After the Sheriff's Sale

[btdandrews]

I am in Michigan. My house went into foreclosure and went to sheriff's sale yesterday (06/21/06). There were no bids on my house. I asked the sheriff conducting the auction, he said I have 12 months before I have to leave the house (house is on 14 acres).

So now what? What are my rights? Will the mortgage company try and work with us again? The best solution they could come up with before the sale was a re-payment plan of $2000 per month for 2 years. We could no longer afford the $1250 a month we were paying, there is no possible way we can do $2000 a month. (Both my son and I are having medical problems, and those expenses will not be going away anytime soon and that is what I told them.

If the mortgage company lists the house with a real estate agency, can they start bringing people through the house while I'm living there?

Can anyone who is interested in the house just come down the driveway to look at the house (my driveway is about 300 feet long and you cannot see the house from the road at all, from any angle).

Should I cancel the home owners insurance on the house? Should I change the policy to renters insurance to at least cover my belongings? Can anyone help.

[SinkingFast]

Right now, you're in what is known as a "Redemption Period". That's a time period allowed by law for you to "buy back" your house and keep it.

Many States, the Law is written stating a specific time frame for Redemption. Also, most times, the buyer must pay in full. Which I always thought was a joke. If you could pay in full, you wouldn't be in Foreclosure would you??!!

According to one site I read, the Court sets the amount of time for Redemption and the payment amount due. Another website said the Redemption period and payment amount are set in your Mortgage document. You might check with the Court House about any documents they have associated with your Foreclosure. And you should probably pull out your Mortgage instrument, dust it off, and read thru it.

You should have at least 6 months before you have to vacate. Maybe the Sheriff was right yesterday that, in you case, you'll have a year.

As far as insurance goes, I never got a straight answer from anyone about who's liable for the house during the Redemption period when our house went to Foreclosure. Our attny said to err on the safe side. As long as the Deed remains in our name, we'd better provide insurance for the house. Until the Redemption period has ended, the Lender cannot file to get the Deed over into their name.

[JeepMom]

Keep your homeowners policy current. If you house is listed with an agent expect people to come look at it wile you live there. realtors shoudl call you in advance to let you know. They don't want you there when they show the house.

[SinkingFast]

I don't know if the Lender can show the house to potential buyers or not during the Redemption Period. After the Redemption period expires and the Lender get's the Deed in their name, they are free to do with the house as they choose. At that point, the Lender would legally own the house.

Your best bet is to find out exactly how long you do have. Then prepare to be gone by if not before then. If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking for places to live. Rental shopping. Scoping out locations and such.

Ask Rental offices their credit check policies. You don't wanna pay an application fee only to be turned down. We got lucky to find a Landlord that does not do credit checks. They own a construction company and have lots of different types of rental properties all around town.