Your client is in foreclosure. Here is the clock.

How to use it with a client

1. Open your client’s state and enter the date of the first missed payment. If they already have a notice, use the guided start to jump to the stage they are at.
2. Choose the reason (mortgage, property tax, HOA or condo) and the loan type. FHA, VA, USDA and reverse mortgages each add their own federal steps.
3. Read the earliest likely sale date, any reinstatement or cure deadline the state sets, and whether the state gives a right to buy the home back after the sale.
4. Send your client the page, or have them use “Email it and remind me” so they get reminder emails before each hard deadline.
5. Point them to a free HUD-approved counselor (1-800-569-4287) and, where the page suggests it, a local foreclosure attorney.

Is a short sale still realistic?

Lender approval for a short sale can take months, and a sale date does not always wait for it. Two federal rules help: once the servicer has a complete loss mitigation application more than 37 days before a scheduled sale, most servicers cannot move for judgment or hold the sale until they have decided and any appeal is over, and no servicer can make the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days behind, with narrow exceptions (12 CFR 1024.41(g) and (f)). These protect the owner’s main home, generally once per delinquency, and small servicers are exempt from the 37-day rule. Getting a complete short sale package in early is the single most useful thing you can do. Ask the servicer in writing to postpone the sale while it reviews, and get any new sale date in writing.

Before closing, have your client get written confirmation of whether any remaining balance is forgiven. Some states limit deficiencies after a foreclosure sale but not after a short sale. The short sale guide covers what to ask for.

Typical time to sale, every state

From the first missed payment to the headline date on each state’s calculator, for an owner-occupied home with an uncontested mortgage foreclosure. Real cases move faster or slower with the county, the servicer and anything your client files. Tap a state for the full timeline.

In Maine and Vermont the headline is the end of the redemption period, because redemption comes before the sale there.

More for your clients

Foreclosure glossary: plain-English meanings of the words on the letters. Pre-foreclosure guide. Can I get my house back?, redemption rules in every state. Monthly foreclosure reports by state.

This site is general information, not legal advice, and is not affiliated with any lender, brokerage or investor.