When and how it is sent
At least 30 days, and not more than 180 days, before the case is filed, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to your last known address. If 180 days pass without a case, a new notice is required.
Document guide
You received a Notice of Intention to Foreclose
This is the notice New Jersey law requires before a lender can accelerate a home loan or start a foreclosure case. It is not a lawsuit, and the 30 days in it is a minimum rather than a schedule.
Required by the Fair Foreclosure Act
No court case has been filed yet
Not a law firm
Start here
A required warning,
with a required shape.
If you are holding a letter that arrived by certified or registered mail, names a sum needed to cure a default and a date to pay it, and mentions mediation and housing counseling, this is almost certainly it.
New Jersey’s Fair Foreclosure Act requires a lender to send this notice before accelerating the debt or starting a foreclosure on a residential mortgage: a mortgage on a home of up to four units that the borrower, or an immediate family member, lives in. The statute says when it is sent, how, and what it must say.
Receiving one is a serious signal. It is the step the law requires before a case can be filed, which means no case exists yet and the options that come before a case are still open.
Keep the envelope
The notice must be sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The envelope and any mail receipt are worth keeping with the notice itself.
What the law requires
Three things the notice has to get right.
These are set by statute, not by the lender’s choice of letter.
The default and the cure
It must identify the obligation and the nature of the default, state your right to cure, the sum needed to cure, and a date to cure not less than 30 days from the notice.
Where help is
It must tell you that you can still cure after a case is filed, up to final judgment; give attorney-referral and legal-services information and available financial assistance; name the lender’s contact; and tell you about mediation and free housing counseling.
In detail
What the 30 days is, and is not.
The most common misreading of this notice is that it is a countdown to losing the house. It is not. It is the earliest a case could begin, and the cure right does not end with it.
A floor, not a deadline
The statute requires the notice at least 30 days before the case is filed. Nothing requires a lender to file on day 31. And if it waits more than 180 days, the notice goes stale and a new one has to be sent.
What that means for you is that the cure date is a real date to note, but it is not the day the house is lost. It is the period in which loss mitigation, a cure, a sale, or simply getting advice are all still ordinary options rather than emergency ones.
Curing, before and after the date
If you cure by the date stated in the notice, the loan is reinstated as if the default had not happened, and any acceleration is undone.
The right to cure does not end on that date. New Jersey law lets a homeowner cure at any time up to final judgment, by paying what would have been due without the default plus court costs, attorneys’ fees and contractual late charges. Curing after the notice date can be done only once every 18 months on the same mortgage.
The mediation notice that comes with it
With the notice of intention, you must also receive written notice of New Jersey’s Foreclosure Mediation Program, in English and Spanish. You will receive it again if a complaint is filed.
Mediation itself begins after a case exists: an eligible homeowner can request it within 60 days of receiving the summons and complaint. It is free, and it requires working with a trained foreclosure-prevention counselor. Starting with a counselor now puts you ahead.
Use the counseling the notice mentions
The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency funds free foreclosure-prevention counseling through HUD-certified agencies in every county. They are not a substitute for legal advice and they cannot appear in a court case for you, but they can help assemble a loss-mitigation package and talk through a budget at no cost.
Using a counselor and speaking to an attorney are not alternatives. Many homeowners do both.
What to do now
Concrete things that are useful now and harder later.
- Write down the cure amount and the cure date from the notice
- Check the amount against your own records, and ask your servicer in writing for a cure figure and a payoff quote
- Ask what loss-mitigation options exist on your loan and what a complete application requires
- Contact a HUD-certified counseling agency
- Have the notice and your mortgage reviewed before a case is filed
This page describes general New Jersey foreclosure procedure. It is not legal advice, and procedure has exceptions, county practice and case law that no general page can apply to an individual situation. NewJerseyForeclosureHelp.com is not a law firm, a lender, or a government agency. If a deadline, court date, or sale date is approaching, speak with an attorney promptly.
Common questions
About the notice of intention.
Does a Notice of Intention to Foreclose mean I have been sued?
