How to Find out If the Mortgage Company Has Foreclosed a Home
There are ways to find out if a mortgage company has foreclosed or initiated foreclosure on a property. Once the process has started, the borrower is still allotted a certain amount of time prior to the sheriff's sale to try and redeem his home. The time will vary from state to state. A trip to the county courthouse in the county where the home is located will tell you what has taken place or is about to take place with a foreclosure home.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Go to the courthouse in the county where the property is located. You can go to the clerk of courts within the courthouse and give the representative the address and they will let you know if there is a case number. There are some courthouses that will send you to document control with the address, or you can look up information, with the name of the homeowner, in the civil department. Some courthouses will not look up the information and they request that you do the research. If there is a case number, you are assured that the foreclosure process has started.
-
2
Review all of the documentation. Once you have the case number, which verifies that a foreclosure proceeding is in process, you will be able to determine how far along in the process the foreclosure is. The notes will indicate when the lender paid the fee to file the foreclosure. All of the documentation will let you know when the sheriff's auction will take place. Borrowers have a certain amount of time to redeem their property even after the sheriff's sale auction date has been set. The borrower can take steps such as filing for bankruptcy or just letting the home go through the process.
-
-
3
Take action. You, as a prospective bidder, can find out what the minimum bid will be. You will be able to get all of the information about the home, including the fair market value. The homeowner will need to find out from the lender if she will be responsible for the remaining balance after the home has been sold. Sometimes a tenant could be about to rent a home or is living in a home which is going through foreclosure. If a tenant thinks something is suspicious, she can find out the same information by going to the courthouse with the address before she signs a rental agreement, and even after. This could help avoid a lot of confusion later.
-
1
