Where You Stand When Payments Slip
Missing a mortgage payment is not the same as losing the house. Between the first late payment and a recorded notice of default there are months, federal and Nevada rules that require your servicer to talk to you, and several ways to catch up or get out cleanly. The earlier you use that time, the more of those options stay on the table.
We buy houses for cash, and selling is one of the routes below. It is not the first one we would point you to. If a repayment plan or a modification can keep you in your home, that is the better outcome, and we will tell you so. We are not attorneys or housing counselors, so for advice about your loan, talk to your servicer, a HUD-approved counselor, or a Nevada attorney.
From a missed payment to a notice of default in Nevada
Here is what the rules require along the way, so you know how much room you have and where it runs out.
- 1
The first missed payment
Nothing formal happens yet. Federal servicing rules generally require your servicer to try to reach you by phone by the 36th day of delinquency, and to send a written notice describing the loss-mitigation options it offers by the 45th day (12 CFR 1024.39). Read that notice. It is the servicer telling you which doors are open.
- 2
Two to four months behind
This is the stretch where you have the most room. Under federal rules, a servicer generally cannot make the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, with narrow exceptions (12 CFR 1024.41). If you send in a complete loss-mitigation application during this window, the servicer generally has to evaluate you for every option it offers and tell you the result in writing.
- 3
Nevada’s 30-day warning letter
Before a notice of default can be recorded on a residential mortgage loan, Nevada requires the servicer to mail you a notice at least 30 days in advance, including a summary of your account and the amount needed to cure the default and reinstate the loan (NRS 107.500). If you receive it, the formal process is close.
- 4
The notice of default is recorded
Now the Nevada foreclosure clock is running. You have 35 days from recording and mailing to make good the default (NRS 107.080), and for an owner-occupied home the right to cure generally runs until 5 days before any sale (NRS 107.0805). Owner-occupants also have 30 days from service of the notice to petition for the state’s foreclosure mediation program (NRS 107.086). The sale itself cannot happen until at least 3 months after the notice is recorded.
- 5
From here, the foreclosure path
Notices of sale, posting and publication follow, and the decisions get narrower and more urgent. If you are already at this stage, our foreclosure guide walks through each step and deadline in detail.
Options while you are behind
The CFPB lists these as the routes a servicer may offer. Which ones you qualify for depends on your lender, your loan and your income, so call your servicer, and consider a HUD-approved housing counselor to help you make the ask. Counseling is free.
Repayment plan
A portion of what you owe is added to each monthly payment until you are caught up. It can fit a short, one-off setback, if you can afford the higher payment for a while.
Forbearance or deferral
Forbearance temporarily pauses or reduces your payments, but you still owe the full amount later. A deferral moves missed payments to the end of the loan, or into a separate lien repaid when you refinance, sell or pay off the mortgage. Ask exactly how and when the missed amount must be repaid before you agree.
Loan modification
Your payment may be reduced to an affordable amount, with some or all of the missed payments added to what you owe. Send a complete application: under federal rules, a complete one received more than 37 days before any sale must be evaluated for every option the servicer offers (12 CFR 1024.41).
Short sale or deed-in-lieu
If you owe more than the house is worth, your lender may agree to accept a sale for less than the balance, or take the house back. Both carry credit and tax consequences worth reviewing with a counselor or attorney first.
When selling beats waiting
Selling is worth a serious look when the payment problem is not going away: a permanent drop in income, a job move, a divorce, or a loan that was a stretch from the start. If you have equity, a sale lets you keep it, whereas every missed payment, plus any fees your loan allows, adds to what the house has to cover. Selling before a notice of default is recorded also means no notice of default is ever recorded against the property.
How you sell is a separate question. If the house is in good shape and you have a few months, a traditional listing usually nets more than a cash sale, and we will tell you which agents we would call — with no referral fee for us. If the house needs work you cannot fund, or the calendar is tight, a cash sale removes repairs, showings and buyer financing from the equation. If a divorce is part of why the payments stopped, our guide to selling during a divorce covers why both spouses need to be part of the decision.
Where we come in
If a sale is the right answer and a cash buyer suits your situation, we can look at the house as it is, make a no-obligation cash offer, and close through a licensed Nevada title and escrow company, with the loan and the arrears paid from the proceeds — subject to the signed agreement and the usual title work. The steps are laid out on how a sale with us works. If a notice of default has already arrived, read what to do once foreclosure has started first, because the deadlines there are shorter and firmer.
A homeowner who was behind on payments
Eight months behind after a layoff, and getting ahead of foreclosure
North Las Vegas
A North Las Vegas homeowner lost his job as an electrician and fell about eight months behind on his mortgage. The bank had not started foreclosure yet, but he knew it was coming and wanted to deal with it before it did. He called after getting one of our letters.
Our team talked it through with him on the phone, and the next day we went out to the house. He signed the purchase agreement during that visit. When the payoff came back with fees he had never been told about, we went through it with him. We closed about three weeks after that visit.
From our deal records, reviewed by Alex Wentland, CEO — September 2026
Want the full process? Read our guide: The Nevada foreclosure timeline, stage by stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about falling behind on a mortgage
How far behind can I get before foreclosure starts?
Under federal servicing rules, a servicer generally cannot make the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, with narrow exceptions (12 CFR 1024.41). In Nevada, the servicer must also mail you a notice at least 30 days before a notice of default is recorded (NRS 107.500). Those are floors, not a promise of how long any particular lender will wait.
Can I sell my house if I am behind on payments?
Yes. You can sell at any stage before a trustee sale, and the sale pays off the loan, including what is past due, from the proceeds at closing. Whether selling is the right move depends mostly on how much equity you have and whether the payment problem is temporary.
What is the difference between reinstating and paying off the loan?
Reinstating means paying what is past due, plus allowed fees and costs, to bring the loan current and keep the house. Paying off means clearing the whole balance, which is what happens when you sell. Nevada’s pre-default notice includes the amount needed to cure and reinstate (NRS 107.500), so you will know the number before the formal process begins.
Can I use Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program now?
Not yet. The program is triggered by a notice of default. Once one is served on an owner-occupied primary residence, you have 30 days to petition (NRS 107.086), and an active bankruptcy makes you ineligible. Before that point, your routes are the servicer directly and a HUD-approved housing counselor.
What if I owe more than the house is worth?
Then a regular sale may not cover the loan, and you should talk to your servicer about a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, both of which the CFPB lists as options. We will tell you plainly if a cash sale does not work on your numbers, rather than let you find out at the closing table.
Do I need to hire someone to negotiate with my lender?
No. The CFPB’s guidance is that help avoiding foreclosure is available at no cost from your servicer or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Nevada also bars consultants from collecting fees before you have a signed agreement with your lender (NRS 645F.405).
What does it cost to talk to you?
Nothing. Looking at the house and giving you an offer is free and carries no obligation, and when we buy we cover the standard closing costs. If the better answer is a repayment plan, a modification or a listing, we will say so and take no referral fee for pointing you there.
About this guide
Written by the team at Alex Buys Vegas Houses, a Henderson-based property solutions company that buys houses across the Las Vegas Valley and Boulder City. We talk with Las Vegas Valley homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage, including the conversations where the right answer is a call to their servicer or a housing counselor rather than a sale to us.
Last reviewed September 2026. This is general information about Nevada's process, not legal advice — for advice about your specific situation, talk to a Nevada attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor.
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Talk to us about where you stand
The address, how many payments are behind, and whether any letters have arrived. We will tell you what we see, including whether you should be calling your servicer first. If you would rather talk it through, call (702) 793-2582.