Foreclosed homeowners are rightfully concerned about not being able to save their homes and how quickly they will be evicted after the sheriff’s sale. Although the lender and various “experts” will threaten them that the sheriff will show up the next day to violently kick them out of the house, this is not the case in a foreclosure situation. The county sheriff and eviction team will not show up the day after the sheriff’s sale, and homeowners should ignore the alarm that threatens this possibility.
However, homeowners should be aware of the implications of the foreclosure auction. The sheriff’s sale will transfer ownership of the property, and foreclosure victims will not own the home after this point. But this does not mean that the eviction process will happen automatically right after the house is auctioned, as there are more steps the new owner will need to take.
The highest bidder at the auction will likely have to confirm the sheriff’s sale (this is not a specifically detailed step in all states). This can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks after the auction, depending on how quickly the courts and the new owner act. But usually this is just a simple step in the post-sale foreclosure process that involves the bailiff and judge confirming that the auction was for a legal amount and that the deed has now been awarded to the new owner. .
The new owner is most likely the original foreclosure bank that the owners had been dealing with in the first place to stop the foreclosure. About 95% of foreclosures end up being purchased by the lender, rather than a third party.
To evict the former owners, the lender will have to petition the court to give them possession of the property and order the county sheriff to evict any remaining people or personal items and change the locks. However, this is a legal process. Homeowners need not fear that a group of government thugs with badges and guns will show up at their home the day after the sheriff’s sale to kick them out. Of course, this is exactly what happens, but at a later date if foreclosure victims don’t move out on time.
But the entire eviction process can take up to a month after the sale; Getting people out of their homes is not a simple process before or after a county auction. The court will have no problem ordering the eviction (unless the previous owners come in and try to contest the sale, the eviction order, etc.), but the sheriff’s department will have to give notice of the impending eviction. This can be as little as posting a piece of paper on the property three days in advance to move. Therefore, after the sheriff’s sale, the former owners had better be prepared to leave on their own or find another solution.
People facing foreclosure need not worry too much about being kicked out of a home without warning. The bailiff will not just show up the next day or a few hours after the bailiff sale, as there is still a legal process that must be followed for a bank to repossess a repossessed property. Homeowners probably have at least two weeks to a month after the date of the sheriff’s sale to arrange for a new place to move.
In either case, landlords are always advised to call the sheriff’s department to ask when the eviction will take place. Even more promising, they can also usually ask for a few more days or a week to move everything out and leave the house alone. There is still the possibility of negotiating with the local government for more time (courts and bailiff) so that the former owners are not surprised by the eviction.
So banks and government officials won’t evict foreclosure victims immediately after the auction, but there’s no time to lose either. Having a couple of weeks to move can give people a chance to find a place and move in at their own pace, but even a month-long eviction process will go by very quickly. When in doubt, landlords should contact local government officials and ask about eviction; the courts or the bailiff may inform you of the date and try to find the most reasonable solution. They want as little trouble after foreclosure as the former homeowners.
