Walk It Through: The Missed Mortgage
A mortgage default, from the lender's notice to the hour before the sheriff sale.
After a layoff, a homeowner misses several mortgage payments.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One home and one mortgage. Mortgage assistance programs, the conduct of the sheriff sale and a deficiency judgment are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- DebtUnder the state collection act, a past due obligation for personal, family or household purposes, owed or said to be owed by a natural person residing in Pennsylvania.
- DeficiencyWhat is still owed when the resale of a repossessed vehicle does not cover the debt. The holder credits the higher of the resale price or the vehicle's reasonable value, and within 30 days after the sale sends a notice with the sale price, the itemized costs and the amount claimed.
- Right to cureThe right, after the lender's written notice, to cure a mortgage default at any time at least one hour before bidding begins at a sheriff sale, not more than three times in a calendar year, by paying what would be due without the default and acceleration, plus allowed fees and costs.