How soon can you be evicted after the sheriff’s foreclosure sale?

Homeowners in foreclosure 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 that the sheriff will show up the next day to violently throw you 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 property owners should ignore the alarm that this possibility threatens.

However, homeowners should be aware of the foreclosure auction implications. 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, since there are more steps that the new owner will have to take.

The highest bidder at the auction will likely have to confirm the sale to the sheriff (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 granted to the new owner. .

Most likely, the new owner is 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 bought out by the lender, rather than a third party.

To evict the former owners, the lender will need to apply to the court for possession of the property and order the county sheriff to evict any remaining persons or personal items and change the locks. However, this is a legal process. Homeowners need not fear that a bunch of government thugs with badges and guns will show up at their house 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 in 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 go and try to challenge the sale, the eviction order, etc.), but the sheriff’s department will have to give notice of the impending eviction. This can be as small as posting a paper on the property three days in advance to move out. So, after the sheriff’s sale, former owners better be prepared to either go it alone or find another solution.

People facing foreclosure shouldn’t worry too much about being thrown out of a home without notice. The sheriff will not just show up the next day or a few hours after the sheriff’s 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 organize a new place to move.

In either case, landlords are always encouraged 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 waste either. Having a couple of weeks to move can give people a chance to find a place and move 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 the eviction; the courts or the bailiff can tell you the date and try to find the most reasonable solution. They want as little trouble after foreclosure as the former owners.