Default

Delinquency means a payment is late. Default is the stronger contract status that can follow if the missed obligation is not cured, or if another named event occurs. This page is about a mortgage default, not a computer or settings default. Notice and foreclosure timing are loan- and state-specific.

Fannie Mae’s consumer glossary includes a Default heading. CFPB discusses missed payments and later foreclosure as related but separate ideas. This page stays with the contract-failure meaning.

Servicing letters and loss-mitigation talks use default in a narrower way than everyday lateness.

• Delinquency

Default is not the same word as delinquency, and it is not a foreclosure sale by itself.