After you’ve missed four house payments, your lender will contact attorneys to schedule a Sheriff's sale. Read below about the Sheriff’s sale process and contact a certified housing counseling agency for more advice on how to keep your home.
The sale date will be scheduled about four to six weeks after the attorneys receive the file. Under Michigan law, advertisement for the Sheriff’s Sale must be made for four successive weeks in a newspaper in the county where the property is located and notice must be posted on the property within 15 days of the first publication. When the sale date is scheduled you will receive a notice by mail AND a notice will be taped to your door. You DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE at this time.
The home is normally auctioned for a price starting at the amount of the loan plus missed payments, accrued interest, late fees, and attorney fees. After the sale, there is a redemption period (usually six months) in which you can stay in your home and potentially buy it back. The purchaser at the Sheriff's Sale is almost always the original lender (Yes—the bank may own the deed but it still has to purchase the actual asset before it can be sold to another homeowner). To get property back after the Sheriff Sale, you must negotiate with the purchaser and pay the total amount due within the redemption period.
Most HUD-approved counselors provide free counseling services and many more provide low-cost counseling. Do not agree to work with a counselor who collects a fee BEFORE providing any services or who accepts payment only by cashier’s check or wire transfer. Here are a few resource lists: