Behind on Mortgage Payments After a Job Loss, Divorce, or Medical Bills: Your Options in Washington

A layoff removes the paycheck the loan was built on. A divorce can leave one person with the payment and the other person with the debt. Medical bills arrive on top of a mortgage that was already tight. None of those stories needs a confession before you ask for help. You also do not have to tell a home buyer the diagnosis, the name of the employer, or the details of the separation. What a buyer needs is the address, the condition of the house, and any date already printed on a notice.

Most Washington home loans are deeds of trust. If a foreclosure starts, it is usually nonjudicial under chapter 61.24 RCW, not a lawsuit. A summons would mean judicial foreclosure under chapter 61.12 RCW, and that belongs with a lawyer immediately. Until a notice exists, you are behind on a contract. That is serious, because fees and a foreclosure can follow. It is not yet an auction. Open the mail. The first official letter is often the one that tells you how to respond.

Call the servicer and ask what they will put in writing. A repayment plan, forbearance, or modification is their offer, not a KindKey program. On many loans of up to four units, RCW 61.24.031 requires contact before a notice of default. If you respond, the statute gives you time to meet. If you ignore the letter, the notice of default can follow. A housing counselor helps with that meeting. KindKey does not.

Commerce publishes a free counseling line at 1-877-894-HOME (4663). Call even if you are only a payment or two behind, and bring income, the hardship in a sentence, and the monthly payment. If you are in a divorce, ask your attorney who may talk to the servicer and who must sign a deed. The Auburn and Edgewood divorce guides describe that signature problem. KindKey will not negotiate between spouses.

A notice of default under RCW 61.24.030(8) says the loan is in default. For the loans it covers, it goes out at least 30 days before a notice of sale. The form says silence can bring that sale notice in about 30 days, with a minimum of 120 days’ notice of the auction. RCW 61.24.040 records the sale notice at least 90 days before the sale, or 120 days before it if the contact letter was required. That is the roughly 120-day timeline. Once a sale date is printed, use that date.

Mediation under RCW 61.24.163 is referred by a counselor or an attorney after the notice of default, and no later than 90 days before the sale date. You cannot refer yourself. A proper referral can pause the next step. It does not guarantee a modification. RCW 61.24.090 lets you cure by paying the trustee before the eleventh day before the sale. That payment is not made to KindKey. Read the guide that matches the title on your paper.

Keeping the house is fair if a counselor and the servicer can build a payment you can make. Selling is fair if the payment no longer fits, a divorce has tied up the house, or you need the equity more than the address. Equity is what is left after the payoff and other liens. If the loan is larger than the price, the lender has to agree. A sale that pays the loan off is a different credit event from a completed foreclosure. KindKey cannot promise a score.

You can ask for a cash offer without catching up, without repairs, and without explaining a diagnosis. We do not charge an agent commission or a separate assignment fee. We work fast to close before a sale date when you have one. We do not promise a particular day, and an offer does not stop a trustee. RCW 61.34 is your attorney’s statute. Do not deed the house away outside escrow. You can say no after you see the number.