All it takes is one bout of bad luck, such as a medical emergency, to land you in a financial crisis. This especially rings true for older adults living on fixed incomes or working hourly-wage jobs.  Some worry about their finances in terms of weeks—some only days, much less months that are potentially needed for full economic recovery.

How homeowners can get help if they're managing financial uncertainty 

If you’re a homeowner who is facing hardship and worrying about planning for your housing costs, here are a few tips to consider:

• Contact your mortgage servicer as soon as you think you have a problem making payments
• Open and respond to all correspondence from your servicer.
• Seek help early. You may have relief options which can vary based on your loan type and situation. Mortgage relief examples include:
  • Forbearance: Suspending mortgage payments or reducing how much you pay for a period of time¹
  • Repayment plan: Reaching an agreement with a lender to pay back missing mortgage payments by a certain time²
  • Loan modification: Changing the terms of your loan, such as interest rates and how long it will take to pay off the mortgage.³ Prepare for your conversation with them. Ask as many questions as you need to make sure you fully know the terms of the help you’re seeking, and what your responsibilities are. Your mortgage servicer will commonly ask for:
    • Full contact information for all borrowers on the loan
    • Property information (address, loan number)
    • Hardship reason – why you are unable to meet your current payment and when it started
    • All income amounts and sources contributing to the mortgage
    • Assets
• Be wary of scams. No one can promise or guarantee modification of a loan or prevention of foreclosure other than your servicer.

There are organizations that can help. Most offer assistance free of charge, whether it’s help trimming your budget to save a bit more to put toward necessities, helping you understand what your options might be in order to best work with your servicer, or providing important referrals to local assistance.

Three places to go for help if you're facing financial hardship

Whether you’re under financial stress and wanting to understand your options or eager to learn how to better manage your finances, the sooner you connect with someone to take action, the better.

Use these three resources to get help if you're struggling to pay your mortgage:

• Call the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline at 1-888-995-HOPE (4673), a service which helps homeowners avoid foreclosure
• Look for a HUD approved housing counseling agency near you using HUD’s online locator tool
• For local resources, simply dial 211 on your phone to connect to a hotline which provides information on essential community resources and services including food and clothing banks, shelters, rent assistance, and utility assistance. According to the 211.org, 8.1 million people call 211 for assistance with housing, homelessness, and utility bills every year.

211 saved my life. It was below freezing, and I had nowhere to sleep. They helped me find a place to stay and create a plan to get my life back," said a Cleveland 211 client.

Sources

1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What is mortgage forbearance? Oct. 19, 2023. Found on the Internet at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-mortgage-forbearance-en-289

2. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. My lender or servicer said I could go on a repayment plan. What does that mean? Nov. 7, 2022. Found on the Internet at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/my-lender-or-servicer-said-i-could-go-on-a-repayment-plan-what-does-that-mean-en-280

3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What is a mortgage loan modification? Sept. 4, 2020. Found on the Internet at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-mortgage-loan-modification-en-269