You missed one, then another, and now the letters have started. The question is whether the house is still yours to sell, and the answer is that it is.
Can you sell your house if behind on payments in Massachusetts? Yes, at any point before a foreclosure auction is completed. What changes as you fall further behind is not your right to sell but how much time you have to do it, and being honest with yourself about which stage you are at is the whole of the decision.
Before going further: speak to a HUD-approved housing counselor. Their advice is free and independent, and keeping the house is often possible in ways a buyer has no reason to explain to you.
The stages, and what each one allows
One or two payments behind. Late fees and credit reporting have started. Nothing structural has happened. This is the stage where a repayment plan or a loan modification is most achievable, and where selling is usually the wrong answer rather than the right one.
Approaching 120 days. Federal servicing rules generally prevent a servicer starting foreclosure until a borrower is more than 120 days delinquent. You still have full control of the property and a normal timeline. A conventional sale is entirely realistic from here.
The right to cure period. Massachusetts adds a 90 day right to cure under Chapter 244, Section 35A, with notice required from the mortgage holder. It is available once in any five year period and only on your principal residence. Bringing the loan current during this window stops the process. Our guide to what a Massachusetts notice of right to cure means covers what the letter must contain and what it costs to cure.
A longer 150 day period applies to certain higher risk mortgages under Section 35B, the ones written with introductory rates, interest only payments, no documentation of income or a high loan to value. It is not automatic and it is not permanent: a borrower who does not respond to a modification offer within 30 days forfeits it and drops back to 90 days. Do not plan around 150 days unless your lender has confirmed in writing that it applies to your loan.
After the cure period. The lender can proceed under the statutory power of sale in Chapter 183, Section 21, with notice and publication under Chapter 244, Section 14. An auction date gets set. You can still sell, but a Massachusetts closing takes one to three weeks minimum, so the runway matters now.
Add it up and the total is commonly the better part of a year from the first missed payment. Most people in this position believe they have weeks.
The two numbers that decide everything
Before you decide anything, get these in writing from your servicer.
The reinstatement figure. What it costs to bring the loan current today, including arrears, late fees and any costs added. If this is affordable, or affordable with help, the conversation is about keeping the house rather than selling it.
The payoff figure. What it costs to clear the loan entirely. Compare this against what the property is genuinely worth.
If the property is worth more than the payoff, you have equity and a sale protects it. If it is worth less, you are in short sale territory and that is a different transaction requiring lender agreement.
Can you sell your house if behind on payments before the auction
A completed foreclosure typically wipes out whatever equity existed and does more lasting credit damage than a sale.
A sale before it pays off the loan, ends the process, and puts any surplus above the debt in your pocket. Nothing about being behind changes your ownership: the mortgage is a lien on the property, not a transfer of it.
The mistake we see most often is people concluding the house is already lost and stopping there. Very often it is not lost, and the letters they have stopped opening contain the dates that would tell them so.
What selling actually involves at this stage
The payoff figure simply includes the arrears, so the mechanics of the sale are ordinary. An attorney conducts the closing and examines title. The smoke and carbon monoxide certificate under Chapter 148, Section 26F is still required and is your responsibility.
Two things are worth watching on a property where money has been tight.
Other liens may have attached. Unpaid property taxes, a contractor’s lien, a judgment. The title examination will find them and they come off the proceeds.
And maintenance has usually been deferred, which matters because a lender will not finance structural or safety defects. A financed buyer may be unable to complete regardless of enthusiasm, which is a real risk when you are working against a date.
Which route fits the time you have left
If you are early and the reinstatement figure is reachable, work with a counselor on keeping the house. That is the best outcome and it is genuinely available more often than people expect.
If selling is the answer and you have two months or more, list it. The open market pays more and there is time.
If the auction is close, or the property will not pass a lender’s condition standards, a cash sale closes in one to three weeks and does not depend on anybody’s mortgage approval. It pays less. Against a completed foreclosure it is usually the better outcome, and our guide to facing foreclosure in Massachusetts covers that comparison in more detail.
Roughly 15% of the sellers who come to us are dealing with arrears or other financial pressure, so this is familiar ground rather than an unusual case. Two things are worth knowing. A cash sale on clean title normally runs two to four weeks from signed agreement to funds, which is the figure to count backwards from. And people in this position frequently have not looked at their title in years, which is exactly when an old lien tends to surface.
Do this today
Open the letters and write down every date in them. Call the servicer and ask for the reinstatement figure, the payoff figure and confirmation of whether any foreclosure notice has issued, in writing.
Then call a HUD-approved housing counselor before you call anybody who wants to buy the house, including us. If selling turns out to be right, you can request a cash offer and compare it against your payoff figure to see what would actually be left.
Foreclosure carries hard deadlines and real consequences. Nothing here replaces advice from a HUD-approved counselor or a Massachusetts attorney on your circumstances.
Homeowners We’ve Helped
Boston Investors
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After 94 days on the market, two buyers backed out over the roof and septic. We were tired of dealing with it. The cash offer came without asking us to make the repairs, and we closed in 21 days. Once we looked at the actual numbers, it made much more sense than continuing to list. The whole process was simple and we’re very happy with how it worked out.