No. It is a notice the Fair Foreclosure Act requires before a lender can accelerate a residential mortgage or start a case. A foreclosure case starts only when a complaint is filed in the Superior Court and served on you.
How long after the notice can they file?
At least 30 days after the notice. If more than 180 days pass without a case being filed, the lender has to send a new notice. Nothing requires a lender to file on the first possible day.
What if I cannot pay the cure amount by the date in the notice?
The right to cure does not end on that date. New Jersey law lets a homeowner cure at any time up to final judgment, paying the overdue amount plus court costs, attorneys’ fees and contractual late charges. Curing after the notice date can be done only once every 18 months on the same mortgage.
How must the notice be sent?
By registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to your last known address, at least 30 days before a case is filed. Keep the notice, the envelope and any mail receipt together.
What else comes with the notice?
The notice must tell you about the Foreclosure Mediation Program and free housing counseling, give legal-services and financial-assistance information, and name a lender contact. You must also receive written notice of the mediation program, in English and Spanish.
Statutes and sources behind this guide
- F2: The Fair Foreclosure Act's protections apply to a "residential mortgage": a mortgage on a house, real property or condominium occupied, or to be occupied, by the debtor (a natural person) or an immediate family member as a residence, on property with no more than four dwelling units, one of them occupied by the debtor or family member when the loan was made. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-55), read 2026-09-23
- F4: Before accelerating the debt or starting a foreclosure, the lender must send a notice of intention to foreclose at least **30 days, but not more than 180 days**, before the action, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the debtor's last known address. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-56(a)–(b)), read 2026-09-23
- F5: If more than 180 days pass after the notice is sent without an action being filed, the lender must send a new notice. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-56), read 2026-09-23
- F6: The notice must state, among other things: the obligation and the nature of the default; the right to cure; the sum needed to cure and a cure date not less than 30 days from the notice; that the debtor may still cure after suit is filed, up to final judgment, paying court costs and attorneys' fees; the right to transfer the property; attorney-referral and legal-services information; available financial assistance; the lender's contact; the Foreclosure Mediation Program; and free housing counseling. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-56(c)), read 2026-09-23
- F7: The homeowner must receive written notice of the Foreclosure Mediation Program with the notice of intention and again when the complaint is filed, in English and Spanish. (P.L.2019, c.64), read 2026-09-23
- F8: The debtor may cure the default **at any time up to the entry of final judgment** (or an order of redemption) by paying all sums that would have been due without the default, plus court costs, attorneys' fees and contractual late charges. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-57(a)–(b)), read 2026-09-23
- F9: A cure reinstates the debtor to the same position as if the default had not occurred and nullifies any acceleration. The right may be used only **once every 18 months** for a given mortgage, unless the cure is made by the date in the notice of intention. (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-57), read 2026-09-23
- F17: New Jersey runs a court Foreclosure Mediation Program (created by the Judiciary in 2009, codified in 2019). It is **free** to the homeowner. (P.L.2019, c.64 (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-74 et seq.); R. 4:64-1B), read 2026-09-23
- F18: Eligible: an owner-occupant of a one- to four-unit residential property that is the primary residence, who has been served with a foreclosure summons and complaint and is not in bankruptcy. All borrowers on the note must agree to take part. (P.L.2019, c.64), read 2026-09-23
- F19: The homeowner may request mediation within **60 days** of receiving the summons and complaint; the court may also order mediation when the homeowner files an answer. (P.L.2019, c.64), read 2026-09-23
- F20: Since 2019-11-01, a homeowner must work with a trained foreclosure-prevention counselor, who certifies the homeowner's cooperation, to participate. NJHMFA funds this counseling at no cost through a network of HUD-certified agencies in every county (NJHMFA 609-278-7508). (P.L.2019, c.64), read 2026-09-23
- F44: Free foreclosure-prevention counseling is available to New Jersey homeowners through NJHMFA's network of HUD-certified agencies., read 2026-09-23
Statutory claims on this page were checked against published New Jersey law and court guidance on 2026-09-23 and are recorded, fact by fact, in the site's evidence file. Statutes change; the date is the date of the check.
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