How long does foreclosure take in Arizona?
Most Arizona home loans use a deed of trust, so foreclosure usually happens outside of court through a trustee's sale. Federal rules generally keep a mortgage servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind, and Arizona law requires at least 90 days between recording the notice of sale and the sale itself. From a first missed payment, a sale often lands around seven months later or more. The date on your notice is the one that counts.
When can the lender start?
Under the federal mortgage servicing rules, a servicer generally cannot make the first notice or filing for foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent. Those months are usually filled with late notices, calls, and letters about options to catch up.
What is a notice of trustee's sale?
It is the document that sets the sale date. It is recorded with the county recorder, and Arizona law does not allow the sale to happen until at least 90 days after it is recorded. The notice also has to be mailed, published, and posted before the sale. If you have one, the sale date on it is your real deadline.
Can I stop it by catching up?
Arizona lets a borrower reinstate the loan by paying what is past due, plus the lender's allowed costs and fees, up until 5 p.m. on the last business day before the sale. Ask the servicer for a reinstatement figure in writing.
What are my other options?
Depending on your loan and your equity, the usual options are:
- A loan modification or repayment plan. Apply early: under federal rules, a complete application received more than 37 days before a scheduled sale generally has to be decided before the sale can go forward.
- Selling the house. If you owe less than it is worth, a sale pays off the loan at closing and you keep the difference.
- A short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, if you owe more than the house is worth. Both need the lender's approval.
- Bankruptcy, which pauses the sale. Talk with a bankruptcy attorney before relying on it.
How late is too late to sell?
A sale needs a signed contract, a payoff statement from the lender, and title work, and it has to close before the sale date. With a cash buyer that can often happen in about two weeks, but more time is always safer, and some houses do not have enough equity to cover the payoff. If yours does not, the options above may be a better fit.
Will I owe money after a foreclosure?
Arizona limits deficiency judgments after a trustee's sale in many cases involving a home of two and a half acres or less used as a one- or two-family dwelling. Whether that protection applies to you depends on the property and the loan. Ask an attorney.
Where can I get free help?
A HUD-approved housing counselor can review your options at no cost. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau keeps a housing counselor finder.
Sources
General information for Arizona homeowners, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Huge Cash Offer is a home buyer, not a law firm, lender, or housing counselor.
Straight answers
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