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Foreclosure in Virginia

In Virginia, the trustee named in your deed of trust can sell your home at auction. If you live there, the notice rule is met by mailing you the notice of sale at least 60 days ahead, and the sale is also advertised in the newspaper.

Type: Non-judicial

Last checked October 26, 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.

Type
Non-judicial. If you default, the trustee named in your deed of trust can declare the whole debt due and sell the home at auction.
FHA time frame
HUD's time frame for FHA loans: 7 months from the first legal action to clear title and possession.
Notice of sale
If the home is your residence, mailing you the notice by certified or registered mail at least 60 days before the sale meets the notice rule.
After the sale
If you're still in the home, the new owner can end your stay with a written notice at least three days ahead, then file an eviction case.

How a Virginia foreclosure works, step by step

  1. Generally, the legal foreclosure process can't start until you're at least 120 days behind.
  2. The trustee or the lender must give you written notice of the time, date and place of the sale. For a home you live in, mailing it to you by certified or registered mail at least 60 days before the sale is enough. For other property, it's 14 days.
  3. For a home you live in, that notice must show your last payment, the total you're behind, and your remaining balance. It must also point you to HUD's list of certified housing counselors and the statewide legal aid center, and include words saying it is NOT a notice to vacate, and that you should consider contacting a lawyer, legal aid or a housing counseling agency.
  4. The sale can't go forward unless the trustee has proof that the notice was sent. For a home you live in, the trustee needs a signed affidavit confirming the notice went to you, and must give a copy to each potential bidder, with personal financial details blacked out.
  5. The trustee also advertises the sale in a newspaper with general circulation where the home is. If the deed of trust doesn't set the number of ads, the ad runs once a week for four weeks in a row. In a city, or a county right next to a city, five different days is enough.
  6. The sale is held no earlier than eight days after the first ad and no more than 30 days after the last one. The trustee sells the home at auction, at the property, in front of the circuit court building, or at another place in the county or city where it lies.
  7. Within six months of the sale, the trustee must file an account of the sale with the commissioner of accounts of the circuit court where the deed of trust was first recorded.
  8. If you're still living in a single-family home on the sale date, you become a tenant at sufferance. The new owner can end that with a written notice at least three days ahead, and then file an unlawful detainer, which is an eviction case. Eviction cases are heard in the General District Court.

Second mortgages get an extra check

If a lender with a second mortgage forecloses, it must give the trustee an affidavit saying whether monthly statements were sent to you for each period it charged interest, fees or other charges. Unless an exemption applies, it can't charge those for any period when it didn't send statements.

If you think you were charged in error, you can ask the circuit court, before the sale, for an accounting and an order setting the right balance. This rule doesn't apply when the second mortgage is held by the original lender or its servicer, a bank, or a credit union.

Before the sale date

If you apply to your servicer for help, get a complete application in more than 37 days before the sale, so the servicer must review it.

The trustee can postpone the sale, and no new notice to you is required when that happens. But a postponed sale must be advertised the same way as the original one.

Read the notice of sale closely. Check the amount it says you owe, and call a housing counselor or legal aid right away if something looks wrong.

Sale day

The newspaper ad must give the time, place and terms of the sale, and the trustee's name. Anyone other than the trustee may bid, including someone who sent in a written bid. The trustee can require a cash deposit of up to 10 percent of the price before taking a bid, unless the deed of trust sets a different limit.

If the advertising rules weren't followed, a court can, on petition, find the sale voidable.

How long it takes

Foreclosure generally 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.

For FHA loans, HUD's time frame runs from the first legal action until the lender has clear title to the home and possession of it. In Virginia, that's 7 months, and the first legal action is publication.

Without a court case, the notices set the pace: for a home you live in, mailing the notice of sale at least 60 days ahead meets the notice rule, and the sale can't be held more than 30 days after the last newspaper ad.

These are official markers, not a forecast. Your case can move faster or slower, so don't count on extra time.

Where the sale money goes, and after the sale

The trustee pays the costs of the sale first, including a reasonable commission, then property taxes that come ahead of the deed of trust. Next come the debts the deed of trust secures and any lower liens, in order of priority. Anything left over is paid to you, the grantor, or to whoever you assigned it to.

The commissioner of accounts reviews the trustee's account and reports it to the court, and the report is recorded. A trustee who doesn't file the account loses the commission on the sale unless the court allows it.

If you stay in the home after the sale, you owe fair market rent from the sale date until you move out, plus damages and the new owner's reasonable lawyer fees and court costs.

If the sale might not cover what you owe, ask legal aid or a lawyer whether you could still owe money afterward, before you sign anything.

Protections when you sell, lease or get offers

  • Virginia law bans certain practices by companies in deals involving a home the owner lives in as a primary residence. A company offering to help you avoid foreclosure can't take a fee until it has fully done the work, or, if the deal sells or transfers your home, until settlement.
  • A company offering these services that agreed to make your mortgage payments can't fail to make them while keeping rent from the home for itself.
  • A company offering these services that takes title to your home can't tell you that you have the option to buy it back unless there's a written contract with the terms and price. A clause forcing you into mandatory arbitration in one of these deals is void.
  • Virginia has special rules for an installment land contract, lease option or rent-to-own contract when the buyer lives or plans to live in the home. The seller can't make the buyer forfeit the option payment, and can end the lease for unpaid rent only if it stays unpaid more than 30 days after written notice. These rules don't apply to a seller who owns no more than two single-family homes in Virginia, with some exceptions.
  • Under the real estate licensing law, someone who is paid to deal in real estate contracts, including assignable contracts, two or more times in any 12-month period is a real estate broker, and an individual can't act as a broker without a broker's license.

Two of these touch how I buy: the payment rule, when I take over your payments, and the licensing rule, which can reach a novation, where I market your home for sale. Get every promise in writing, from anyone. And don't stop talking to your lender while you weigh any offer, including mine.

Free help in Virginia

Sources

Last checked October 26, 2026. Every fact on this page comes from one of these official sources.

  1. Code of Virginia § 55.1-320 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  2. HUD Handbook 4000.1, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (PDF) (hud.gov)
  3. Code of Virginia § 55.1-321 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  4. Code of Virginia § 8.01-126 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  5. 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)
  6. Code of Virginia § 55.1-322 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  7. Code of Virginia § 64.2-1309 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  8. Virginia Judicial System Court Self-Help: landlord and tenant (selfhelp.vacourts.gov)
  9. CFPB, Regulation X: § 1024.41 Loss mitigation procedures (consumerfinance.gov)
  10. Code of Virginia § 55.1-323 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  11. Code of Virginia § 55.1-324 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  12. Code of Virginia § 59.1-200.1 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  13. Code of Virginia § 55.1-3000 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  14. Code of Virginia § 55.1-3002 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  15. Code of Virginia § 55.1-3001 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  16. Code of Virginia § 54.1-2100 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  17. Code of Virginia § 54.1-2106.1 (law.lis.virginia.gov)
  18. Virginia Housing: foreclosure prevention options (virginiahousing.com)
  19. Virginia Attorney General: Consumer Protection Section (oag.state.va.us)
  20. Virginia Judicial System Court Self-Help: find a lawyer (selfhelp.vacourts.gov)

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