Mortgage Foreclosure Sale

A mortgage foreclosure sale is a sale in which a homeowner’s home is sold because it was foreclosed or repossessed because the loan was in default. Unfortunately, today many homes are being repossessed due to loans that are not being paid as promised at the time of loan closing. The state of the economy, rising interest rates and the high cost of homes are being attributed to the large number of homes that are winding up in a mortgage foreclosure sale.

When a mortgage goes into default, it’s because the borrower has not made their payments as required. The bank or lender will usually not start foreclosure proceedings until 3 consecutive payments have been missed. Even then, the bank usually will try to contact the lender to make some sort of payment arrangements or see what the problem is. A bank usually doesn’t want to have to deal with a mortgage foreclosure sale anymore than the borrower does. A mortgage foreclosure sale involves a lot of paperwork, time and legal costs. Banks also do not want a REO (Real Estate Owned) on their books, as they usually lose money as well. In addition, the borrower not only loses their home but will have a poor credit rating for a few years after they’ve lost a home to a mortgage foreclosure sale.

There are a couple different types of mortgage foreclosures, depending on your state of residence. A judicial foreclosure or foreclosure by judicial sale, although only required in certain states, is available in all the states. This type of mortgage foreclosure sale involves having the property sold under the supervision of a court. The proceeds of the sale will go to pay off the mortgage first, then to any other lien holder and then the borrower, if there’s any money left. In this type of foreclosure sale, all parties must be notified of the sale.

Another type of foreclosure is foreclosure by power of sale. This type will usually be specified on the mortgage documents. In this type, the mortgage holder (bank or lender) can sell the property without first going to court. It’s quicker than the judicial sale, but the money is distributed in the same manner.

Strict foreclosure is a type of mortgage foreclosure sale that is available in only a few states. The borrower has a legal suit brought against him demanding that the mortgage be paid within a certain amount of time. If the borrower fails to do this, the mortgage holder gets title to the property and can do whatever they want with it, with no obligation to sell if they choose not to sell. Strict foreclosure was the first and original type of mortgage foreclosure.