“What should I do at the actual foreclosure sale?”
There are a number of ways to stop a foreclosure (even without filing bankruptcy) but let’s assume none of those work for you for whatever reason. So you have the actual foreclosure sale tomorrow at the courthouse in your county. What do you do? Let’s look at this.
You could do nothing and hope the foreclosure sale gets cancelled
This is what most people do. They hope and assume that nothing bad will happen. “Surely the foreclosure sale won’t go through — it can’t be happening that someone is wanting to take my home.”
And sometimes this works.
Sometimes at the last moment the sale gets cancelled.
But normally it won’t.
So if you decide to do nothing, just understand that the normal course of events will be for you to receive a letter telling you to get out of your home and then, if you don’t, you’ll be sued for ejectment.
You can go to the courthouse to make sure the sale is done properly
If you want to take action, go to the courthouse. The foreclosure sale notice will tell you which courthouse. You can also look at your mortgage. Should be the same — the courthouse in the county where your property is located.
The Alabama Code Section 35-10-13 says this about the foreclosure notice:
The notice of sale must give the time, place and terms of said sale, together with a description of the property.
The reason you go is it has happened where the foreclosure does not actually occur where or when it must occur under the law. If you are not there to witness this, then you can’t do much to fight back. But if you are there to witness it, this may give you a good argument to undo the foreclosure if it was improperly conducted.
Make sure you are in the right place
Alabama Code Section 35-10-14 says:
The power to sell lands under this article must be exercised at the appropriate courthouse door considered the front or main door to the courthouse, of the county where the mortgaged land or a substantial and material part thereof, is located.
So make sure you go to the correct courthouse. Remember to always check what the foreclosure notice says — you’ll normally find this in the acceleration letter and in the advertisement in the newspaper.
Make sure you are there at the right time
You need to be at the courthouse during all of the legal hours of a foreclosure sale. At the “front or main door”. In other words, be at the right time and the right place.
Alabama Code Section 35-10-14 also says this about the time of the sale
The sale shall be held between the hours of 11 A.M. and 4 P.M. on the day designated for the exercise of the power to sell the land.
So be there during 11 to 4. You can’t be gone during part of this time or else the sale could happen then. Instead be there the whole time. Take a family member or a friend in case you need to go to the bathroom or eat or whatever — make sure the right location is being covered during the legal hours.
You may want to make sure you are recording what is happening
If you see someone who looks like they may be doing the foreclosure — it is a public auction — then ask them some questions:
- Which property are you here on?
- What’s the address?
- Who do you work for?
You may want to record your conversations so you can prove them. Or make notes to your self after you take a picture, etc.
Sometimes when you do this, you’ll realize that no one there was doing the foreclosure on your home. But magically a foreclosure deed will appear that swears the auctioneer (either a lawyer or non lawyer) did the foreclosure sale during legal hours on that day. That would be a lie if you know it did not occur.
And sometimes when you go to record the person doing the sale, they get nervous because they aren’t going to do it right and they cancel it.
Now it is certainly possible they are doing it correctly and there is no violation of the law but it may be worth your time to go verify this rather than waiting at home with your fingers crossed that somehow the foreclosure sale will be cancelled.
If you have questions, get in touch with us to see if we can help you
Maybe you aren’t to the actual foreclosure sale yet — there may be time to stop the foreclosure.
We can even talk about suing your mortgage company so a judge decides if the foreclosure is proper. Mortgage companies hate this as they love to foreclose without any judge looking at it. So let’s annoy them and stop the foreclosure at the same time….
Maybe you know the foreclosure sale was properly conducted — let’s discuss your options.
Maybe no one was there but a false and fraudulent foreclosure deed has been put in the Probate Court swearing the foreclosure happened. If that happens, then you need to take very serious action to protect yourself.
Whatever your situation is, give us a call at 205-879-2447 or you can click the red button below and get in touch with us that way.