Life After Foreclosure: Losing Your Home Is NOT the END!

Just what do you think happens right after a property is foreclosed? Most people have the wrong notion that once a property is foreclosed, the occupants have to leave the house immediately. This is not necessary depending on the state they live in. Would you believe that you can still live in your house after foreclosure and still be given some time to redeem it?

The redemption period

Some states can provide you with what is referred to as a redemption period, a sort of grace period where you are given the time and chance to redeem your house – even if the property already has a new owner. State law protects you from being forcibly evicted from your property during this redemption period. The grace period can extend anywhere from a month or so to only a few days, starting right at the heels of the foreclosure sale.

If you should manage to pay the entire mortgage within the allotted time period, the deed to your house will be given back, and the buyer will be refunded the money they paid at the auction. So if your property is nearing foreclosure, be sure to check if the state you live in offers a redemption period.

Meet your home’s new owner

If your state doesn’t have a redemption period, then you’ve lost the golden opportunity to win your property back. Upon foreclosure, you can still choose not to leave your former house right away. Evicting you will now fall into the hands of the new owner, if you still happen to live on the property. Typically, the new owner of your property can boot you out much faster than the bank can.

If your house isn’t bought from an auction, then it automatically becomes the property of the bank. Banks are huge bureaucratic establishments that are inclined to move slowly. Months could pass before the bank is reminded about booting you out; evicting you isn’t necessarily high on their priority list.

Should the need arise, eviction must be carried out through legal processes, and these processes eat up a lot of time. Because court proceedings are required, it may take days or weeks before an eviction notice is brought to a judge. Once approved, however, the eviction notice won’t offer you much time to act. Normally, notices are posted by the sheriff on your door and will give you only one to three days to move.

Worst foreclosure scenario

If you are still occupying the property by the time the notice expires, the authorities will arrive to bodily carry you out, if necessary. Thus, when your property has been sold at the foreclosure sale, it’s paramount that you begin looking for a new home, as being forced out of the house and into the street can be a really humiliating experience.

Getting forcibly evicted is the worst possible scenario in the entire foreclosure procedure. There are various ways to prevent foreclosure before things start to get out of control, so don’t wait until you are booted out of your house. Learn the proper steps to prevent foreclosure immediately and maintain your household’s safety, security and respectability. Millions of people have done it before – and won. And if they can do it, so can you.