Foreclosure – What Actually Happens
With the ongoing economic downturn, more and more homes and properties face foreclosure over the past year or two than ever before. Besides the poor economy overall, the biggest factor is the sub-prime lending spree of the past few years that created ballooning payments and allowed people to enter into mortgages that they couldn’t manage and shouldn’t have been given.
When a home goes into foreclosure, the lender obtains a court order to terminate the agreement and take possession of the property back from the signer. This is usually the bank that underwrote the mortgage agreement or loan.
When a mortgage or home loan or mortgage is underwritten, the lender or bank will get a security interest from the borrower. In effect, they are pledging the property or home as security collateral for the loan. If they fail to meet the payment terms, the lender or mortgage holder can try to foreclose, or repossess the property.
Failing to pay the mortgage note or loan payment is only one possible reason for foreclosure. Other problems such as overdue property tax that isn’t paid, overdue HOA dues or assessments, even unpaid contractor bills can be cause for a foreclosure action.
For a residential mortgage loan, the actual process of foreclosure proceeding can begin after the owner has failed to meet the mortgage agreement terms. Then the bank or creditor may look to take possession of the property so that they can recover their principle by reselling the property.
Once foreclosure begins, the lender will usually try to recover their principle and legal costs by selling the property. This is what foreclosing on the mortgage or loan actually is. Depending on the state, the homeowner may have a grace period to reclaim their property, however it’s obviously much more desirable not to go into foreclosure to begin with.
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