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Foreclosure Timeline - with 150 Day Right to Cure Notice

Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Created October 2013

The lender - the “mortgagee” must give you a Right to Cure Notice once every 3 years. Usually this notice says that you have 150 days to pay your missed payments or the bank can begin to foreclose.

If your bank sent you a 150-Day Right to Cure notice, you have at least 256 days from the day you miss your first payment before the auction.

	If you do this	What the bank does	What you need to do
Day 1	Miss a payment – or do not pay your mortgage the day it is due		Pay your missed payment.
Day 30	Still have not paid the mortgage payment you missed.	30 days after you miss payment bank usually sends you “30 days Right to Cure notice”	Pay your missed payment.
Day 60	Miss 2 payments	30 day right to cure expires. Bank sends: G.L. c 35A right to cure 150 day notice and Right to Modify, if a certain mortgage	Pay your missed payments or apply for modification.
Day 90	Miss 3 payments		Send the bank request for modification within 30 days after you get the Right to Modify notice.
Day 120	Miss 4 payments	Bank should respond to loan modification request 30 days after you make the request.	Pay your missed payments.
Day 210	Miss 7 payments	The bank can refer your case to a foreclosure attorney.	Pay your missed payments.
Day 211		Accelerate the loan –The bank can say the only way to stop a foreclosure is if you pay off the full amount of the loan.
Day 212		Soldiers and Sailors Act filed with the court. You will be served the summons and complaint.	If you are a soldier or sailor, you must respond within 20 days from the day you are served.
Day 233			Last day to file answer with court
Day 234		Judge can issue a judgment that allows the bank to foreclose	It usually takes several months for the judge to issue this judgment, not just 21 days.
Day 235		The newspaper publishes the auction notice including the date three weeks in a row before the sale.	Check the newspaper for notice of the auction.
Day 242	Miss 8 payments	The bank sends you a letter at least 14 days before the auction. The letter notifies you of the sale date. The letter must be mailed through certified mail. The bank mails letters to anyone who has an interest in the property 30 days before the sale date.	Accept and read all certified mail from the bank. You need to know what is going on in your case and if there is a sale date.
Day 256		Earliest date the bank can sell your home at a foreclosure auction.
			You do not need to move out right after the auction. Only a Judge can force you out of your home. You will get a notice if you are going to be evicted. See What happens after foreclosure?