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Foreclosure is the process a bank must take, in most states, in order to regain ownership of a home that was mortgaged and is no longer being paid for by the owner. Each state and bank has their own rules on how long a bank must wait before beginning foreclosure proceedings, and what must take place to legally take the home. This is an explanation of what happens most commonly in foreclosure procedures.

Your mortgage company will file a Complaint, Motion and Affidavit in the Common Pleas court where your home is located. Occasionally they may file a Lis Pendens before the complaint to notify you and other needed agencies that a case is about to be filed. You will be served a copy of the complaint and will have five days to file a request for a hearing to dispute the claim that you have not paid your mortgage. (TIP: While some companies file the mortgage documents with the complaint, if your mortgage company has not, you can request they produce the documents to prove they own the mortgage and can legally win a foreclosure. Banks often sell mortgages, and lately foreclosures have been stopped because the banks couldn’t find the paperwork proving they own the mortgage.)

Once you have been notified of the foreclosure proceedings and you decide not to fight it, it can take 2-9 months for the courts to complete the foreclosure, giving you time to find somewhere to live. If you haven’t moved out before the foreclosure is done, the local Sheriff will come to your home, post a notice on your door and force you out of the house.

Once the bank owns the home again they have several options to sell it, including allowing the sheriff to sell it on the courthouse steps, selling it auction, or listing it with a realtor. Some banks also sell their foreclosures privately.