If you lag on your mortgage payments and your bank is threatening to foreclose on your home, there are some things you can do. Make sure to look thoroughly at any documents you receive from the court or your bank. You need to meet all court deadlines.

Notice of Default

A Notification of Default is typically the primary step in the foreclosure procedure. It will come over mail from your bank. The notification informs you which of your mortgage terms you have defaulted on. If you lag on your mortgage payments, the notification ought to tell you how much you are behind on your payments and costs and how much time you need to capture up and cure the default. If you pay the cash you owe by the treatment date, you will prevent foreclosure.

Foreclosure Summons and Complaint

If you do not treat your mortgage default by bringing your mortgage current, the bank can file documentation to begin a foreclosure action in civil court. You will get copies of what the bank files. It will include a Summons and a Grievance. The Summons provides you guidelines on what you need to do.

You should submit a composed Answer within 21 calendar days of when you received the Complaint.

It is important to submit a Response. If you do not, the bank can ask the court to issue a Default Judgment. You will not get a notice if the bank asks for a Default Judgment. If the court gives the bank a Default Judgment, the bank can get a Final Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure against you.

Even if you do not file a Response, the home that you live in can not be offered by the bank less than eight months from when you get foreclosure documents. Also, you can still ask the court for mediation, even if the bank gets a Default Judgment against you.

Your verified Answer

Your Answer should be in writing and must respond straight to the Complaint. For each numbered paragraph in the Complaint, you ought to compose a matching number in your Answer and say if you "Agree," "Disagree" or "Don't understand."

Your Answer must also be "verified," which implies that it includes this statement at the end, followed by your signature:

"I state that the above declaration is real and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand that if the above statement is incorrect, I will be subject to the charge of perjury, or other sanctions in the discretion of the court."

If your Answer does not include this declaration and your signature, the court might issue a Default Judgment against you.

Use our Foreclosure Answer Form to respond to the Complaint.

- Download a fillable PDF version of the Answer form.

• Use the Word version of the Answer type. This Word document is not totally accessible. For the most accessible experience, use the fillable PDF above.
  
  If you have "Defenses" or "Counterclaims" against the bank, you require to write those at the bottom of your Answer (above the confirmation).
  
  Defenses are legal factors why the bank must not win the foreclosure case. To prevent losing your foreclosure case, you should write your Defenses in the Answer. This is because even if you respond to, the court might still release a Default Judgment versus you if you do not raise any Defenses. If you believe the mortgage is unlawful or invalid for some factor, document your factors in the Defenses section of your Answer. Or, if you think you are not behind on your mortgage, make a note of your factors in the Defenses section.
  
  Counterclaims are claims back versus the bank seeking cash or other relief for acts that break your rights. If you do not raise Counterclaims, it will not result in a Default Judgment against you in the foreclosure case. However, if you do not include Counterclaims in your Answer, it is possible that you will not have the ability to take legal action against the count on those claims at a later date.
  
  Mediation
  
  If you receive mediation, the Summons and Complaint will consist of a Demand for Mediation type. Fill out the kind and send it to or drop it off at the court. Mediation will put the foreclosure case on hold and get you a meeting with the bank and a neutral individual called a mediator. At the meeting, the bank has to consider you for an economical loan adjustment or other options that could assist you save your home.
  
  Discovery
  
  After the Answer is submitted and mediation finished, and before the court chooses your case, you or the bank can do pre-trial discovery. This implies that you can ask the bank to respond to written questions, admit to facts, provide you documents, or supply other details. The bank needs to address your demands in one month. The bank might likewise send you concerns, ask you to confess realities, and ask you to provide documents. You must respond to the bank in 30 days.
  
  Summary Judgment
  
  If you and the bank agree about the truths, you or the bank can ask the court to decide the case without a trial. This is called a Movement for Summary Judgment. The motion has actually to be offered to the court in composing. The bank usually files a Motion for Summary Judgment in a foreclosure case.
  
  If you get a Motion for Summary Judgment, you need to react in writing within 1 month. If you do not respond in composing, the court can presume you concur with the movement and issue a foreclosure judgment versus you.
  
  The court can give Summary Judgment before a trial just if you and the bank concur about the truths mentioned in the motion. If you disagree with the facts, or think the bank is wrong or unfair, you should respond in writing.
  
