New HUD Initiatives: Essential Support for Struggling Homeowners

• Author: Margaret Hills
• Posted: 2025-01-20

Have you been having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments? There's good news from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They've updated their plans to assist homeowners just like you.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is part of HUD, just announced they're offering new permanent solutions for folks who have an FHA-insured single-family mortgage and are behind on their payments. 

These solutions build on what they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were able to help over two million homeowners stay put.

Starting February 2026, these new options will be available for you through mortgage companies. Don't worry though—the special COVID-19 help isn't going away and will still be around until February 1, 2026.
 

Here's what's in store for you:
 

1. Early Help When You Start to Fall Behind

If you're just beginning to miss payments, your mortgage company might work out a plan for you to catch up or give you a break from payments for up to 12 months.

If you're dealing with something major like a natural disaster, they have even more flexible help available.
 

2. Hanging On to Your Home

Depending on your financial situation, your mortgage company has various tools to help you catch up. For instance, they could adjust your loan or offer other ways to reduce your monthly payments. This way, you can keep your home.
 

3. When You Can't Stay in Your Home

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can't afford to stay in your home. If that's the case, your mortgage company can offer ways to leave your home but avoid foreclosure, like selling it before foreclosure or transferring the deed.


The folks at HUD believe these updates will really make a difference thanks to the strategies that worked well during the pandemic.

Plus, they've added some safeguards to protect both you and HUD from taking too big of a financial hit.

There's more good news. HUD is also considering something called the Equity Saver Sale. If you have to sell your home but you've still got some value in it, this could help you sell your home without rushing into foreclosure.

The FHA is looking for feedback on this idea until March 17, 2025. 

Check out FHA's Office of Single Family Housing "Drafting Table" for more information.

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