Call the company that collects your mortgage payments, called your servicer, as soon as you expect trouble. Ask for its VA-backed loan hardship review. You can also contact a VA loan technician for help understanding your choices. Waiting can reduce the time available to resolve a missed payment.
Key takeaways
- Your servicer handles the account and reviews available relief. A new-loan lender cannot change your current payment schedule.
- VA lists repayment plans, special forbearance, loan modification, partial claim, and sale options. The right path depends on your circumstances and servicer review.
- VA's new partial-claim program launched in 2026, but servicers have an implementation period through November 28, 2026. Ask whether yours offers it yet.
What should you do before or after a missed payment?
Find the servicer name on your mortgage statement. Tell it when the hardship began, whether it is temporary or ongoing, and when you expect income to recover, if known. Ask for the loss-mitigation or home-retention team. Request a written list of documents and the deadline to send them.
Prepare recent statements, income records, a basic expense list, and a short explanation of the hardship. If a military move, disability, job loss, illness, or family change affected you, explain the dates and keep any supporting papers. Record the date of each call, the representative's name, and what was promised. Keep copies of every letter and upload receipt.
What help might be available on a VA-backed loan?
| Option | What it generally does | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Repayment plan | Spreads missed amounts over a period while regular payments resume. | Can my current budget support the plan? |
| Special forbearance | Temporarily pauses or reduces payments during hardship. | What happens to skipped amounts afterward? |
| Loan modification | Changes terms of the existing mortgage after review. | What are the new terms and total costs? |
| Partial claim | Moves eligible past-due amounts into a separate claim under VA's program. | Is the program available through my servicer, and what trial is required? |
| Sale or other exit | May help when keeping the home is not workable. | How would this affect my debt and VA loan benefit? |
These are questions to discuss, not promises of approval. Do not agree to a plan until the servicer explains its written terms and how the unpaid amount will be handled.
What changed with VA's 2026 partial-claim program?
VA announced its Partial Claim Program on June 15, 2026. It can help eligible borrowers address overdue amounts without replacing their existing mortgage. VA says a successful three-month trial is part of the process. Servicers have until November 28, 2026 to implement the program, so availability can vary during the rollout. Ask your servicer for its current program status and exact eligibility review.
Older articles may describe retired COVID-era programs or VASP as if they were still open. Use VA's current help page and your servicer's written response for today's options.
Where can you get independent help?
VA says you can speak with a VA loan technician at 877-827-3702, option 6. You can also find a housing counselor listed by the CFPB. Be wary of anyone who promises to stop foreclosure for an upfront fee or tells you to stop speaking with your servicer.
For background on the VA loan benefit, see our Nevada VA loan guide. For your current mortgage, your servicer and VA are the direct contacts.
Who can change the terms of your current VA mortgage?
Start with the company named on your latest mortgage statement. That company is your servicer. It collects payments, keeps the account record, and reviews requests for help when a borrower falls behind. The lender that helped you buy the home may no longer service that loan.
Calling an originator can be useful for finding the right contact. But it does not replace a request to the servicer handling your account.
VA guarantees eligible loans. But it usually does not collect the monthly payment. VA loan technicians can explain available paths and work with the servicer. A housing counselor can help you prepare and compare options.
Neither conversation should be treated as a promise that a particular plan will be granted. Your servicer must review the facts and send its terms in writing.
Find the account number, servicer phone number, and any online message center on your statement. If the servicing company recently changed, use the transfer notice and the new servicer's verified site. Be wary of a text or email that gives a different payment address.
Call the number on a statement or a site you independently located before sending personal documents or money. If you are not sure who services the loan, ask VA's loan staff how to identify the correct contact.
VA's home-retention page says to contact the servicer right away. You can do that before a missed payment if you expect trouble. An early call gives you time to gather documents and compare written choices. It also creates a record that you tried to address the problem.
What should you say on the first call?
Use direct language: "I have a VA-backed mortgage and expect trouble making the next payment. I want a review of all home-retention options available for my account.
What documents do you need, where should I send them, and when will you respond?" If you are already behind, say when the hardship began. Ask for the loss-mitigation or home-retention team rather than assuming a general billing representative can explain every option.
Tell the servicer whether the problem seems temporary or ongoing. A temporary interruption might be an illness, a gap between jobs, or a delayed benefit. A longer change might call for a different review.
Share only facts you know: current income, expected changes, regular living costs, and whether you can resume the normal obligation. If the hardship relates to a military move, give the dates and say whether you have orders. Do not guess when an uncertain event will resolve.
