Foreclosure in Utah
Facing foreclosure in Utah? Selling is not your only option.
I buy houses, so you would expect this page to tell you to sell me yours. It does not. Selling is one of several options and it is not always the best one, so this page lays out all of them and tells you where the free help is first.
Free help is available before you talk to anyone who wants to buy your house
HUD-approved housing counseling agencies help homeowners at no cost. They are not selling anything. They can review your loan, explain what your lender is actually required to do, and often talk to the lender with you.
Find one at hud.gov, or call the HOPE Hotline free on 888-995-4673, open around the clock.
In some cases that is worth doing first. If selling still turns out to be the right answer afterwards, I will still be here, and you will make that decision with better information than you have right now.
What is actually happening
Utah foreclosures take months, not days.
Most Utah mortgages are trust deeds, which means foreclosure happens outside of court. The process starts when a notice of default is recorded, opens a period in which you can bring the loan current, and only then moves to a published notice of sale and a trustee's sale.
The practical point is this: from the first notice to the sale is normally a matter of months. That is time, and time is what gives you options. People lose houses they could have saved because they assumed it was already over and stopped opening the letters.
Your exact dates are on your own notice and from your trustee. Get them, write them down, and work from real dates rather than a guess. An attorney or a HUD counselor can read the notice with you.
Three things that make it worse
- Not opening the mail. The dates that matter are in it.
- Not calling the lender. They have loss-mitigation options, and none of them can be applied to a borrower they cannot reach.
- Paying an up-front fee to somebody promising to stop it. That is the single most common foreclosure scam.
Your options
Roughly in the order most people should consider them.
Selling is on this list. It is not at the top of it.
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Reinstate, or work it out with the lender
Bringing the loan current ends the process. Where that is not possible, lenders have loss-mitigation options such as repayment plans, forbearance and modification. You are more likely to get one with a HUD counselor helping you ask.
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Talk to a HUD-approved counselor
Free, and they are on your side rather than on commission. In some cases it may be worth your time to reach out to one, particularly if there is a route to keeping the house.
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Sell, if you have equity and enough time
If the house is worth more than you owe, selling before the sale date protects that equity. Lose the house at auction and the equity usually goes with it. This is the situation where I can genuinely help, and I say more about it below.
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Talk to an attorney
Especially if you have little or no equity, or the amounts do not add up. There are legal routes, including bankruptcy, that can stop a sale. That is an attorney's conversation, not mine and not a cash buyer's.
Being straight about my part in it
Where selling to me actually helps, and where it does not.
It helps when you have equity and a deadline. A sale that closes before the trustee's sale turns equity you would otherwise lose into money in your hand, and a cash purchase can close in as little as three days, which matters when the date is close.
It does not help if you have little or no equity. In that case a sale may not cover the loan, and what you need is a lender conversation, a short sale, or an attorney, not me. I will tell you if that is what I see.
And if the house can be saved, keeping it usually beats selling it. I would rather tell you that than take a house from someone who did not have to lose it.
What I will not do
- Charge you a fee to look at your situation. There is no cost and no obligation.
- Tell you to stop paying your lender or stop talking to them.
- Ask you to sign over your deed outside a normal, recorded sale.
- Pressure you with your own sale date. You will hear the deadline from your trustee, not as a sales tactic from me.
- Claim I can stop a foreclosure. Whether it stops depends on your lender, your numbers and your timing, not on me.
Protect yourself
How the foreclosure scams work.
Distress attracts predators. These are the markers, and they apply to anyone, including me.
- An up-front fee to stop the foreclosure or negotiate with your lender
- Being told to stop making payments or to stop communicating with your lender
- Being asked to sign over the deed, or to sign documents you have not read
- A promise to guarantee that the foreclosure will be stopped
- Being told to make payments to someone other than your lender
- Pressure to sign today, or refusal to let you take papers to an attorney
- A company implying it is affiliated with a government program
If anyone does these things, walk away and report them. You can take anything I give you to an attorney, an accountant, or a HUD counselor, and I will wait while you do.
Questions
Answered plainly.
Can you stop my foreclosure?
I cannot promise that, and neither can anyone else. A sale that closes before the trustee's sale ends the process, but whether that is possible depends on your timing, your numbers, and your lender. Anybody guaranteeing an outcome here is telling you what you want to hear.
Is it too late once a notice of default is recorded?
Usually not. That notice is the start of the process rather than the end of it, and there is normally a period afterwards in which the loan can be brought current. Your own notice and your trustee have your actual dates. Get them today rather than next week.
Will selling hurt my credit less than a foreclosure?
A completed foreclosure is generally treated more harshly than a sale, but how your credit is affected depends on your circumstances and what is reported. That is a question for a HUD counselor or a credit professional, not for a buyer with an interest in your answer.
What if I owe more than the house is worth?
Then a straight sale may not cover the loan, and buying it is probably not the right answer. What you need is a conversation with your lender about a short sale, or an attorney. Call me if you want a second opinion on the numbers, but expect me to point you elsewhere.
Do you charge anything?
No. There is no fee to have me look at the property and price your options, and no obligation to accept anything. If I ever asked you for money up front, that would be the exact warning sign listed above.
JNK Managing Group, Inc. is a real estate buyer and, through Omada Real Estate, a licensed brokerage service. I am not a lender, a law firm, a credit counseling agency or a mortgage assistance relief service, and I am not affiliated with any government program. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, credit or financial advice, and no outcome is guaranteed. Your lender is not obliged to accept any proposal. Please speak to a HUD-approved housing counselor or an attorney about your situation before you make a decision.
If you want a second opinion on the numbers, call me.
No fee, no obligation, and I will tell you if selling is the wrong move.