Behind on payments?You have more optionsthan you think.

Most foreclosures in Utah are non-judicial, which means the process runs through the trustee named in your deed of trust rather than through a judge. Judicial foreclosure exists here too and some lenders use it. So the first thing to do is read the paperwork you were actually sent, because the dates on your notice govern. Ours don't, and no website's do.

Here is the usual sequence, and "usually" is doing real work in every line of it.

The notice of default

Once you're far enough behind on mortgage payments, the trustee records a notice of default against the property and mails you a copy. This is the document that starts the foreclosure clock, and it's also the one people put in a drawer unopened. Open it. It names the trustee, the amount claimed, and the dates that matter to you.

The cure period

Utah's trust deed statute then gives a window to reinstate, usually about three months from the recording of the notice of default, by paying what's behind plus the costs and fees the statute allows. Reinstating isn't the same as paying the loan off. It means catching up. A foreclosure cured at this stage stops there, and plenty of them do. The figure moves as fees accrue, so ask the lender or the trustee for a written reinstatement quote with a good-through date on it, and ask again if that date passes.

Notice of sale

If the default isn't cured, the foreclosure moves on and the trustee gives notice of the sale itself. It gets published, posted at the property, and mailed. This stage adds weeks rather than months.

The trustee's sale

The end of the foreclosure, and a public auction, usually at the county courthouse. The property goes to the highest bidder, or reverts to the lender if nobody bids enough. After the sale the right to reinstate is gone and so is the house.

Add it up and the usual path from a first missed payment to a foreclosure sale date is measured in months rather than weeks. That's more room than most people believe they have when they first call us, and it's enough room to use properly.

Two things this page won't do. It won't tell you exactly how many days you have, because your notice does that and your servicer or an attorney can confirm it. And it won't tell you what a court would do, because we aren't lawyers. If you want the sale process itself rather than the foreclosure process, sell my house fast walks it end to end.

We buy houses. That gives us a preference in your decision, and you should assume we have one. So start with the people who don't have one.

HUD-approved housing counselors

A HUD-approved housing counseling agency will go through your finances with you, tell you which programs your loan may qualify for, and in many cases deal with the servicer on your behalf. Foreclosure avoidance is what they do all day. The service is free to you. It's free whether you keep the house or sell it, and the counselor isn't paid more for either outcome, which is exactly what makes them the right first call. You can find one through HUD's counselor directory on hud.gov, or by calling HUD's housing counseling line on (800) 569-4287.

If you do one thing after reading this page, do that one. People search "stop foreclosure" and find a hundred pages promising exactly that, most of them selling something. The free counselor is the one nobody advertises.

Options that end the foreclosure and keep the house

• Reinstatement. Pay the arrears plus allowed costs, the foreclosure ends, and the loan carries on as before. The cleanest exit when the money is findable: a tax refund, a relative, a retirement account you'd rather not touch.
• Repayment plan. The servicer spreads what you're behind over the next several months on top of the normal payment. Suits somebody who missed three payments during a layoff and is working again now.
• Forbearance. Payments reduced or paused for an agreed period because of a specific hardship, with an agreed way to catch up afterwards. Ask what happens at the end before you sign anything: a lump sum due on the final day is a very different thing from an amount added to the back of the loan.
• Loan modification. The terms of the loan change, which can mean the rate, the length, and sometimes the balance. It takes paperwork and patience, and it's the option counselors chase most often.

None of these are ours to grant. Your servicer decides, the rules vary by loan type, and what your neighbor was given is not a guide to what you'll be offered. Ask your servicer for the loss mitigation department by name, write down who you spoke to and when, and put anything that matters in writing.

What we won't tell you

We won't tell you that you have to sell a house in foreclosure, because you don't, and selling is not the only way out of one. We won't tell you the clock is running faster than your notice says. And you won't find a countdown on this page. If you can keep the house and you want to keep it, keep it, and we'll still be here if that changes.

Sometimes the honest answer is that the house can't be saved but the equity can. Here's how to tell which one you're looking at.

You can sell a house in foreclosure at any point before the trustee's sale actually happens, so the question is never whether it's allowed. It's whether selling leaves you better off than the alternatives above, and that turns on one number.

The equity is the thing at risk

If you owe less on the loan than the house is worth, that difference is yours, and it's the thing a trustee's sale puts in danger. A foreclosure auction isn't shopping. Bidders pay cash, mostly sight unseen, at a price that leaves them a margin, and a property that reverts to the lender for the loan balance leaves the owner nothing at all. Whatever is left after the loan, the costs of the foreclosure and any junior liens is supposed to come back to you, and often there's nothing left to come back. Selling before the sale date is how you find out what that number really is, instead of watching somebody else settle it for you.

What it looks like to sell a house in foreclosure

• A written cash offer within 24 hours of your call, with the arithmetic behind it laid out.
• The title company asks your lender for a payoff figure. Lenders usually answer them, because they're the ones bringing the money.
• The loan, the arrears and any liens are paid out of the sale proceeds at closing, and whatever is left over is wired to you.
• Closing can be as fast as 7 days, though whether 7 days is soon enough depends entirely on the date on your notice.

There's a point past which no sale can complete in time. When we think you're past it, we'll say so on the phone rather than take a contract and hope.

Credit

We're not credit counselors, so take this as the general shape and not as your answer. A completed foreclosure is a serious entry and it sits on a credit report for years. A sale that pays the loan in full is usually reported as a loan paid off. Either way, the payments already missed stay on the file, and no sale un-misses them. What a sale can sometimes do is keep the foreclosure itself from being added to the list. Your servicer and the credit bureaus decide what gets reported, not us, so ask them and ask the counselor.

Talk to your lender directly, today

Whichever way you go, call the servicer this week. Ask for loss mitigation, which is the department that handles a foreclosure from the inside. Ask for a reinstatement figure and a payoff figure, both in writing, both with a good-through date. And ask whether they'll postpone a sale date if the house is under contract, because many will and almost none of them offer it unprompted. Those three questions are worth asking whether you end up selling to us, listing with an agent, or keeping the house.

If you'd rather compare buyers before committing to any of us, companies that buy houses sets out the questions to ask all of us, ours included. Homeowner relief options in Utah covers the wider situation, and selling an inherited house covers an estate that has fallen behind. We've bought 1,300+ houses in Utah since 2016, hold an A+ BBB rating, and average 4.9 across 520 Google reviews. When you want a number, get your cash offer or call (385) 503-4333 between 8am and 7pm, seven days a week.