Ask how to submit a complete application for help. A servicer may need income records, a short hardship statement, bank information, and household expense details. Request a written list that identifies what is missing. Keep a copy of every upload confirmation and letter.
An incomplete application may slow the review even when you made an early phone call. If a representative gives a deadline, repeat it back and record the date, name, and reference number.
If you cannot understand the response, ask for a written explanation. Specifically ask how the option treats overdue amounts, future obligations, fees, and the account after a trial period. CFPB's mortgage-help guide describes the types of facts to discuss. Your own servicer's written offer controls your account.
What paperwork makes the review easier?
Prepare a small file before you call back. Include the latest statement, letters from the servicer, the loan number, recent proof of household income, and a simple list of regular expenses. Save any document showing the cause of the hardship when one exists.
For a move, this might be military orders; for a job change, a notice or new employment record. Ask the servicer which documents it actually needs. Do not send a sensitive document to an address found only in an unsolicited message.
Write a one-page timeline. State when the hardship began, which payments were missed, which conversations occurred, and what you can reasonably pay now. It is fine to say you do not yet know when income will recover. A timeline helps you and the reviewer spot errors.
It also prevents an old statement or outdated balance from becoming the basis for a decision.
Keep the application record together. Save the form you submitted, every upload receipt, letters requesting more information, and the final response. If the servicer says a document is missing, ask it to name the document and the accepted delivery method. Use the secure portal if one is available.
If you mail records, use a method that lets you track delivery. Keep original papers in your own files.
If more than one person is on the mortgage, ask the servicer whose signature or financial information it needs. If you are acting for a family member, ask about authorization before discussing private account details. The goal is a complete, accurate review, not a large stack of unrelated records.
How do the main home-retention options differ?
Repayment plan: This generally adds overdue amounts to future payments over a set period while the regular obligation resumes. It may fit someone whose hardship ended and whose budget can carry both the regular amount and the catch-up portion.
Ask the servicer to show the full schedule in writing. A plan that looks possible for one month can still strain a household later.
Special forbearance: This can temporarily pause or reduce payments during a hardship. It is a pause, not forgiveness of the skipped amount. Ask what happens at the end, whether another review is needed, and how overdue amounts will be handled.
Do not assume the amount will simply be added to the end of the loan unless the written terms say so.
Loan modification: This changes terms of the existing mortgage after the servicer's review. The specific change and its long-term cost depend on the offer. Compare the written terms with your current obligation and household budget. Ask whether a trial period is required and what must happen before the permanent change takes effect.
Partial claim: VA's 2026 program can move eligible overdue amounts into a separate, deferred claim while the borrower continues the existing mortgage under program rules. It is not a cash grant or a deletion of the debt. Availability, eligibility, and trial requirements must be confirmed with the servicer.
The later claim may become due when the property is sold or the mortgage is otherwise paid off, under its documents.
Sale or another exit: If keeping the home is not workable, ask about an ordinary sale, short sale, or deed in lieu. These paths have different effects on the remaining debt and VA loan benefit.
Do not sign a transfer or stop responding to the servicer based on a verbal promise. Ask for written consequences and independent advice where needed. VA lists these options on its current help page.
How does the new VA partial-claim process work?
VA announced the Partial Claim Program in June 2026. It is a home-retention option for eligible VA-backed loans with overdue amounts. The servicer considers it through VA's loss-mitigation process. The borrower generally must complete a three-month trial before the claim can be finalized.
The overdue amount covered by the claim is not erased. It becomes a separate obligation whose repayment terms appear in the program documents.
There is a rollout period. VA gave servicers until November 28, 2026 to implement the program. A program being open at VA does not prove your own servicer can offer it today.
Ask, "Has your company implemented the VA Partial Claim Program for my loan?" If the answer is no, ask which other current options the servicer will review now and when it expects an update. Save the response.
Not every overdue VA loan can use the new program. VA's servicer FAQ describes eligibility and the order in which a servicer reviews options.
It also explains a restriction when the same loan previously received certain COVID-era partial-claim or refund-modification help. Tell the servicer about past assistance. Ask it to identify the exact reason if it says this claim is unavailable.
Do not assume that an old news article about a different VA program still describes today's options.
Before accepting any trial offer, ask what you must do each month, how the servicer will confirm successful completion, and what documents follow. Ask when the separate claim becomes due and who services it. Compare the full written package with your ability to keep the home.
VA's program announcement is useful background. But your signed documents govern your own case.
Which path might fit your situation?
