Foreclosure process in Minnesota

Month 1: Missing a payment. The whole process kicks begins when you are unable to make payments on your mortgage anymore, or decide not to make payments. Typically the mortgage lender will now start calling you or writing you letters. The lender might also reach out to see if you need assistance or if you’re eligible for a loan modification. A lender starts the mortgage foreclosure process by serving a 30-day default notice on the homeowner. This is still very early in the foreclosure process and you still have a lot of time before foreclosure happens.

Month 3: Case is sent to an attorney. It’s more or less about three months of missed payments before your file is sent to a foreclosing attorney. The attorney representing the lenders might take a couple of tries to get you to start making payments again, usually by calling you or writing threatening letters.

Month 4: Service and publication. Foreclosure by advertisement is the most common form of mortgage foreclosure in Minnesota, it allows the lender to foreclose a mortgage without going to court. If the homeowner does not cure the default by this point, then the lender will schedule a sheriffs sale for the property. It takes approximately six to eight weeks to schedule a sheriff’s sale.

Month 6: The sheriff’s sale. Notice of the sale must be served on the occupants of the property and published in a local newspaper. The homeowner may reinstate the mortgage and keep the property at any time prior to the sheriffs sale by curing the amount of default. This means this is your last chance bring your mortgage up to  to stop the foreclosure process. A Sheriffs sale is literally an auction conducted at the sheriff’s office of the county where the property is located. Parties will have an opportunity to bid on the property. In nearly all cases, a lender is the successful bidder and purchases the property for the amount due on the mortgage plus expenses. In foreclosure by advertisement, the lender must serve you with foreclosure papers. The papers will tell you the date of the sheriff sale, which must be at least six weeks in the future. Then the lender has to publish a foreclosure notice in the newspaper for six consecutive weeks. If the lender skips any of these steps, or doesn’t complete them correctly, the foreclosure may later be attacked in court.

After the sheriff sale is completed, we can no longer use bankruptcy to help you catch up on your mortgage. We can file for bankruptcy even minutes before the sheriff sale to avoid the sale.

Under Minnesota law, a homeowner can also delay a sheriff sale one time for five months, in exchange for a shortened redemption period to five weeks. This must be done between the date the sale is first published and 15 days prior to the sale. The process takes time, so don’t wait until the last minute if you want to postpone your sale.

Month 12: The end of the redemption period. The homeowner may keep the property by paying off the sheriff sale price during the redemption period. This amount is usually the balance due on the mortgage plus expenses. If the homeowner does not “redeem” the property by the end of the redemption period, the homeowner must vacate the property. The homeowner has the exclusive right to remain in the property during the redemption period. The lender may not enter the property during the period of redemption.

Month 13: Eviction. Eviction is the final step in a foreclosure, though most people have already vacated the property at this point. In the event a homeowner refuses to vacate the property at the end of the redemption period, then the lender must commence a court action to evict the homeowner from the property. This usually takes about one month to complete.

No matter where you are in the foreclosure process, you don’t have to do it alone, we can help!