Mortgage Company Questions
How Will I Know if my Mortgage Company has Started Foreclosure?
Georgia law allows mortgage companies to foreclosure on your home without a requirement for a hearing before a judge. Most mortgages written in Georgia contain a limited power of attorney whereby you authorize your mortgage company to foreclose simply by sending you written notice of default and by advertising in the legal newspaper for the county where the property is located.
Unlike some states, where the foreclosure process can take several months, your home can be sold at a foreclosure sale in as little as 37 days.
In reality, very few foreclosures happen this quickly. Most mortgage companies will send you letters and call you once you miss one or two payments. Usually foreclosure does not start until you are at least 3 months behind. Once foreclosure starts, however, it can be very difficult to stop and once the process starts, you cannot delay your reaction to this process.
The law says that the mortgage company must write you – at the mailing address they have on file for you – to advise you that the foreclosure process is starting. If you have moved or if you have had trouble getting your mail, you should not hesitate to contact the lender’s lawyer by phone and in writing to inquire as to whether your property is in foreclosure. Some foreclosure law firms post pending foreclosure information online. You can usually get the name of the foreclosure lawyer by calling your mortgage company.
If you receive a notice of foreclosure, do not ignore it because time is running out. Call our office to speak with a lawyer about your bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy options.
The law also requires foreclosing lenders to publish foreclosure notices in the legal newspaper (also known as the legal organ for your county) for the county where your property is located. Most “official legal organs” can be found by entering “official legal organ for XYZ county, Georgia” in Google or Yahoo. These notices are entitled “Notice of Sale Under Power” and contain a notice of the foreclosure and a legal description of the property being foreclosed. The foreclosure notice will also indicate the date of the sale and the name of both the lender and the lender’s foreclosure attorney.
It is possible that your official county newspaper may contain dozens or even hundreds of foreclosure notices and it may be difficult to find your notice. If you think that your house may be in foreclosure, you should be proactive in finding out – call your lender, or call the lender’s attorney if you know who that is. You can also call our office and we can help you find out if there is a pending foreclosure.
In larger counties especially, foreclosure notices are read by real estate investors, bankruptcy lawyers and “workout” companies who use lists of pending foreclosures to market their services. This is perfectly legal and there are a number of companies that gather foreclosure information and sell lists. If you are living in the at risk property, you will likely start seeing dozens of letters and flyers in your mailbox all offering to “help” you deal with your foreclosure.
Again, we at Clark & Washington stand ready to offer legal advice to you about Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy and about possible non-bankruptcy options.