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Resources on Foreclosure, Credit & Debt, and Bankruptcy

How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work for You?

Selling Your House in a Tough Market

Foreclosure: Articles and FAQs

Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure (HUD)

Avoiding Foreclosure: State Resources (HUD)

Foreclosure Survival Guide

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Foreclosure Survival Guide (1st Edition)

Nonjudicial Foreclosure States

How much time you have from the first formal notice that foreclosure proceedings have started to the date your property will be sold varies widely from state to state. You can count on at least 30 days’ notice before the sale (except in a few states that give you just 15 days’ notice); in most states, you’ll get at least 60 days. Check your state’s page in the appendix to find out the precise amount of notice you are entitled to.

Contesting Nonjudicial Foreclosure Actions in Court

How do you get a judge to rule that a foreclosure is legally wrong if the foreclosure doesn’t go through a court and no judge is involved? Nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings, as the name says, take place out of court. (See Ch. 2.) However, if there’s something about the foreclosure you think is legally wrong—for example, you were not sent a required notice of default or the notice you were sent lacked certain required information—you can go to court. You would file a petition with the local court, requesting an injunction (court order) blocking the foreclosure. This might delay the foreclosure by a week or two, or longer if the court believed your argument has merit. You would have the burden of proving that the lender hadn’t followed proper procedures or had made some other mistake, and it would be very difficult for you to get very far in this type of lawsuit unless you hire a lawyer. (See Ch. 7 for information on fighting foreclosure in court.)