These are the questions that come up in the first days after a foreclosure sale, from former owners still in the house, renters who never signed the loan, and relatives of an owner who has died. Each answer is short on purpose. Foreclosure is state law, so the answer gives the general rule and then points you to the paper or the office that holds your own number.
Read the group that matches your paper
The questions fall into five groups: Possession, Eviction, Money, Tenants and Heirs. If a court paper with a date on it is in your hand, read Eviction now, today. Renters can jump to Tenants. If the owner has died, read Heirs and then Money. The state-by-state entries live in the by-state section.
The deed moved; the right to stay did not
A foreclosure sale transfers title, meaning ownership on paper. It does not transfer possession, meaning the right to occupy. In almost every state the buyer still needs a written notice, then a court case, then a peace officer, before anyone has to go. The lawsuit goes by different names depending on where you live: unlawful detainer, forcible entry and detainer, summary ejectment, dispossessory. What the weeks in between look like is on staying in the home.
One clock is loud, the other is silent
Two processes start at the auction and neither waits for the other. The possession clock announces itself, with notices on the door and papers pressed into your hand. The money clock is quiet, because any surplus notice is usually mailed to the address that just sold. People lose money to that silence every week. The timeline runs both clocks side by side.
When a general answer runs out
No web page can read your notice or count your court days. If you have been served, the clock is already moving, and a written answer has to reach the court on time. Our specialists prepare and file it, keep the surplus deadline from passing, and step in when the papers are already late, when someone else claims the same money, or when what you signed at the door is not what you were told it said. You pay nothing up front, and any fee comes from the surplus funds once they are recovered. For a legal dispute, talk to a licensed attorney or legal aid in your state.
Possession
No. The sale handed the buyer the deed, which is ownership on paper. It did not hand over the right to occupy. In almost every state the buyer has to serve a written demand and then win a court case before anyone inside is required to leave.
In most places, no. Forcing out a residential occupant without a court order is unlawful self-help, and the removal itself is carried out by a sheriff, marshal or constable after a judgment. If a buyer is doing it by hand, call local law enforcement and write down the date.
No honest answer is a fixed number. It turns on how quickly the buyer moves, the notice your state requires, the court's calendar, and whether you agree a move-out date instead of waiting for one. Spend the time planning, not hoping.
In some states a former owner has a redemption period, a set window to pay the debt and costs and take the property back. Many states give none. Where it exists the payoff usually climbs with fees and interest, so check your state's rule early rather than late.
Eviction
Short, and printed on the summons. Your state fixes the number of days from the date you were served, and some count only court days. In California, for example, a tenant served with an eviction summons has 10 court days to respond (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §1167). Read the papers the day they land.
The buyer asks for a default judgment. You lose without a hearing, no defense is heard, and the next paper is usually a sheriff's notice with a few days to be out. Filing an answer on time keeps your choices open even when you already plan to move.
Sometimes. Courts in many states can pause enforcement or grant a short stay in limited situations, and some weigh hardship. Treat it as a request, never a plan. A move-out date agreed with the buyer in writing is usually the steadier way to get time.
You pay nothing up front. We handle the court filings, the responses and the communication that help you stay in the property longer, and any fee comes from the surplus funds once they are recovered. Where your state requires a licensed attorney to prepare or file court papers, a licensed attorney handles it.
Money
Set two figures side by side: the winning bid, and the foreclosed debt plus the costs of the sale. If the bid was higher, there is a surplus. Recorded liens are paid out of it by priority, and what survives that list belongs to the former owner or the owner's successors.
It depends on the sale. A trustee holds it after a non-judicial sale, a court clerk after many judicial sales, and a county treasurer, tax collector or clerk after a tax sale. Your state sets the claim window, and some run only a few weeks, so ask the holder directly rather than waiting for mail.
That is the usual trap, because notices go to the last address on file. Do not wait for a forwarded envelope. Call the trustee named on the sale notice, the clerk of the court that ordered the sale, or the county office behind a tax sale, and ask what has been mailed and what they need.
No, unless a paper you sign says so. Possession and the surplus are two separate questions with two separate deadlines. Read any release the buyer puts in front of you at move-out, because a broad one can hand over a claim you never meant to give away.
Tenants
Federal law gives a bona fide tenant at least 90 days of written notice before the new owner can require you to leave, and a bona fide lease runs to its end unless the buyer will live in the home as a primary residence (Pub. L. 115-174 §304). Your state or city may give you more.
Ask to see the deed recorded after the sale with their name on it first. Once you know who the owner is, keep paying, use a traceable method and save every receipt. Cash handed to an unverified stranger at the door is money you will not see again.
In most states the deposit follows the tenancy and the new owner steps into the landlord's shoes, including the duty to account for it. The rules and deadlines vary by state, so put your request in writing and keep proof of what you paid and when.
Many states let an occupant who is not named ask the court to be added before possession is decided, and that request has its own short deadline. Read every paper served at the property, even one addressed to someone else, and act the day it arrives.
Heirs
Her estate or her successors, not simply whoever was living there. A will or a living trust controls if she left one. If she did not, your state's intestacy statute decides who inherits, usually starting with a spouse and children.
Not always. Most states have a small-estate affidavit or a summary procedure for estates under a dollar ceiling that differs by state. Larger or contested estates need a personal representative appointed by the probate court, and a successor trustee claims for a living trust.
The buyer has to use the same court process as with anyone else in the home. Living there does not settle who inherits, so treat possession and the money from the sale as two separate questions, each on its own clock.