I Need Help Finding or Keeping a Home

If You Need Somewhere Safe Tonight

If a social worker, case manager, health care team, or another helping professional is already involved, tell them:

“I don’t have a safe place to stay tonight. What’s available now?”

If no one is involved, call 211 and ask how to reach the local homelessness-response system. Many communities call it Coordinated Entry.

If the person is a Veteran, also call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 1-877-424-3838. It’s free and open 24 hours a day.

If abuse is part of why the home isn’t safe, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or use live chat ↗ at TheHotline.org.

If someone may check your phone or browser history, use a different device.

Before going anywhere, ask:

• Is a bed actually available tonight?
• Can the setting handle the person’s medical, mobility, or caregiving needs?
• Can the people who need to stay together remain together, including a caregiver or children, and can pets or service animals be accommodated?

Tell them about medications, oxygen, mobility equipment, disability, hands-on care needs, or anyone who can’t safely be left alone.

If there’s no opening, ask:

“Who else has space tonight?”

Then make that call next.

Confirm the person can actually go there.

If You May Lose the Current Home

If you rent, call the landlord or housing provider. If you own the home, call the mortgage servicer.

Say:

“I received this notice and I’m trying to keep the home. What must happen now, and what’s the deadline?”

Ask whether a payment plan, extension, or assistance program can stop the next action. Get any agreement in writing.

If you received eviction papers, a court date, foreclosure papers, or another legal deadline, contact legal aid promptly.

For mortgage or foreclosure trouble, contact a HUD-approved housing counselor. Foreclosure-prevention counseling is free.

Be wary of anyone who demands a large upfront fee or guarantees they can stop a foreclosure.

An assistance application or a verbal agreement may not stop a legal deadline. Keep working the deadline until you know it’s changed.

Ask: “Is the [eviction filing, foreclosure sale, or court date] paused, and what date should I check back to confirm it?” Get the answer in writing.

If utilities are also at risk, see I Need Help Paying My Utility Bills →

If Housing Changed After Someone Died

A death may change income, benefits, ownership, or who can stay in the home.

Don’t return keys, sign away rights, surrender the home, or assume it has to be sold before the situation is reviewed.

Contact the landlord, mortgage servicer, housing authority, attorney, social worker, or benefits representative connected to the situation.

Say:

“Someone in the household died, and I need to understand what happens to the housing now. What do I need to do before the next deadline?”

Ask:

• Can the surviving household member stay?
• What payment, notice, or response is due now?
• Could survivor benefits replace some lost income?
• Who can review the lease, deed, mortgage, or housing rules?

If the Home No Longer Works for Care

Tell the nurse, clinician, social worker, or care manager involved:

“The current home setup is no longer working safely. What can be changed here, and what other care settings should we consider?”

Don’t assume moving is the only answer until you know whether the current home can be made workable.

Don’t give up the current housing until you know what replaces it.

To make the current home workable, see I Need Help Making My Home Safer and More Accessible →

If it can’t be, see I Need Help Finding a Care Facility →

Before You Rely on the Plan

Confirm:

• who has agreed to help and whether the person has been accepted
• the next court, payment, shelter-entry, or move-in deadline
• exactly what has to happen next
• who to call if the plan falls through