Everyday, thousands of homeowners in the United States who have been missing their mortgage payments for months are losing their homes due to foreclosure. Order of Sale—The formal judgment of a court at the end of a foreclosure case determining the amount of money owed by a defendant and directing the sheriff to begin the process of selling the foreclosed home at auction. Foreclosure is a legal process that employs many terms that may be new to you.
First, the seller can file a lawsuit in the circuit court of the county where the property is located asking for the unpaid balance of the contract together with attorney fees and foreclosure costs. If you have the ability to become current on your payments in a reasonable period of time, your lender may offer you a loan modification.
Foreclosure is a process, whereas the auction is the final point. The new auction date must be posted on the court house door. The homeowner facing foreclosure signs the deed to the home back over to the bank – voluntarily. If the homeowner does not pay off the amount past due by the stated deadline, the lender may elect to proceed with foreclosure.
During the time between Day 45 and Day 121: You can work with a lender to obtain a loan workout, a modification or other loss mitigation option. Borrowers will generally need to begin loan modification or other loss mitigation processes as early as possible to ensure time for processing.
Eventually, if the payments aren’t made, the lender will file a “notice of default” with a local courthouse and send you a letter saying that the foreclosure process will start unless you make-up the missing payments. After the Notice of Trustee’s Sale is recorded, the homeowner typically has another 21 days before the auction date.