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Judicial Foreclosures

In judicial foreclosures, just filing an answer to the foreclosure petition or complaint might give you several additional months. This is because once you contest the case, you’re entitled to your day in court. So the court will set a date for a hearing at which the judge will hear your argument about why the foreclosure should not go forward.

It’s impossible to generalize just how long it will take to get your hearing; some states and courts are faster than others. But it’s likely to take anywhere from two to six months. And the first hearing may not be the end of it. If you have solid evidence of wrongdoing by the foreclosing party, you may be able to force a type of trial at which you and the foreclosing party will be expected to produce witnesses that the judge can question and that the parties can cross-examine.

If you don’t respond and let the case go by default, you are looking at a month at the most before the court issues a foreclosure judgment. In most states, the judge then orders a sale to be held. In Connecticut or Vermont, however, the judge can transfer title then and there, without a sale.