  Settlement with a loan modification contract
  
  You can ask the bank to modify (change) your loan so that you can reduce your monthly payments. This is called a loan modification. This can happen anytime throughout the course of the bank's case versus you: right after the case is submitted, during mediation, or after judgment for the bank has actually been gone into, as long as there suffices time for the bank to examine your financial information. The faster this takes place, the much better for you.
  
  If the bank chooses you receive a loan adjustment, it will normally send you a plan for a three-month trial period. During the trial period, you have to pay the new payment amount on time each month. If you do that, you can certify for a loan modification that brings you present on your mortgage account.
  
  If you certify, there are a number of methods the bank can get you current on your account while keeping your payments inexpensive:
  
  1. They can include your overdue payment into your overdue primary balance and lower your rates of interest.
• They can let you pay over a longer amount of time.
• They can likewise decide that part of your debt can be repaid later.
  
  If you sign a loan adjustment arrangement with the bank, it will settle the foreclosure case. In a lot of cases, the bank's lawyer will file a movement to dismiss the foreclosure case. If you sign a permanent loan modification arrangement and the bank's attorney does not file a movement to dismiss the case, you should submit a letter with the court asking that your case be dismissed due to the fact that of the adjustment.
  
  Merits hearing or trial
  
  If you and the bank do not agree about the truths or a loan adjustment and the court rejects the bank's Motion for Summary Judgment, the court will send you a notification of a trial date. The trial is your opportunity to tell your side of the case to the judge. You can bring witnesses, documents or other evidence to reveal the judge. The court typically provides notification a minimum of 2 weeks before the trial date. If you have an excellent reason why you can't concern court the day of the hearing, you ought to ask in composing for the court to reschedule the hearing. You need to do this as soon as possible and absolutely before the day of the hearing.
  
  If you do not pertain to court on the day of the trial, the court can give a judgment in favor of the bank.
  
  Judgment
  
  If the judge gives the bank a foreclosure judgment, the court will release a declaration of what you owe on the residential or commercial property. This is called a "clerk's accounting." If you do not concur with the quantity, you only have a brief period of time to let the court understand that you don't concur.
  
  If you don't tell the court you disagree, the court will issue a Final Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure. It will inform you the overall amount that you owe and just how much time you need to pay what you owe before the residential or commercial property is offered. This is called the "redemption duration."
  
  Redemption period
  
  The Final Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure will inform you a date when your redemption period ends. In many cases, it has to do with 6 months. If the residential or commercial property being foreclosed is not your primary house, the court may give you less than six months. To redeem your residential or commercial property, you can pay the total that you owe the bank and prevent a foreclosure sale. There may be other methods to prevent the foreclosure of your home throughout the redemption duration. For example, if your bank agrees, you might participate in a loan adjustment arrangement. Or you could sell your home and settle what you owe.
  
  During the redemption duration, you can stay in your home and do not have to make mortgage payments. Any quantity not paid will be consisted of in the amount you would have to pay to redeem the residential or commercial property, and could be consisted of in a Shortage Judgment (see listed below).
  
  Foreclosure sale
  
  If you can not redeem your residential or commercial property or work something out before completion of your redemption duration, the bank will schedule a foreclosure sale of your residential or commercial property. The bank should provide you one month written notice of the sale date. The bank likewise needs to release the sale notification in a regional paper for 3 weeks.
  
  If you are still residing in the home, the foreclosure sale will happen at the curb of your residential or commercial property. Sometimes, the bank will ask the judge to allow it to evict you before the foreclosure sale. Usually, though, the bank will not evict you till after the sale.
  
  After the foreclosure sale, the court will have a hearing to decide if the foreclosure sale followed the law. This is called a verification hearing. If the court verifies the sale, the residential or commercial property will go to the greatest bidder.
  
  Deficiency Judgment
  
  If the highest bid at the foreclosure sale is less than what you owe on the mortgage, the bank can ask the judge for a Shortage Judgment versus you. A Shortage Judgment is a court order saying that you owe the amount that the bank did not receive from the sale of your residential or commercial property. If the bank does not ask for a Shortage Judgment at the confirmation hearing, it can not attempt to get a judgment against you later for that financial obligation.
  