Use these as conversation starters, not as a self-approval test. If the hardship has ended and regular income has returned, ask whether a repayment plan is affordable. The extra catch-up amount matters. If your income is still interrupted but may return, ask what forbearance would require later.
If the change looks lasting, ask for a modification review and the complete written comparison. If the main problem is a past-due balance and your ongoing obligation is manageable, ask whether a partial claim is available on your loan.
A borrower may appear to fit more than one description. For example, a service member may expect a new posting to restore income but not know the exact date. Tell the servicer what is known and what is uncertain.
Do not choose an option solely because its name sounds better. Look at the future obligation, the treatment of overdue amounts, the required trial, and the effect if your circumstances change again.
If the home cannot be kept, a prompt discussion of sale paths may leave more choices than waiting for a foreclosure notice. The facts depend on property value, the mortgage balance, and the servicer's review.
Ask how each path affects any remaining debt and future use of the VA home-loan benefit. A VA loan technician or independent counselor can help you frame those questions. Do not treat a sales pitch from a foreclosure-rescue company as neutral advice.
There is no safe number of missed payments to wait before calling. Legal timelines and protections vary by case. Contact the servicer as soon as trouble is expected, even if you are still current. If you receive a formal notice, open it, note the deadline, and seek qualified help promptly.
Where can you get another explanation or independent help?
VA says a Veteran or surviving spouse can request counseling, even when the mortgage is not VA-guaranteed. For a VA-backed loan, you can contact VA to discuss the account.
VA also assigns a loan technician when a VA-backed loan reaches a specified past-due point; do not wait for automatic assignment before asking for help. Call the VA home-loan number shown on its current site and ask for the loan-technician option. Keep the date and any case reference.
A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you read a servicer offer and prepare questions. CFPB also maintains a housing-counselor finder. Ask whether any service costs money before you agree to it.
Be suspicious of a company that asks for an upfront fee to stop foreclosure, tells you not to contact your servicer, or asks you to sign over your home quickly.
Military service can add facts the servicer should know. If a permanent change of station, deployment, or active-duty status is relevant, tell the servicer and ask which protections or documents apply. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections are separate from VA loan-program options and are fact-specific.
Use the Justice Department's servicemember resources or qualified legal help for that question. Do not assume every VA borrower has the same SCRA protection.
If you disagree with the servicer's account history or written decision, ask it to explain the figures and how to submit a correction or appeal. Continue opening notices while the question is pending. Keep a record of the request and response. Independent help is most useful when you can show the actual documents.
A safe follow-up routine after the first call
Within the next day, write down what the representative said. Separate facts already confirmed from items that still need a written answer. Submit the requested documents through the verified channel, then save the receipt. If the servicer asks for more, add it promptly or ask for a clear deadline. Keep copies of everything you send.
Review each new statement and letter. If a trial or temporary plan begins, put its required dates on a calendar. Ask the servicer how it will report your status and when you should expect the permanent documents.
Do not rely on a call-center statement that a loan has been permanently changed until you receive the written agreement and confirm its effective date.
If your finances change, tell the servicer. A plan based on an old budget may no longer fit. If a promised response does not arrive, follow up using the verified number, refer to your prior case number, and ask for the next deadline in writing.
You may also ask a VA loan technician or housing counselor to help you understand the delay.
Keep the original statement, hardship application, written offers, trial records, and final documents together. This makes it easier to answer a later question about an overdue balance or a separate partial claim. The records belong to you; you should be able to understand what you agreed to.
Common questions about VA mortgage hardship
Should I call VA or my servicer first?
Call your servicer promptly because it controls the account review. You can also call a VA loan technician for guidance. These are complementary contacts. Neither replaces the other's role.
Does forbearance erase missed payments?
No. Ask the servicer exactly how the skipped amount will be addressed when the temporary pause ends. Get the answer in writing before agreeing.
Is the new partial claim available from every servicer now?
Do not assume so. VA announced the program. But servicers have an implementation window through November 28, 2026. Ask your own servicer about current readiness and eligibility.
Can an old COVID-era VA program solve a new hardship?
Some earlier programs have ended or changed. Use VA's current help page and your servicer's written review. Tell the servicer about any prior assistance on the same loan.
What if I can no longer afford to keep the home?
Ask the servicer and VA about sale or other exit choices before ignoring notices. Request written information on debt, timing, and future VA benefit effects. An independent housing counselor can help compare the documents.
Sources and review date
Primary sources checked October 9, 2026. Ask the relevant agency or your account provider about current rules for your situation.