Behind on your mortgage in Louisiana: every option

If you've missed mortgage payments, you probably have more time and more choices than it feels like right now. Federal rules generally bar your servicer from starting a foreclosure until you're more than 120 days behind, and in that time you can ask for a repayment plan, a pause or a lower payment. Call your servicer and a free HUD-approved housing counselor this week: the sooner you act, the more options stay open.

You're not alone

At the end of September 2026, Louisiana had the highest share of mortgages behind or in foreclosure of any state: 8.70%, or more than 1 in 12, according to the mortgage-data company ICE. Mississippi was second, at 8.61%.

Being behind is common here. What changes the outcome is acting early.

What happens, and when

These federal rules cover the home you live in. Some small servicers are exempt from parts of them, but not from the 120-day rule.

• The first weeks. A payment is late after its due date. Your note says when a late fee starts and how much it is.
• By day 36. Most servicers must try to reach you, by phone or in person, to talk about options, and keep trying while you're behind.
• By day 45. They must send you a letter that explains the help they offer and how to apply, and assign people to help you.
• After day 120. Only once you're more than 120 days behind can the servicer generally start a foreclosure. In Louisiana that usually means "executory process", a court-ordered sheriff's sale that can move fast. See How foreclosure works in Louisiana, step by step.

Apply early. If your servicer gets a complete application for help before the first filing, it can't file until it has decided and any appeal is over. Later, a complete application received more than 37 days before a sale stops the sale while it's reviewed. If yours arrives 90 days or more before a sale, you can appeal a denied modification within 14 days.

Get the numbers in writing. Ask your servicer for a reinstatement quote, and for a payoff statement if you might sell. It must send a payoff statement within seven business days of a written request, though it gets more time once a foreclosure has started.

Ways to keep the house

Your servicer decides which of these you qualify for. The rules depend on who backs your loan: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA or a private investor. Ask which one.

• Reinstatement. You pay everything past due, plus late fees and costs, in one payment, and the loan is back on track. The current standard Louisiana mortgage lets you reinstate until five days before a sheriff's sale. Older mortgages may differ, so check yours.
• A repayment plan. You pay your regular payment plus part of what's past due each month until you're caught up.
• Forbearance. Your servicer lets you pay less, or nothing, for a while after a hardship like a job loss, an illness or a storm. Fannie Mae and FHA loans allow up to 12 months in total, a few months at a time. The skipped payments are still owed, so ask how you'll repay them before you agree.
• Moving missed payments to the end. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac call this a payment deferral: the missed payments become a separate balance, with no interest, due when you sell, refinance or pay off the loan. FHA's version, the partial claim, puts them in an interest-free second lien that's repaid the same way. VA started its own partial claim on June 15, 2026: you first complete a three-month trial payment plan, and servicers have until November 28, 2026 to offer it.
• A loan modification. The servicer changes the loan's terms, such as the rate or the length, to bring the payment down. A Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Flex Modification can also set part of the balance aside, interest-free, until the loan is paid off. FHA allows one permanent option, such as a modification or partial claim, every 24 months, unless you're hit by a declared disaster.
• After a storm. If a federal disaster declaration covers your area, ask about disaster forbearance and deferral. In 2026, Tropical Storm Arthur brought declarations for St. Tammany Parish on June 30, and for Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi on August 3.

Ways to leave on your terms

• Sell with a listing agent. If you have equity and a few months, listing usually brings the highest price. The sale pays off the mortgage at closing.
• Sell for cash, as-is. Faster and simpler, usually for a lower price. It also pays off the mortgage at closing, if the price covers it.
• A short sale. If the house would sell for less than you owe, the lender can agree to take less, but it must approve the sale. After a completed Fannie Mae short sale, you're released from the rest of the debt; with any lender, get that in writing. See Owing more than your house is worth.
• A deed in lieu. You give the house back to the lender to settle the loan. Louisiana's Civil Code calls this a "giving in payment", often called a dation en paiement. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs can pay up to $7,500 toward moving, and FHA up to $3,000.
• Bankruptcy. Filing triggers an "automatic stay" that stops most collection, including foreclosure, at least for a while. Chapter 13 can let you catch up over three to five years if you keep up your new payments. It can't undo a sale that happened before you filed. Talk to a bankruptcy lawyer.