  Many banks do not request for Deficiency Judgments. Even if the bank gets a Shortage Judgment against you, the law may not require you to pay it if your residential or commercial property and earnings are exempt from judgment. Some income and properties can not be taken from you by your financial institutions. If all of your earnings and possessions are protected by the law, you are "judgment-proof."
  
  Eviction
  
  Whenever after the redemption period ends, the bank can ask the court for a Writ of Possession to evict you. A sheriff will serve you with the Writ of Possession. You will have 14 days to move your valuables and get out of the residential or commercial property. If you do not go out throughout the 14-day duration, the sheriff can eliminate you.
  
  Print.
  Housing. Discrimination/ Fair Housing. Housing Discrimination Does Happen in Vermont
  
  
  Have You Been Discriminated Against? Disability Discrimination. Who is Protected?
  
  
  Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications
  
  
  Assistance Animals
  
  Mortgages and Residential Or Commercial Property Taxes After a Disaster
  
  
  COVID-19 Crisis, Mortgages and Foreclosures
  
  
  Foreclosure Process
  
  
  Foreclosure Mediation
  
  
  Special Loans and Situations
  
  
  Mortgage and Foreclosure Form Letters
  
  
  More Help
  
  
  Renter Rights After a Catastrophe
  
  
  on Renting: The RRAA
  
  
  What to Know Before You Rent
  
  
  Everything About Rental Agreements
  
  
  Rights and Duties Explained
  
  
  Rent Increases
  
  
  Bedbugs
  
  
  Repair Problems
  
  
  Guests, Roommates & Trespassers
  
  
  Can the Landlord Enter My Unit?
  
  
  Lockouts, Utility Shutoffs & Your Belongings
  
  
  Housing Protections for Victims
  
  
  Moving Out
  
  
  Down payment
  
  
  Evictions
  
  
  Notice to Terminate Tenancy
  
  
  Court Process: General
  
  
  Court Process: Eviction
  
  
  Court Process: Suing Landlord
  
  
  Court Process: Small Claims
  
  
  Abandoned Rental Unit or Residential Or Commercial Property
  
  
  Rights of Tenants When a Property Owner is in Foreclosure
  
  
  Renter Credit/ Rebate
  
  
  Subsidized Housing/ Subsidies
  
  
  Health and wellness
  
  
  Mobile Home Park Leases
  
  
  Lot Rent Increases
  
  
  Mobile Home Park Evictions
  
  
  Selling Your Mobile Home
  
  
  Abandoned Mobile Homes
  
  
  When a Park is Sold or Closes
  
  
  
  
  News
  
  More Help
  
  How We Can Help - Contact Us
  
  Forms You Can Use
  
  Help From Other Vermont Lawyers:
  
  Ask legal questions through Vermont's Free Legal Answers program. Vermont Bar Association attorney referral. VT Association for Justice lawyer referral. Criminal Public Defenders
  
  Legal Help for Active Military, Veterans & Their Families
  
  Legal Problem in Another State
  
  Quick Links
  
  - Home.
• How We Can Help - Contact Us.
• Locations.
• Legal Help Tool.
• Legal Roadmaps.
• VTCourtForms.
• Other Forms You Can Use.
• COVID Legal + Benefits Info.
• Website + SMS Privacy.
• Accessibility.
• PDFs and Adobe Reader
  
  Language Help
  
  - Sign Language.
• العربية/ Arabic.
• Bosanski/ Bosnian.
• မ န မ စ/ Burmese.
• دری/ Dari.
• Español/ Spanish.
• Français/ French.
• Ikirundi/ Kirundi.
• Kiswahili/ Swahili.
• Mai-Mai/ Maay Maay.
• 官話/ 官话/ Mandarin.
• नेपाली/ Nepali.
• پښتو/ Pashto.
• Soomaali/ Somali.
• українська мова/ Ukrainian.
• Tiếng Việt/ Vietnamese.
• Google Translate
  
  About This Website
  
  VTLawHelp.org is a joint task of Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont - Working Together for Justice.
  
  Funding from the Legal Services Corporation.
  
  © 2025 Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid. All Rights Reserved.