Foreclosure Prevention & Defense
Protecting a family’s home often protects the greatest asset they will ever own or pass on to their children.
Facing foreclosure?
How we help
Our Foreclosure Prevention Unit works with homeowners to prevent foreclosures caused by missed mortgage payments, unpaid property taxes, or homeowners association (HOA) debts. We help low- and moderate-income families keep the homes they’ve worked so hard for.
Foreclosure moves quickly, involves several different players, and the process and notices are hard to understand. Our attorneys explain a homeowner’s options and stay with them at every step.
We also work to delay foreclosures sales, help families communicate with a lender about their inherited home, assist when necessary with bankruptcy, and protect homeowners from scams.
And we watch for patterns. When the same unfair practice harms many homeowners, we work with partners across Washington to stop it at the source.
Foreclosure Wins
- Negotiating with lenders and mortgage servicers for repayment plans and loan modifications that families can afford
- Representing homeowners in foreclosure mediation, where Washington law gives them the right to sit down with their lender before a sale can happen
- Helping seniors and disabled low-income homeowners apply for assistance through property tax relief programs with the County Assessor
- Going to court to stop foreclosures when lenders, HOAs, or others don’t follow the law
Mom left her home to me when she passed. But the title wasn’t properly transferred. We had no idea. That one simple thing several years ago caused such havoc in our lives! Taxes and fees were building up. Northwest Justice Project saved my home.
Anthony, NJP client
Legal Aid Matters
Many foreclosures can be prevented. A job loss, an illness, or the death of a spouse or parent can put a homeowner behind on their payments for mortgages, HOA dues or taxes and insurance. Most homeowners have more options than they realize. But the deadlines are short, the rules are complicated, and the other side has lots of resources and almost always has a lawyer.
A home is more than a place to live. It is a family’s memories, their savings, their security in retirement, and what they hope to leave to their children. Preventing a foreclosure saves what took decades, and sometimes generations, to build.
$53.8 million
Home equity saved through foreclosure prevention in 2025.
Patricia’s Story
Beating a health crisis and saving her home
When Patricia fell behind on payments for a mortgage that took half her $1,000 monthly income, she risked losing her home on the Spokane Indian Reservation. On the suggestion of the tribal credit union, she contacted NJP. Together they secured a Washington Homeowner Assistance Fund grant and negotiated a lower monthly mortgage. With her home secure, Patricia is raising her grandson there and again feels connected to her community.
Case Studies
Foreclosure
Busting a Foreclosure Fraud Ring
NJP’s Foreclosure Prevention Unit uncovered a scheme in which co-conspirators used legal loopholes to take control of about 200 estates of deceased strangers, selling at least 90 inherited homes worth over $28 million. NJP tracked suspicious probate filings and brought its findings to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, which sued.
In September 2025, a King County judge ordered more than $7 million in penalties and restitution. It meant everything to the affected homeowners. As one client explained, “My NJP attorneys not only saved my home, they saved my life.”
NJP’s work led to significant changes to the State probate laws, closing the loopholes and working to protect other families from the abuses of probate related scammers.
Recent News & Stories
Our staff attorneys and partners are constantly fighting to keep families housed.
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