Alaska Foreclosure Laws

In Alaska, you will find foreclosures as judicial and non-judicial or out of court foreclosures although most foreclosures are non-judicial in nature. In a typical foreclosure case, the non-judicial proceedings take not more than 3 or 4 months.

Pre-foreclosure Period

The deeds of trust in Alaska have provisions that enable lenders to sell real estate property if the borrower or the homeowner defaults on the loan. As a result, the lenders have the power to carry out a foreclosure through non-judicial proceedings. There are certain conditions that apply for a non-judicial foreclosure to take place. Firstly, the borrower or homeowner needs to have defaulted on his or her loan by at least 30 days. Once a borrower defaults, the lender has to take out a default notice. This default notice will be sent to the affected parties. It will contain important information on documents like the deed of trust, property description, debt owed, and finally it must include the time, date and location of sale. The default notice has to be posted on the property also so that everyone is aware of its status. The borrower or homeowner can resolve this issue before the sale or in the pre-foreclosure period by paying off the default amount and other expenses towards the loan.

In the case of an Alaska judicial foreclosure, the conditions don’t require the borrower or homeowner to be 30 days in default. To follow a foreclosure process judicially means that the lender has to file a complaint and take out a notice of pending lawsuit known as Lis Pendens through the court to be sent to the borrower. The borrower or homeowner has to respond to this notice within a period of 20 days from the delivery of the complaint or notice. If the borrower is unable to reply or respond within this period then the court rules the borrower to be in default and instructs the sale of the property.

Notice of Auction or Sale

Whether it is a non-judicial foreclosure or an Alaska judicial foreclosure, lenders have to post a notice of sale at three public places 30 days prior to the auction or sale. The notice has to be posted at the U.S. post office. The notice needs to be published in the local newspaper, once every week for four consecutive weeks.

If it is an out-of-court or non-judicial foreclosure, then the location of the auction will vary. The auction is conducted primarily by the lender's attorney. Once the sale or auction is over, the trustee will provide the ownership transfer deed to the winning bidder. In most of the non-judicial foreclosure cases, all or any junior lien is cleared from the title before the property is handed over to the new homeowner. One of the important rules of non-judicial foreclosure is that if due to circumstances the sale or auction is postponed, then person presiding over the sale or auction ahs to announce the change of date publicly. In an Alaska judicial foreclosure, the person conducting the auction can postpone it for at least one week with a public announcement. If the auction gets postponed for more than one week then a new notice for sale has to be issued and it has to be advertised in the local newspaper.

If you need more information about Alaska foreclosure laws, you should contact a foreclosure lawyer, or contact us so we can recommend one for you.

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