If you are behind on your mortgage in Prince George’s County, the single most useful thing I can tell you is this: you almost certainly have more time and more options than you think. Maryland gives homeowners real protections. Here is what they are and how the timeline actually runs.
Maryland is a judicial foreclosure state
That means a lender cannot simply schedule a sale. A foreclosure action has to be filed in Circuit Court, which builds in time and creates points where you can act. Some states let this happen far faster. Maryland does not.
The Notice of Intent to Foreclose is your starting gun
Before a lender can file a foreclosure action on a residential property in Maryland, it must send you a written Notice of Intent to Foreclose at least 45 days beforehand. And the action cannot be filed until the later of two things: 90 days after default, or 45 days after that notice was sent. In practice, most loans are also covered by a federal rule that keeps filing off the table until roughly 120 days after your first missed payment.
So the moment that notice arrives is not the end. It is the beginning of a window, and it is the moment to start making calls rather than the moment to stop opening mail.
Please open the envelopes. I understand completely why people stop. But nearly every protection Maryland gives you is triggered by a deadline that starts running when a document is served or mailed. Missing a deadline because a letter went unopened is the most preventable way to lose a house, and I have watched it happen.
Maryland has foreclosure mediation, and you have to ask for it
This is a genuine right and it is badly underused. When the lender serves you the final loss mitigation affidavit, a Request for Mediation form comes with it. You file that request with the Circuit Court for your county — for us, Prince George’s County — within 25 days of being personally served, or 25 days from the postmark if it came by mail.
There is a $50 filing fee, which is non-refundable, and courts have authority to reduce or waive it. The case is then referred to the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, which schedules the mediation within about 60 days, with an administrative law judge serving as mediator.
Twenty-five days is not long. Put that deadline on a calendar the day the affidavit arrives.
Free help exists, and you should use it before you pay anyone
Maryland runs a foreclosure prevention program with a hotline: 1-877-462-7555. It connects you to HUD-approved housing counseling at no cost, and to free or reduced-fee legal services. Prince George’s County does not operate its own counseling agency — the county routes residents to this same statewide network.
Anyone who calls you promising to stop your foreclosure for an upfront fee should be treated with deep suspicion. Distress attracts predators, and foreclosure scams are common enough that the Maryland Attorney General publishes a consumer alert about them. You can report problems to the Office of Financial Regulation at 410-230-6077 or the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 410-576-6300.
What are your actual options?
- Reinstatement. Bringing the loan current in a lump sum. Worth asking for the exact figure, which is often lower than people assume.
- Repayment plan. Spreading the missed payments across future ones.
- Forbearance. A temporary pause or reduction, usually when the hardship is short-term.
- Loan modification. A permanent change to the terms of the loan.
- Sell the home. If you have equity, this is often the option that protects the most money.
- Short sale. If you owe more than the home is worth, with lender approval.
- Deed in lieu of foreclosure. Handing the property back by agreement.
The part almost nobody tells homeowners
In Maryland, you can generally cure the default up to one business day before the sale. That single fact is why timing matters so much — and why selling is worth serious consideration if you have equity.
Here is the arithmetic people miss. If your home is worth more than you owe, a foreclosure sale does not protect that difference for you the way a normal sale does. Selling on the open market, before a sale date, is frequently the difference between walking away with money and walking away with nothing but a foreclosure on your credit. I am not saying selling is the right answer for everyone. I am saying it deserves to be on the list, and it usually is not.
Roughly how much time is there?
Adding up the required steps — the default period, the 45-day notice, the court filing, service, the loss mitigation affidavit, the mediation window if you request it, and the notice requirements before a sale — the realistic floor is something like five to six months from the first missed payment, and it is commonly longer, especially when mediation is requested. After a sale there are still steps: exceptions can be filed, and ratification and possession take additional time.
None of that is a reason to wait. It is a reason to know you have room to act deliberately rather than in panic.
What I would do first
- Open everything and put every deadline on one calendar.
- Call 1-877-462-7555 and get a free HUD-approved counselor. Do this before you call anyone who wants money.
- Ask your servicer for the reinstatement figure in writing.
- Find out what the home is actually worth today. You cannot evaluate any of the options without that number, and it is free to get.
- File for mediation within 25 days if you receive the final loss mitigation affidavit.
If you want to know quietly what your home is worth and whether selling would protect your equity, I will tell you honestly — including if the answer is that you should stay and fight for the loan.
See the foreclosure help guide | Reach Carole confidentially
I am a licensed Maryland REALTOR®, not an attorney or a housing counselor, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Sources: Maryland Real Property Article section 7-105.1 on the Notice of Intent to Foreclose and mediation; Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development foreclosure mediation guidance and the Maryland HOPE hotline; Maryland Department of Labor Office of Financial Regulation foreclosure summary; Maryland Attorney General Consumer Protection Division.