Certified or registered mail
The Notice of Intention must be sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to your last known address. Keep the envelope.
Document guide
You received a notice of default or acceleration letter
This letter comes from your servicer, not from a court. It says you are in default and warns that the whole balance could be called due. In New Jersey, a separate statutory notice has to come before that can happen.
Not a lawsuit
Acceleration requires a Notice of Intention first
Not a law firm
Start here
A servicer letter,
not a court step.
People often assume this letter is the foreclosure. It is not. It is the servicer telling you the loan is in default and what it may do about it.
Servicers send letters with different headings: notice of default, demand letter, breach letter, notice of acceleration. Your mortgage document says what notice it requires before the lender can treat the whole loan as due, and a letter like this is often how that clause is satisfied.
New Jersey adds a statutory layer on top of the contract. Before a lender can accelerate a residential mortgage or start a foreclosure, the Fair Foreclosure Act requires a Notice of Intention to Foreclose, sent by registered or certified mail at least 30 days before the case, with a cure amount and a cure date. Sometimes the two arrive as one letter, sometimes as two.
Three different documents
A servicer’s default letter, the statutory Notice of Intention to Foreclose, and a summons and complaint are separate things. Check the heading and how each one was mailed.
Is this the statutory notice?
Four things to look for on the page.
If your letter has all of these, it may be the Notice of Intention to Foreclose itself. If it has none, the statutory notice is still to come before a case can be filed.
A cure amount and a cure date
It must state the sum needed to cure and a date to cure not less than 30 days from the notice. Note that date.
Your rights spelled out
It must tell you that you can still cure after a case is filed, up to final judgment, and that you have the right to transfer the property to another person.
Mediation and counseling
It must tell you about the Foreclosure Mediation Program and free housing counseling, and give legal-services and financial-assistance information.
In detail
What acceleration changes.
Before acceleration you owe what you have missed. After it, the lender is treating the whole balance as due now. That is the difference the letter is warning you about.
Curing and paying off are different numbers
The amount needed to cure is what it takes to bring the loan current: all sums that would have been due without the default, plus court costs, attorneys’ fees and contractual late charges. A payoff quote is the entire remaining balance.
Ask your servicer in writing for both, with a date they are good through. People often negotiate against a number they were told on the phone weeks earlier and find it has moved.
Acceleration can be undone
In New Jersey, curing the default reinstates you to the same position as if the default had not occurred, and cancels any acceleration as of the date of the cure.
That right lasts up to final judgment, not just to the date in a letter. After the cure date in the notice of intention it can be used only once every 18 months on the same mortgage.
A good moment to ask for a review
A letter like this is a reasonable time to ask for a loss-mitigation review. Under federal servicing rules a servicer generally may not make the first foreclosure filing until a borrower is more than 120 days delinquent, and later, a complete application submitted more than 37 days before a scheduled sale bars the servicer from moving for judgment or sale while it is pending.
Only the lender or servicer can approve a modification or any other option.
What usually comes next
If the default is not cured, the next steps are the statutory Notice of Intention to Foreclose (if this letter was not it) and, at least 30 days later, a complaint filed in the Superior Court. Once served, you have 35 days to answer.
There is normally room between this letter and a courtroom, and that room is the point of acting now.
What to do this week
- Write down any cure date in the letter
- Check whether it came by certified or registered mail and keep the envelope
- Ask the servicer in writing for a cure figure and a payoff quote
- Ask what loss-mitigation options your loan allows and what a complete application requires
- Have the letter and your mortgage reviewed before any cure date passes
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 a default or demand letter.
Is a notice of default the same as a foreclosure?
No. A default or demand letter comes from your servicer and is not a court paper. A New Jersey foreclosure case starts only when a complaint is filed in the Superior Court and served on you.
Can my lender accelerate the loan with just this letter?
New Jersey’s Fair Foreclosure Act requires a Notice of Intention to Foreclose, sent by registered or certified mail with a cure amount and a cure date at least 30 days out, before a lender accelerates a residential mortgage or starts a foreclosure. Your letter may or may not be that notice.
What does acceleration mean?
It means the lender treats the entire balance as due now, not just the missed payments. In New Jersey, curing the default cancels any acceleration and reinstates the loan as if the default had not happened.
How long do I have to fix the default?
Note any cure date in the letter. Beyond it, New Jersey law lets a homeowner cure at any time up to final judgment, paying the overdue amount plus costs and fees. After the date in the notice of intention, that right can be used only once every 18 months.
What should I do first?
Write down any cure date, keep the letter and its envelope, and ask your servicer in writing for a cure figure and a payoff quote. Ask about loss-mitigation options, and have the letter reviewed before the cure date passes.
Statutes and sources behind this guide
- F3: Under Regulation X (12 CFR § 1024.41(f)), a servicer generally may not make the first foreclosure notice or filing until the borrower is more than 120 days delinquent. (12 CFR § 1024.41(f)), 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
- 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
- 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
- F10: A foreclosure begins with a complaint; the plaintiff must receive and review a title search before filing and certify that it has. In a residential case the plaintiff's attorney must also certify a diligent inquiry confirming the accuracy of the filings. (R. 4:64-1), read 2026-09-23
- F12: The homeowner has **35 days** from service of the summons and complaint to file an answer. (R. 4:6-1), read 2026-09-23
- F41: If a borrower submits a complete loss-mitigation application more than 37 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale, the servicer may not move for judgment or order of sale, or conduct the sale, while the application is pending. (12 CFR § 1024.41(g)), read 2026-09-23
- F43: Only the lender or servicer can approve a loan modification. No attorney can promise one. (Positioning (`app/src/lib/legal.ts`)), 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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