It’s not a good feeling to miss a mortgage payment. Your home is a source of security for you and your family, and you don’t want to lose it. But sometimes money just gets tight, and you realize you can’t make all of the payments that you owe on time. You may end up missing a mortgage payment and getting a past-due notification from your lender.
When this happens, people sometimes worry that the lender is going to start the foreclosure process instantly. They may be worried that they’re going to lose their house right away — as if the next notice from the mortgage company will inform them that they no longer own the home. Do things really move this quickly?
The legal requirements
No, foreclosure will not happen this quickly. For one thing, lenders would prefer that you get current on your mortgage payments. They’re not going to foreclose simply because you missed one payment over 30 years.
On top of that, there are legal requirements for lenders to wait until you are 120 days behind on those payments. There are some exceptions, such as if money was due at the time of the sale and was never paid. But most borrowers, who may have been making mortgage payments for years, have to fall behind by a significant amount before the foreclosure can even start.
After that, foreclosure could still take another three or four months to complete, even if things go smoothly. This is when it’s time to look into all of your legal options. You may be able to eliminate some of your financial stress, get current on your mortgage again and keep your home.