What if my property is to be foreclosed?

If a default under the terms of a mortgage or deed of trust occurs, the lender may initiate a foreclosure case with the Circuit Court in the county in which the property is located. The lender is not required to send a copy of the court papers to the property owner. By this time, however, you as the borrower and property owner should have received adequate notice from the lender that there is a problem with your loan account and from the lender’s attorney that there is a default under the terms of the loan.

Many mortgages require the lender to give a notice of the default and your right to remedy it before the foreclosure proceedings can be filed. Do not ignore or delay in responding to any written communication from your mortgage lender.

The lender must also file, under oath, a statement of debt which itemizes the entire amount the lender claims is due under the loan. This will usually include principal, interest, late charges, attorneys’ fees and all other charges that the borrower is responsible for under the mortgage. Again, this statement of debt is generally not sent to the property owner. The lender must also certify that the property owner is not a member of the military; under federal law, service members have specific rights with respect to lawsuits brought against them.

What happens next?

The lender may schedule a sale of the property. This cannot be done without your knowledge. You will receive notice of the sale by two separate means. First, an advertisement of the sale, including the date, time and location and description of the property must appear in the legal notices section of a local newspaper for three consecutive weeks. The first ad should be published not less than 15 days before the sale; the last should be published not more than seven days before the sale. Second, the lender or lender’s lawyer must give you notice by certified and first-class mail of the time, place and terms of the pending foreclosure sale. This notice must be sent not later than 10 days before the scheduled sale.

Source: © 1986, MSBA, Inc. Revised 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Maryland State Bar Association.