Foreclosure – How long before I lose my house?
Many homeowners have questions about how foreclosure works and how much time they have between when they miss a payment and when the bank actually forecloses. If you are wondering how much time you have before you have to leave, it depends on whether your case will be handled in a judicial foreclosure or a non-judicial foreclosure. Most states allow both, but some states only allow one or the other, so you’ll have to do your research to find out which one is yours insurance, but yours is most likely not court because it moves faster and costs less to the lender.
All foreclosures
– You miss your first payment (for example, we’ll say this is your July payment and it was due on July 1).
– Your grace period is due (usually 15 days) and you have not paid. Your lender now considers your payment late. It is not uncommon to start receiving letters or phone calls from them at this time. Do not ignore these phone calls.
– At most lenders, once you are 60 days late (September 2 in our case), your loan is considered delinquent and the lender can start the judicial or extrajudicial foreclosure process. To bring your current loan to this point, you will typically need to pay all past due amounts (your July and August payments), all late fees, and your September payment.
This is where lenders have the most flexibility in the process.. They are not required to enter the foreclosure process simply because you are a certain number of days late. If you stay in touch with them and have a plan in place to get back on track, you can avoid foreclosure altogether, but you must take action.
judicial executions
– Your lender’s attorney will file a complaint with your county court and request a court date. This usually does not happen until you are more than 90 days late.
– You will be given a notice of this complaint.
– A hearing will be held in your county to determine the sufficiency of the complaint. If you think you have legal grounds to dispute the foreclosure, this is where you and your attorney would argue those grounds. At the end of this hearing, the judge will decide if the complaint is sufficient or not. If so, the foreclosure sale will be scheduled and your credit history will be marked as a foreclosure. If it is not enough, the judge will dismiss it. How long this all takes depends on the courts in your area. Usually it takes about 30-60 days.
– A date will be set for the redemption of the property if the laws of your state stipulate it. You can still update your loan (including fees, etc.) up to the redemption date. Even if the house has been sold and someone has moved into it, if the redemption date has not passed, you can still get your house back…if you can get enough money.
– A date will be set for the foreclosure auction. This usually happens between 30 and 45 days after the sufficiency hearing.
*** A judicial foreclosure typically takes 6 months to 2 years from start to finish. ***
Non-Judicial Foreclosures
– Your lender will mail you a Notice of Default.
– Your lender will send you a Notice of Sale to let you know when your home will be sold at the foreclosure auction.
*** A non-judicial foreclosure typically takes between 1 month and 1 year to complete. ***
All foreclosures
– The foreclosure sale occurs and your home is sold. In about 90-95% of cases, the owner of your first mortgage wins the auction because they bid the amount you owe on that loan, and typically no one else will go higher than that.
Your homeowner then contacts the county sheriff, who posts an eviction notice on your door. This notice gives you 24 to 72 hours to leave the house and remove all belongings from it. If he is there when the bailiff returns, he will escort you off the premises and whatever is left on the property will belong to the new owner.