Forbearance pauses payments without erasing them. This timeline covers the months before and after your plan ends, the four repayment options servicers offer, and what to ask before the last paused payment.
Mortgage forbearance gives you breathing room, but it forgives nothing. When the pause ends, every paused or reduced payment comes due, and how you repay it depends on your loan type and your finances. This timeline walks through each stage and what to have ready.
60 to 90 Days Before: Contact Your Servicer Early
Servicer guidance often recommends reaching out 60 to 90 days before forbearance ends, and earlier is better. Before you call, decide which of these describes you: you can resume your regular payment, you can pay more than your regular payment for a stretch of months, or you can no longer afford your regular payment at all.
Free help is available while you decide. A HUD-approved housing counselor can review your budget, explain the options, and help with servicer paperwork at little or no cost. If the basics feel fuzzy, our explainer on what mortgage forbearance is covers how pauses and reduced payments work.
About a Month Out: The Servicer Should Contact You
About a month before forbearance ends, your servicer should reach out to discuss your situation and the repayment choices. If no one calls, call them; waiting only narrows your options.
Keep asking questions until you can answer three things: the exact amount you must repay, when repayment begins, and how the paused amounts will be collected. Interest on paused amounts can keep building until you repay them, so ask how that works too. Get any agreement in writing.
Have this information ready:
- A current budget, including income, expenses and cash on hand
- A short explanation of the hardship behind the forbearance
- Your questions about each option in the table below
Servicemembers with permanent change of station orders should say so on the call, because a military move can open additional loss mitigation options.
| Option | How it works | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Reinstatement | Pay the full paused amount at once | You have the cash saved |
| Repayment plan | Extra amount added to each monthly payment for a set period | Income is steady and can stretch |
| Deferral or partial claim | Paused amounts pushed behind the loan or held in a junior lien | You can resume regular payments but not pay more |
| Modification | Terms permanently changed, paused amounts added to the balance | The regular payment is no longer affordable |
The Last Paused Payment: Paying Everything at Once
A reinstatement clears the debt in one payment and returns you to your regular schedule. You always have the right to end forbearance this way if you have the money.
For most government-backed loans, however, your servicer cannot demand a single large payment, and loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac follow the same rule. If a lump sum is the only option mentioned, ask about the others. Request a payoff figure that spells out the paused payments, accrued interest and any fees.
The First Months After: Spreading the Payments Over Time
A repayment plan brings the loan current gradually. A portion of what you owe is added to your regular monthly payment for a set period, so you pay more than usual until the past-due amount is gone.
These plans are often negotiable and terms vary by servicer, but they commonly run from a few months up to about a year. The amounts can be sizable: if your paused total was $9,000, a 30-month plan would add roughly $300 to each monthly payment, on top of your regular payment.
Moving the Payments Later: Deferral or Modification
If you can resume your regular payment but not add to it, ask about a deferral or partial claim. The paused total is pushed behind you: it is either scheduled after your last regular payment or held as a junior lien on the property. FHA’s standalone partial claim charges no interest, and nothing is owed until the loan is paid off, the home is sold, the title transfers or certain refinances happen. Selling or refinancing sooner moves that date up, and interest can accrue on some deferred amounts.
If the regular payment itself is no longer affordable, a loan modification permanently changes your loan terms: the paused amounts are added to the principal balance and the term is extended, which lowers the payment but stretches out payoff. FHA modifications use a fixed rate and may first require a trial payment plan, a few months of on-time payments before the change is permanent. FHA’s payment supplement uses a partial claim to resolve the delinquent amounts and temporarily reduces your monthly payment for three years. FHA generally allows only one permanent home retention option in any 24-month period, unless a Presidentially Declared Major Disaster is involved.
If You Cannot Agree on a Repayment Plan
If the servicer’s offer does not fit your budget, say so and ask what else is possible. Servicers review a complete mortgage assistance application, then tell you which loss mitigation options they can offer. A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you assemble that application, compare offers and work through the servicer’s process at no cost, and the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE (4673) answers 24 hours a day.
If no agreement comes together and payments lapse, the clock restarts on late notices and, eventually, foreclosure. Our timeline for falling behind on your mortgage explains that sequence.
Careful
Foreclosure help from your servicer and HUD-approved housing counselors is free. Be wary of anyone who guarantees modified loan terms, tells you to send payments elsewhere, or advises you to stop paying your mortgage.
Related guides
- Can I Pause My Mortgage Payments If I Lose My Job?: how forbearance works when job loss is the hardship behind the paused payments.
- Getting Started With a HUD-Approved Housing Counselor: what free counseling looks like and what to bring to a first session.
The short version
- Contact your servicer 60 to 90 days before forbearance ends so repayment options are settled before the last paused payment comes due.
- For most government-backed loans, servicers cannot demand a lump sum, and loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac follow the same rule.
- The main options are reinstatement, a repayment plan, a deferral or partial claim that postpones the balance, and a loan modification.
- A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you compare offers and work with your servicer for free, and the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE (4673) answers 24 hours a day.
- Never pay anyone who guarantees modified loan terms or tells you to send payments somewhere other than your servicer.
Readers also ask
Do I have to repay everything I paused during forbearance all at once?
No, not usually. Paying in a single lump sum is one option, but for most government-backed loans your servicer cannot insist on it, and the same rule applies to loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
What is a repayment plan after forbearance?
It adds a portion of your past-due amount to your regular monthly payment for a set period, often from a few months up to about a year, until the loan is current again.
When is a payment deferral or partial claim due?
The deferred amount generally comes due when you pay off, sell, refinance or transfer the home. Selling or refinancing earlier brings the due date closer, so ask how it is triggered on your loan.
What does an FHA partial claim cost?
FHA sets the past-due amount aside as a junior lien that charges no interest. Nothing has to be repaid until the mortgage is paid off, the home is sold, the title transfers or certain refinances occur.
This guide is general information about U.S. mortgages, not financial, tax or legal advice. Loan terms depend on the lender and on your credit, income and property, so confirm the details with your lender, and see consumerfinance.gov for official guidance.
