What happens when your house forecloses?

A foreclosure is the legal process where your mortgage company obtains ownership of your home (i.e., repossess the property). A foreclosure occurs when the homeowner has failed to make payments and has defaulted or violated the terms of their mortgage loan.

What happens after a bank buys a foreclosure?

Once the property has been foreclosed on, the most common next step is for the bank to try and sell the property via auction. In the event that it is unable to do so, the bank itself will typically purchase the property in question. That being said, bank-owned homes can still be purchased by future owners.

What does it mean when a house is in foreclosure?

Foreclosure is the process that allows a lender to recover the amount owed on a defaulted loan by selling or taking ownership of the property. According to Realty Trac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, in December of 2019, there were 373,372 properties in “some stage of foreclosure (default, auction or bank-owned)” in the United States.

What happens if you can’t prevent a foreclosure?

If you’re unable to prevent foreclosure, the property will be made available to the highest bidder at an auction that either the court or a local sheriff’s office runs. If nobody else buys the home (which is common), ownership goes to the lender.

How often do people go through the foreclosure process?

The foreclosure process isn’t something any homeowner wants to go through. And yet, the Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that 250,000 new families enter into foreclosure every three months in America. So how does a foreclosure work? Does a foreclosure always mean a lender will take away your home?

What happens when a house goes into foreclosure?

The foreclosure process comes to an end when the bank or other lender puts the property up for sale at auction. The highest bidder wins the house, providing she bids above the bank’s minimum price and can pay for the transaction. If nobody bids high enough, the property reverts to the bank and becomes REO — real estate owned by lender.

Can a bank foreclose on a property if the original borrower dies?

If the property is in foreclosure when the original borrower dies, the mortgage lender will sometimes continue with the foreclosure process without informing their heir(s), which could possibly result in the home being sold in a Sheriff Sale.

When does a bank have the right to foreclose?

The foreclosure process is an unfortunate reality for many homeowners. When an individual is unable to remain current with their mortgage payments, their lender – typically a bank – has the right to foreclose on the property and force the mortgage holder out.

How long does it take for a bank to sell a foreclosure?

If the bank has a lot of foreclosures on its books, it may take even longer than six months to get around to initiating the sale process. Banks don’t want to hang onto foreclosures, the Real Estate Search Direct website states, because those properties drain money away.