Home owner’s rights after the foreclosure

What happens after a foreclosure? Most people have the impression that after a foreclosure occurs; the owners have to evacuate the house immediately. In actual fact this is not always true. Depending on your current living state, there may still be time for you to redeem your home.

Certain stated have something called a redemption period which allows the homeowners to repossess the property if they are able to fully pay off the mortgage taken within a period of time. This period begins immediately after the sale on the foreclosure and ranges from a few days to a few months depending on the state in which you live in. Of course the ‘new’ owner will get a full refund on the money he or she paid at the auction. You cannot be evicted from the house during the course of the redemption period. So if you are approaching the final stages of a foreclosure, quickly check to see if your state applies a redemption period before it is too late.

If a redemption period is not applicable in your state, there may be no other way to repossess the house. This does not mean that you will have to leave immediately. It is of course only possible to be evicted by the new owner of the property. If no one purchases your home at the auction, the new owner is the bank. Being large organizations, getting you to leave may not be among the bank’s top priorities so this may buy you a few months on average. On the other hand, if an individual homeowner won the auction, they would most probably see to it that you leave sooner.

Forcibly getting you to leave is called eviction and this is done through certain legal channels. This of course takes time especially when the court is involved as there are usually delays of weeks in getting the eviction request seen by a judge. However, once the eviction request is approved, you may not be given much time to relocate yourself. The local sheriff will post a notice on your door notifying you of the court’s decision and you may be given between one to three days on average to move.

Should you be stubborn, and still be in the house once the notice expires, you will be forced out by the local sheriff. It is therefore advised that you make plans to relocate your family after the foreclosure auction is over. You wouldn’t want to be thrown out by the sheriff after a few weeks now would you?

Now that you understand exactly what happens after the foreclosure, you may prepare for the worst. The best solution is of course to avoid the foreclosure process at all costs before it comes to this point. However, if you are behind on any of your payments, it is best that you learn the techniques used to prevent it from happening altogether. Take the time to research possible methods proven to prevent foreclosure and apply them right away.