What are real estate foreclosures?
These are properties that have been acquired by mortgage lenders because the owners have defaulted on the loan payments. The lender or “mortgagee” takes the property that was pledged as collateral for the loan when the payments are behind (that is, when the payments are “in arrears” or “delinquent” and the owners are said to be “in default”). Lenders must follow the state laws where the property is located. Owners default on loan payments for a variety of reasons including divorce, illness, death of a spouse, and loss of employment. Lenders try to work out some kind of resolution with the owners to make up the payments in a process called “loss mitigation.” This period is referred to as “preforeclosure.” If efforts to work out a correction for the problem do not succeed, the lender will generally initiate foreclosure procedures after three months of non-payment. Another party may offer to solve the problem by buying the property from the owner during preforeclosure, or from the lender
