Minnesota Foreclosure Process

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This is a generic outline for foreclosure process by advertisement in Minnesota. Not all cases are the same. More recently, lawyers are using mechanisms in the court to slow the foreclosure process and keep families in their homes for as long as possible (sometimes for long enough to catch-up on payments).

Contents

Before action commences

The lender will call the borrower after three months of missed payments. If payment is not made current after this call the official foreclosure action begins. If payment is still not brought to date at the four month mark, then the borrower will receive a, “30 day intent to foreclose” letter.

Official Process Begins

STEP 1: In this type of foreclosure, an advertisement runs in the paper for six weeks (see Sheriff's Certificate of Sale and Foreclosure Record Form). If there are any faults in this document, i.e. the advertisement is not published as outlined in the document, the borrowers attorney can take this to the court and fight this step of the process. Simply bringing this issue to the court will slow the process.

STEP 2: Notice of foreclosure is served at the end of the six week advertisement period. From this point the borrower has 30 days to make their loan current. If the borrower fails to do so a Sheriff’s sale of the property will occur.

STEP 3: Redemption Period. After the Sheriff’s sale of the property, the borrower can generally continue to occupy the property for six months. During this time period the borrower has the opportunity to catch up on payments, sell the property, or attempt to refinance. At the end of this period, if the borrower has failed to make good on the loan he or she will be forced to vacate the premises.

Forms

As state above, the forms in play here can be found in the Sheriff's Certificate of Sale and Foreclosure Record Form, identified as "Minnesota Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. Form 60.3.2 (2009)". It is a collection of each form filed against the borrower in a foreclosure action. In order to best serve a borrower, these forms must be well understood. If flaws are found in the filings this can create a situation in which the borrower can receive more time to catch up on payments. This would happen if the flaw was brought to the attention of the court and proceedings were required. The time this takes to be sorted out is not included in the day count of the foreclosure process.

Minnesota's Applicable Statutes

In Minnesota, foreclosure is covered under Minnesota Statutes §580.

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