Nobody wants to think about their home getting foreclosed, but it happens. If you’re getting behind on your mortgage payments or fear you might in the future, then you need to be proactive and learn how foreclosures work in Texas and how to stop foreclosure from happening to you.
When Foreclosure in Texas Begins
Foreclosures in Texas starts when a mortgage lender has reasonable evidence to conclude that you will notpay or your cannot pay your mortgage payment. When you get behind in paying your bills, most likely 60 to 90 days behind, the lender will begin the foreclosure process.
Before starting foreclosuresin Texas, the lenders usually send out one or more demands for payment. Ifstill without payment, the mortgage lender then turns to an attorney whospecializes in foreclosures in Texas. Sometimes, the attorney will give you onefinal chance to catch up on your mortgage.
If the lender still receivesno money, then you still most likely receive a notice explaining that thelender has exercised its right to “accelerate” your mortgage, which means thatyour entire mortgage is due insteadof just your overdue payments. Because of how foreclosures work in Texas, thisis a necessary step before the lender can start foreclosure.
At this point, the lender generally refuses to take any money from you because it does not want toaccidentally “waive” its rights to proceed with foreclosure.
The Next Steps of Foreclosures in Texas
If a power of sale clause isincluded in your mortgage, a lender cannot sell your home without propernotice. So the next step involves the mortgage lender posting and publishing aNotice of Foreclosure Sale or Notice of Substitute Trustee’s Sale, providingyou with 20 days notice of the pending foreclosure sale.
At the end of the 20-dayperiod, the lender sells the North Dallas or Ft. Worth home to the highestbidder in a public auction if you have not paid the necessary amount to keepyour house.
The money received from thehighest bidder is first applied to any outstanding property taxes and thenapplied toward you debt with the lender. If there is enough money, then it goestoward the costs involved in preserving the property and processing theforeclosure. In almost all of the foreclosure sales, the bid is not enough topay for all of these expenses.
Preventing Foreclosures in Texas
Filing for bankruptcy can stop foreclosures in Dallas, stop foreclosures in Plano, stop foreclosures in Frisco and stop foreclosures in Ft. Worth. Basically, filing for bankruptcy can save your home from foreclosure anywhere in Texas.
If your payments were up to date with your mortgage now, could you stay up to date? If you answered yes,then filing for bankruptcy could save your home. But you must file bankruptcy before the final foreclosure deadline in order for it to work, which means you need to contact a bankruptcy attorney immediately to see if this is the solution for you.
Questions about how foreclosures work in Texas? Call the Dallas, Fort Worth and Frisco bankruptcy lawyers atRubin & Associates for a free debt consultation at1-800-LAWYERS. Prefer email? Click here to email us.