Retain an attorney to help you. A lender is NOT required to modify or work out loans, and legally can foreclose on a delinquent borrower at any time, even when in negotiations. What you probably want to do is to 1) look for significant violations of lending laws (like the Truth-in-Lending Act, or TILA) that may let you rescind the mortgage; or 2) look at least for procedural defects in the complaint which will delay matters or require them to refile, since this may buy you the time to finish working the loan out. A lawyer will be much better suited to do this than you, and will generally know how best to answer the complaint and how to use the court rules in a way that again buys you the most time.