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The Foreclosure Process

Jan 4, 2010 by Chris Compton

How long can you stay in your home when facing foreclosure in Georgia?

Getting a notice from the bank that they are going to sell your home on the courthouse steps is pretty frightening. Your mind immediately begins to churn – “where will we go?’ – “We need to look for another home!”

This is a perfectly understandable reaction, but not entirely appropriate.

When your lender is ready to foreclose, they must send you notice. They send a certified letter, explaining that you are in default, that they have been unable to collect, that your mortgage is secured by real property and that they have accelerated your debt. Then they tell you that you must pay the entire loan, plus fees or your home will be sold in a foreclosure proceeding. Then they give you the time and place of the sale.

In addition to that notice, the law requires them to publish notice in the local paper each week for four consecutive weeks prior to the sale.

So at a minimum, you are going to have 4 weeks from when you receive notice before your home is sold.

Frequently the sale date will be postponed. In Georgia, foreclosure sales can ONLY be held the first Tuesday of each month. If your sale is postponed, it must be postponed for at least a month. The notices have to be reissued, the advertisements have to be run again, and the entire process is basically repeated.

Once the home is actually sold at foreclosure, you are living in a home you do not own.

What will happen now?

The day finally came. You did what you could to save your home, but on the first Tuesday of the month, it was sold on the courthouse steps. You are living in someone else’s home. What do you do?

Well, first of all, realize that this is a reality. You are living in a house you no longer own. You are going to have to leave. You don’t have to panic and move into the street, though. You have a few minutes. Take a breath.

When the house was sold on the courthouse steps, it was probably purchased by your lender, because in today’s market, the majority of foreclosed homes are worth less than the amount of the mortgage. Investors want to buy homes with solid equity. The banks are stuck with the rest.

When the bank takes the home back in a foreclosure proceeding, they aren’t going to come knocking on the door the next day. In fact, no one from the bank is likely to ever see the house. What they will do is turn the case over to a servicing company or a real estate firm. That company will begin the process of making the home ready to sell. Part of that process will be to come to the house and see if it is empty. If you are still living there, they will most likely contact you to inform you that the home has been foreclosed on and ask you when you plan to leave. This is where you can make a bad situation a little bit better.

Frequently, the bank’s representative will offer a monetary incentive for you to leave. The trade term is “cash for keys.” Typically they will ask that you leave within 5 days, leave the house in good condition and broom clean and give them the keys. They will give you money to help you move. This amount is negotiable, so don’t be afraid to ask for more. It’s a good deal for you, because you are eventually going to be moving. It’s a good deal for them, because the eviction process can take a while these days and the home will not be vacant and susceptible to vandalism.

In some cases where you just don’t want to move, the bank’s representatives will file an eviction suit.

Foreclosure Eviction Time

If you won’t leave, the new owner of the home will have to go to court and ask the judge to make you leave. They will send you a written demand to give up possession of the property and file an eviction proceeding against you in court. The court will have you served with notice of the eviction proceeding.

When you get the notice from the court, you can file an answer, letting the court know that you want to be heard on the matter. If you don’t respond within seven days, the court will just issue a writ of eviction. If you do respond, a court date will be set.

At the court date, you will get the opportunity to explain why you should not be evicted, but no matter what you say, the facts are very simple. You are living in someone else’s house and they want you to leave. At the end of the hearing, the judge will issue the writ of eviction.

So why file a response if you are going to lose anyway? The response forces a court date, which extends the time you can stay in the house. You don’t even need to attend the hearing – you know what the outcome will be anyway.

Once the writ of eviction is issued, the prevailing party will take it to the sheriff for service. At some point in the future (and this period of time varies wildly depending on how busy they are), the sheriff will serve it by posting notice of eviction on the door of your home. This is where the party ends. Shortly after they post notice, the sheriff, the new owner (or more likely their representative) and a crew of workers will come to the house with the intention and authority to enter the house, make you leave and remove all of your belongings. If you aren’t there they will just put your stuff in the yard.

So now you know. You are going to have to move before the sheriff throws you out.

Note: The following information is typical in today’s market, however, each individual home and lender may present a different situation. It is highly recommended that you obtain an attorney to represent you through the foreclosure process. Remember, this is a legal process.

This article was written and crafted by Chris Compton of “Your Home Teach Coach.” Portions of this blog were slightly altered by David Barton to provide a smooth transition to the CCFRC website. To see Chris’ complete story and Blog, please visit: http://chriscompton.wordpress.com/

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