Behind on Mortgage Payments in Indiana
Missing payments does not mean losing the house. This stage — before any lawsuit exists — is where you have the most options and the least pressure, and most people have more time than they think.
Want To Talk It Through?
No obligation. If catching up is realistic, we will say so.
Private and judgement-free. This is far more common than you think.
Missing A Payment Is Not The Same As Foreclosure
There is a long way between a late payment and losing a house, and knowing the stages takes a lot of the fear out of it.
The First Missed Payment
A late fee is added and your servicer starts calling. Nothing has happened to your ownership. This is the easiest point at which to arrange something, and the one most people let pass.
Answer the phone. It is a conversation, not a confrontation.
Two Or Three Months Behind
Letters become more formal and the account is usually referred to a collections or loss mitigation department. Credit reporting begins to reflect the missed payments.
Loan modification and repayment plans are still realistic here.
Past 120 Days
Federal rules generally require a loan to be more than 120 days delinquent before a servicer makes a first foreclosure filing — roughly four missed payments.
Even then, Indiana requires 30 days notice before filing.
And Filing Is Not The End Either
Indiana is a judicial foreclosure state, so a lender has to sue, win, and sell through the county sheriff. After the complaint is filed, process may not issue for execution of a judgment or decree of sale for three months (Indiana Code 32-29-7-3).
You can also sell right up until the sheriff’s sale completes. What you cannot do is recover the house afterwards — Indiana gives no post-sale redemption.
Do Not Move Out Without Advice First
It feels like the responsible thing to do. In Indiana it can cost you twice over.
It Can Disqualify You From Help
Many loan modification and assistance programmes require you to be living in the property as your primary residence. Move out and you may no longer qualify for the very thing that could have kept the house.
People often leave because they assume the outcome is inevitable, and in doing so they make it more so.
It Can Remove Your Breathing Room
That three month waiting period after a complaint is filed does not apply if an Indiana court finds the property abandoned under Indiana Code 32-30-10.6. In that case the decree of sale may be executed on the day judgment is entered.
So leaving an empty house behind can accelerate the very process you were trying to escape.
What You Can Actually Do
Most of these keep the house. Selling is on the list, not at the top of it.
Free Housing Counselling
The Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network provides free counselling through the state housing authority. Confidential, and not selling you anything.
You do not need to be in foreclosure to use it. It exists for exactly this stage. If you do one thing after reading this page, make it this.
Forbearance Or A Repayment Plan
Forbearance pauses or reduces payments for a period while you recover from a short-term problem. A repayment plan spreads the arrears across future payments.
Ask directly: how long does approval take, and what happens to the paused payments afterwards? A lump sum at the end catches people out.
Loan Modification Or Reinstatement
A modification changes the loan terms permanently to make payments affordable. Reinstatement means paying everything owed in one go to bring the loan current.
Worth knowing: modifications usually need income that supports the new payment, and they take time to approve. Start early.
Sell Before It Becomes Foreclosure
If the numbers do not work on your current income, selling while you still have equity and intact credit usually leaves you far better off than a completed foreclosure.
The trade-off: a cash offer is generally below what a prepared house would fetch listed. You are exchanging price for certainty. See how we work out an offer.
You Can Sell While You Are Behind
The Arrears Come Out Of The Proceeds
A common assumption is that you have to catch up before you can sell. You do not. What you owe, including the arrears, is settled at closing from the sale proceeds. The title company handles it.
If the house is worth less than you owe, a short sale may be possible, but that needs the lender’s agreement and takes longer.
Timing And Credit
Selling before a foreclosure is completed generally does far less damage to your credit than letting it run its course, which matters for whatever you rent or buy next.
Most of our sales close in about 14 to 21 days. If there are liens, title problems or probate to sort out it can take longer, and if you would rather close on a later date, we will work to your timeline.
This is general information about Indiana law, not legal or financial advice — we are not attorneys. Your servicer, a free housing counsellor and an attorney can each tell you things we cannot. Last checked against Indiana Code: 17 September 2026.
Falling Behind Is Not A Character Failing
Most people who fall behind do so because of a job loss, a medical bill, a divorce, a death in the family, or a repair they could not afford. Not because of anything they did wrong.
The most common thing we hear is that someone stopped opening the post. That is understandable, and it is also the single habit that costs the most — because every option on this page depends on knowing where you stand and how much time is left.
You do not need a plan before you make a phone call. See also selling after a loss of income if that is what started this.
What Sellers Say About Working With YDL Homes
“My probate was complicated because it was Mom’s house. The whole process was very frustrating because the back porch was over the boundary, but they helped us get everything sorted out and even bought the land next door. We got what we needed to stop the foreclosure.”
“Derek bought my Dad’s house from me after he passed with all the stuff in it that Dad had hoarded over the years, and in the condition it was in. What a relief to get it sold without having to clear it out myself. I was actually nervous to even go in the house because of what I might find.”
“When I was diagnosed, we had a lot of challenges to move out but they helped us with a dumpster because there was a lot of stuff we needed to get rid of. We even stayed in our camper in the driveway for a few days after we moved out after we closed. They took away a lot of stress.”
Questions Indiana Homeowners Ask
How many payments can I miss before foreclosure?
Should I call my servicer?
Should I move out if I cannot afford it?
Can I sell while I am behind?
Is there free help in Indiana?
Will being behind show on my credit?
Knowing Where You Stand Comes First
Most people who contact us at this stage are not ready to sell, and plenty never do. They want to understand the timeline and what the house is actually worth, so the decision stops being a guess.
If catching up looks realistic, we will tell you that. If listing with an agent would leave you better off, we will say so.
Call 317-747-2175 or use the form. We buy across Indiana, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Hammond and the wider state.
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