Waiting

If you missed one payment and can make it up in a month or two, paying it with the late fee may be all you need. But don't ignore your servicer's letters. Every month adds fees, and every month closes options.

Little equity is common in Louisiana

Only 17.5% of mortgaged homes in Louisiana are "equity-rich", meaning the loans add up to no more than half the home's value. That's the lowest share of any state ATTOM ranks, against 41.1% nationally. And 10.3% of Louisiana mortgages are seriously underwater, owing at least 25% more than the home is worth.

That matters, because both selling and borrowing against a house depend on equity. If you owe close to what the house is worth, read Owing more than your house is worth first.

Watch out for scams

The FTC warns about companies that demand payment before they help you, which is illegal for mortgage relief. It also warns about anyone who asks you to sign your deed over to them, or tells you to stop talking to your lender. HUD warns that a firm claiming it can stop your foreclosure immediately may have you sign away your title and become a renter in your own home.

Check any company before you sign, including us: see How to spot a "we buy houses" scam. To report one, call the Louisiana Attorney General's consumer hotline, 1-800-351-4889.

Taxes and insurance

If your loan has an escrow account, your servicer pays the property taxes and insurance from it. Federal rules require it to pay them on time only while your payment is no more than 30 days overdue. If you're further behind, ask your servicer whether this year's bills will be paid. Unpaid Louisiana property taxes now become a lien that's auctioned, and that lien ranks ahead of your mortgage: see Louisiana's new tax lien sales.

On the Mississippi coast

The same federal servicing rules apply. But Mississippi foreclosures usually skip the courts: a trustee sells the house after three weeks of newspaper notice, so it can move faster. Mississippi law lets you stop a sale, any time before it happens, by paying what's past due, plus any taxes and insurance premiums the lender paid for you, with interest, and the costs and fees.

Free help

• A HUD-approved housing counselor, free or low-cost: use the CFPB's counselor finder or call HUD at (800) 569-4287.
• Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, free legal help with foreclosure if you qualify: 1-844-244-7871, or slls.org.
• The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, (504) 596-2100. Its counselor offers free foreclosure-prevention counseling to homeowners in the New Orleans area.
• The Louisiana Housing Corporation's foreclosure prevention guide, which lists more counseling and legal help across the state.
• FHA loans: HUD's FHA line, (800) 225-5342. VA loans: a VA loan technician, (877) 827-3702, option 6.
• On the Mississippi coast: the Hancock Housing Resource Center in Bay St. Louis, a HUD-approved counselor, (228) 463-8887, and the Mississippi Center for Legal Services in Gulfport, (228) 896-9148.
• Reduced-fee lawyers: the Louisiana State Bar Association's Find Legal Help page.

How Passkey can help

Passkey can make a short-term loan to catch up on what you owe, with every term in writing. Or we can make a written cash offer to buy the house as-is.

Questions

How far behind can I get before foreclosure starts in Louisiana?

Federal rules generally bar the first foreclosure filing until you're more than 120 days behind. After that, the sheriff's sale can't be set sooner than 60 days after the judge's order, so the whole process can move within months.

Do I have to talk to my servicer?

You don't have to, but you should. Most options in this guide only happen through your servicer, and most servicers must assign people to help you by the time you're 45 days behind.

Can I sell my house while I'm behind?

Yes. The sale pays off the mortgage at closing, including what's past due, if the price covers what you owe. If it doesn't, the lender has to approve a short sale.

Should I pay a company to get me a loan modification?

No. The FTC says companies that demand payment before they help you are breaking the law. A HUD-approved housing counselor will help for free or at low cost.

Will my servicer still pay my property taxes and insurance?

If you have an escrow account, it must pay them on time while you're no more than 30 days behind. After that, ask your servicer directly, and check your tax bill.