Foreclosure Procedures

Foreclosure refers to the legal procedure in which a lender or a mortgagee terminates the owner's property right on grounds of payment default. For example, a homeowner owes a mortgage loan to a lender by keeping his house as collateral for the loan. In the contract, the borrower made financial obligations that he will pay the loan amount as per the company norms, or in case he fails to pay the owed money on time, the lender can take possession of the house. If the borrower defaults mortgage payments for a stipulated time period, then the lender has the right to foreclose the property legally. Let's take a look at the foreclosure procedure.

Foreclosure Procedures

The state law governs the foreclosure procedures, which can be a fast or lengthy process. Nevertheless, each state jurisdiction imposes certain rules and regulations for proceeding foreclosures. The foreclosure procedures vary depending upon whether the state uses mortgage of trust or deeds of trust, while buying property. In the former case, judicial foreclosure is followed while non-judicial foreclosure is conducted in the latter case. Following is in brief about the two primary types of foreclosure procedures:

Judicial Foreclosure Procedure: Judicial foreclosure is conducted in most of the states. Under such regulations, the court supervises the process of conducting foreclosure. First of all, the lender will try to resolve the default repayment with the mortgagor or the borrower. In case of failure attempts, an attorney representing the lender sends an appeal to the mortgagor stating the default amount and the lapsed duration. If the mortgagor still fails to pay the mortgage debt, then the attorney files a lawsuit pending against the mortgagor. After careful reviewing of the case, the court grants approval for starting the foreclosure process.

Non-Judicial Foreclosure Procedure: Non-judicial foreclosure can also be applied with mortgages, provided that the clause power of sale is mentioned in the trust mortgage. Under non-judicial foreclosure procedure, the lender or the trustee has the right to initiate foreclosure without providing evidences of default to the court. Similar to judicial foreclosure, the lender sends a notice depicting the default amount and the number of months that the borrower misses to pay. Without positive responses from the mortgagor's side, the lender initiates further steps of home auction or selling the property.

Generally the steps of foreclosure for judicial type require about one year, during which the homeowner can stay in the house. On the contrary, non-judicial procedures require a short duration (about four months) to initiate property selling. In addition to the primary foreclosure procedures, there are also other stringent types such as strict foreclosure, in which the property of a borrower is entitled to the lender in case of default payments. The best way for avoiding foreclosure is to talk with the lender and explain the genuine reasons for failure of payments. If possible, the lender may suggest the ways to resolve the default payments.

Foreclosure is one of the worst events that anyone can face during his/her lifetime. The consequences of foreclosure are selling the property in public auctions and reclaiming the debt amount. In America, the incidences of payment default and foreclosure are quite common. Some of the ways to stop foreclosure include refinancing, alternate financing and filing for bankruptcy. As the number of foreclosure cases is on the rise, the government has taken certain initiatives to help the people to avoid foreclosures. You can consult with financial counselor to check the various options available as an alternative to the foreclosure.