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Do You Have a Mortgage or a Deed of Trust?

As you’ll see, it isn’t always clear what the foreclosure process will be. Even in a state that typically requires foreclosures to go through court, nonjudicial foreclosure is permitted if the loan is secured by a deed of trust rather than by a mortgage.

Not sure which document was used to secure your home loan? You can find out by:

• reviewing your original paperwork (that pile of documents you got when you closed escrow on your house)
• calling your mortgage servicer (the company to whom you make your payments)
• asking a counselor at a local nonprofit housing counseling agency (more about these great sources of help in Ch. 4) how foreclosures generally proceed where you live, or
• visiting your local land records office and pulling up the recorded document (under your name or address) on the public-access computer.

In some states, the borrower has a right to request a judicial foreclosure even if a deed of trust authorizes a nonjudicial foreclosure. See your state’s page in the appendix for more information on whether you’ve got this option.