How long after the foreclosure and sale can I stay in my home?
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How long after the foreclosure and sale can I stay in my home?
I received a letter on intent to foreclose on my home. I’ve modified the loan once but I can no longer keep up with the payments. Will they lock in my possessions? I recently went through bankruptcy. Do I have any other options?
Asked on April 30, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Maryland
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unless you can either pay your arrears or work out some mutually agreeable settlement with the lender, you will be foreclosed upon--there is no way to prevent a mortgagee from foreclosing when you do not pay on the home loan (even if you had not recently filed bankruptcy and had bankruptcy as an option, bankruptcy does not prevent foreclosure--at most, it delays it temporarily, but if you can't pay on the loan, the foreclosure will go through).
Once the foreclosure occurs, you will have to leave immediately. If you do not, the bank (or anyone buying it from the bank) can bring an ejectment action to have court officers remove you or lock you out of the home.
How long you have depends on how fast the bank moves, on the foreclosure itself and on any following ejectment, and on how crowded your local courts' docket (or calendar/schedule) is--at a minimum, it should be a few months, but it could potentially take over a year.
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