Foreclosure – What Actually Happens
More and more homes have been going into foreclosure over the past year or two than ever before. One reason is the poor economy overall, but perhaps the biggest reason is the sub-prime lending fiasco of the past few years that allowed too many people to enter into mortgages they shouldn’t have or couldn’t keep up with.
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 someone takes out a home loan or mortgage, the bank or lender gets a security interest from the borrower, in essence pledging the house or property as security for the loan. If they default on the payment terms, the bank or lender can try to repossess, or foreclose on 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.
The actual process of foreclosure on a residential mortgage loan can begin after the owner has failed to comply with the mortgage agreement. At that point, the creditor, usually the bank, would want to take possession of the property in order to try to recover their principle by reselling the property.
In foreclosure, the lender can opt to try and sell the property and keep the proceeds to pay off its mortgage and any legal costs. When this happens, this is considered as a lender foreclosing on the mortgage or loan. While there are some legal remedies, it is obviously much better to avoid going into foreclosure to begin with. Though it seems the real estate market has begun to rebound, or at least stopped it’s deadly downward spiral, the number of loan defaults is still very, very high.
The author is writing up her experiences with Potty Training Girls and Baby Potty Training for a parenting magazine article.
