Behind on payments? Before you sell a house in foreclosure, know your options.

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 start by reading the paperwork you were actually sent. The dates on your notice are the ones that govern, ahead of anything on this page or any other website.

This is the usual sequence, and any step of it can run differently in your case.

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 document starts the foreclosure clock, and it's also the one people put in a drawer unopened. Open it, because 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. Reinstating means paying what's behind plus the costs and fees the statute allows, which is catching up rather than paying the loan off. Plenty of foreclosures are cured at this stage, and a cured one stops there. 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. The notice is published, posted at the property and mailed, and this stage adds only a matter of weeks.

The trustee's sale

This is the end of the foreclosure: 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.

Added together, the usual path from a first missed payment to a foreclosure sale date is measured in months. That's more time than most people think they have when they first call us, and enough to use properly.

Your notice gives the exact number of days you have, and your servicer or an attorney can confirm it, so this page doesn't try to. It doesn't say what a court would do either, because we aren't lawyers. For the sale process itself, sell my house fast walks it end to end.

Property Seller Solutions buys houses, so you should assume we have a preference in your decision. Start with the people who don't.

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 whether you keep the house or sell it, and the counselor isn't paid more for either outcome, which is 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 make only one call after reading this page, make that one. Search "stop foreclosure Utah" and you'll find a hundred pages promising exactly that, most of them selling something. Nobody advertises the free counselor, and if what you want is Utah foreclosure help rather than a buyer, the counselor is where you'll find it.

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. It's the cleanest exit when the money can be found, whether from a tax refund, a relative or 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. It 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, because a lump sum due on the final day is very different 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, under rules that vary by loan type, so what your neighbor was given is no 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 isn't the only way out of one. Nor will we tell you the clock is running faster than your notice says, which is why there's no countdown on this page. If you can keep the house and you want to, keep it. We'll still be here if that changes.

Sometimes the house can't be saved but the equity can. You can sell a house in foreclosure at any point before the trustee's sale actually happens, so what you're deciding is whether selling leaves you better off than the alternatives above. That turns on one number: your equity.

The equity is the thing at risk

If you owe less on the loan than the house is worth, that difference is yours, and a trustee's sale puts it in danger. At a foreclosure auction, 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 nothing is left. If you sell before the sale date, you find out what that number really is. At the auction, somebody else settles 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. 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. What a sale can sometimes do is keep the foreclosure itself off your report. Your servicer and the credit bureaus decide what gets reported, so ask them, and ask the counselor.

Talk to your lender directly, this week

Whichever way you go, call the servicer this week and ask for loss mitigation, the department that handles a foreclosure from the inside. Ask for a reinstatement figure and a payoff figure, both in writing with a good-through date. Then 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.

If you'd rather compare buyers before committing to any of us, companies that buy houses sets out the questions to ask any buyer, us 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.