Foreclosure on a property in the State of Vermont are both judicial and non judicial. Typically the foreclosure process in Vermont would take about nine months to complete.
The judicial procedure of foreclosure is termed as "strict foreclosure" and is conducted through the courts. When the borrower defaults payments due to the lender, the lender shall file the necessary documents with the court to initiate the foreclosure. The court issues a summons to the borrower to appear in person before the court. The court shall conduct the hearing and if a ruling against the borrower is made, the lender is permitted to take possession of the property or offer the property on a scheduled sale.
If the mortgage or the deed of trust permits the lender to dispose the property in sale to recover the dues in the event of any default by the borrower, the lender shall exercise the right to offer the property on sale. This method of foreclosure may be enacted either in court or out of court.
If the lender proceeds with the foreclosure through the courts, the courts can decree the foreclosure against the borrower and permit the lender to offer the property on sale. If the lender intends to conduct the foreclosure proceedings out of court, the borrower shall be sent a notice of the impending foreclosure by mail.
The notice of foreclosure in an out-of-court settlement shall contain the circumstances of foreclosure, the default amount, and a deadline to halt the foreclosure process by remitting the default amount. However, the deadline in this case shall not be less than 30 days from the date of the notice. The notice of foreclosure should be sent within a period not less than 30 days from the date of the intended foreclosure sale.
In an out-of-court foreclosure procedure, the borrower may halt the foreclosure proceedings at any time before the sale by remitting the entire default amount, plus costs to the lender. In foreclosures through the court, the borrower is usually given a period of six months from the date of court ruling to redeem the property by remitting the entire amount in full as prescribed by the Court.
The notice of sale issued by the lender shall contain, among other things, the following;
The borrower shall receive the notice of foreclosure sale within a period not less than 60 days prior to the date of sale. The notice of sale shall also be published in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks. The first notice of the publication shall be on a date not less than 21 days before the date of the sale.
In an out-of-court foreclosure, the notice of sale is recorded by the lender with the town records within a period not less than 60 days before the sale. The filing of the notice of sale is done in substitution of the complaint of foreclosure in court. The foreclosure sale is a public auction and is conducted typically at the property. The sale can be bid by any person and the property is awarded to the highest bidder. Any surplus generated from the sale is disbursed to the borrower.
In an out-of-court foreclosure sale, the ownership is transferred to the bidder within 90 days and in a court foreclosure within 10 days of the date of sale. Both ownerships are transferred free and clear to the winning bidder.
If you need more information about Vermont foreclosure laws, you should contact a foreclosure lawyer, or contact us so we can recommend one for you.
