servicer, and a HUD-approved counselor. The CFPB: "If you are facing imminent foreclosure or have been served with legal papers, you might also need to consult an attorney," and you "may qualify for free legal services through legal aid." Look up your own notice: the Tarrant County Clerk's official records search lists filed notices under its Foreclosures department, and the clerk's advice is to "Contact your lender if you think your property has been posted in error." In Tarrant County, the clerk says sales are held "at the base of the courthouse steps on the west side of the building located at 100 West Weatherford Street in downtown Fort Worth." And a completed sale is not always final: Texas Property Code section 51.016 lets the lender, trustee, or substitute trustee rescind a nonjudicial (non-court) sale of residential property within 15 calendar days in listed situations, such as when the default was cured before the sale. Rescission is the lender's option, not the homeowner's right; that is a same-day conversation for your attorney.

Where I standI sell houses. The one door here that runs through me is the open-market sale, and I would rather you try every free door before it.

Common Questions

How long does a foreclosure take in Texas?: For a home loan with a power of sale, federal rules generally bar the first foreclosure notice or filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(1)). Texas also requires a notice of default giving at least 20 days to cure, which can arrive during the federal wait, and a notice of sale at least 21 days before the auction, which is held on the first Tuesday of a month (Property Code section 51.002). That is about six weeks from the default notice at the shortest, by arithmetic, and home equity loans need a court order.
Can my lender foreclose while my loan modification application is under review?: If your servicer receives a complete loss mitigation application after the foreclosure has started but more than 37 days before the sale, federal rules bar it from conducting the sale until one of three things happens: it denies you in writing and your appeal is denied, the appeal deadline passes without you requesting an appeal, or no appeal applies; you reject every option offered; or you stop performing under an option you accepted (12 CFR 1024.41(g)). The rules apply to a loan on your principal residence, small servicers are exempt from most of them, a servicer that already complied with these rules for a complete application from you does not have to repeat the process if you have been delinquent ever since you submitted it (section 1024.41(i)), and the servicer does not have to give you any particular option.
Do I have to pay someone to stop a foreclosure?: No. The CFPB says help is available at no cost from your servicer or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and HUD says foreclosure counseling is always free. A mortgage relief company cannot charge you until you have signed an agreement with your lender that includes the relief it obtained (12 CFR 1015.5).
Where are Tarrant County foreclosure sales held?: The Tarrant County Clerk says sales are held at the base of the courthouse steps on the west side of the building at 100 West Weatherford Street in downtown Fort Worth, on the first Tuesday of the month, at the times stated on each notice. The trustees conduct the sales on behalf of the lenders, not the clerk's office.
What happens if a Texas foreclosure sale brings less than I owe?: On a loan you are personally liable for, sold at a non-court sale under section 51.002, the lender can sue for the deficiency, but under Texas Property Code section 51.003 it has to bring that action within two years of the sale, and you can ask the court to determine the house's fair market value as of the sale date; if the value was higher than the sale price, the amount you owe is reduced by the difference, after other liens the sale did not wipe out. Texas home equity loans are different: the Texas Constitution makes them without recourse for personal liability unless the borrower obtained the loan by actual fraud (article XVI, section 50(a)(6)(C)). Talk to a Texas attorney.

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76179 Real Estate Guide

01How long does a foreclosure take in Texas?

02What is the 37-day rule?

03What are my options to stop a foreclosure in Texas?

04How do I spot a foreclosure rescue scam?

05What if my foreclosure sale is days away?