For years, you have reliably made your mortgage payments every month. However, perhaps due to financial issues outside of your control, you finally missed a payment.
Instantly, you begin worrying that you’re going to get a notification from your lender saying that they are foreclosing on your home. When buyers do not pay, they’ve broken their contract with the lender, who can then foreclose on the home and try to resell it to recoup the value. Is this going to happen after just a single missed payment?
Is there a grace period?
As a general rule, the answer is no. Lenders will not usually foreclose after one missed payment. In fact, it may be worth checking the terms of the loan. There will often be a grace period, such as 15 days. You may not even be penalized for a slight delay in payment.
In other cases, those who have a late payment may simply have to pay a fine or a fee on top of it, but they are given a chance to get current on their payments again. The foreclosure process won’t start until there is a pattern of multiple missed payments and the lender likely believes that you are never going to get current or be able to make those payments again.
Why does it take this long?
The foreclosure process is not something that lenders utilize lightly. Overall, lenders don’t want to foreclose on homes. It is a time-consuming process and lenders will sometimes not be able to sell the homes that they have reclaimed very quickly. They would far prefer that you, as the person who initially took out that loan, are simply given a chance to get current and begin making your payments again. That is almost always better for all involved.
However, once you have missed multiple payments in a row, your lender may decide that they need to cut their losses. This is when they will begin the foreclosure process. Be very sure that you pay careful attention to any notices that you get and that you understand all of the legal steps you can take as you seek protection from foreclosure or simply work your way through the process with the assistance of an experienced legal professional.