In a judicial foreclosure, the process goes through a court, where the borrower can raise defenses. In a non-judicial foreclosure, also called a power of sale foreclosure, the lender can sell the property without filing a lawsuit.
Generally, foreclosure can't legally start until you're at least 120 days behind. Once it starts, how long you have until the sale depends on your state.
Each guide below is built from that state's own laws, courts and housing agency, and lists its sources at the bottom.
State guides
- Delaware Judicial
- Florida Judicial
- Illinois Judicial
- Indiana Judicial
- New York Judicial
- South Carolina Judicial
- Texas Mostly non-judicial
New Jersey: I've written about it on my New Jersey company's site. Read how foreclosure works in New Jersey.
Guides for other states aren't written yet.
Sources for this page
- CFPB: How does foreclosure work? (consumerfinance.gov)
- Texas State Law Library: General Information (guides.sll.texas.gov)
- CFPB: How long will it take before I’ll face foreclosure if I can’t make my mortgage payments? What is the foreclosure timeline? (consumerfinance.gov)