Quick Facts
-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instruments: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Typically 150 days
-  Right of Redemption: Yes
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: Yes

In Indiana, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage in default by using the judicial foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
The judicial process of foreclosure, which involves filing a lawsuit to obtain a court order to foreclose, is used when no power of sale is present in the mortgage or deed of trust. Generally, after the court declares a foreclosure, the property will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. However, there is a wait time between the date the suit was filed and the day the property is sold.

In Indiana, the date the mortgage was signed determines the length of time a lender must wait between filing the suit and proceeding with the foreclosure sale. The wait time is anywhere from three (3) to twelve (12) months, but the owner may file a waiver of the time limit, which allows the sale to proceed without delay. When this occurs, the lender loses the right to pursue a deficiency judgment.

The foreclosure sale process involves publishing an ad once a week for three weeks. The first ad must be run 30 days before the sale. At the time the first ad is run, each owner must be served with notice of the foreclosure sale by the sheriff. The sheriff conveys title by a deed given immediately after the sale. The owner may reside in the property, rent free, until the foreclosure sale, provided the owner is not committing waste, which means tearing up the property.

Quick Facts
-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instrument: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Typically 150
-  Right of Redemption: No
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: No

In Iowa, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage in default using either the judicial or the alternative non-judicial foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
The judicial foreclosure process is one in which the lender must file a complaint against the borrower and obtain a decree of sale from a court having jurisdiction in the county where the property is located before foreclosure proceedings can begin. Generally, if the court finds the borrower in default, they will give them a set period of time to pay the delinquent amount, plus costs. If the borrower does not pay within the set period of time, the court will then order the property to be sold.

Notice of the sale must be posted in at least three public places of the county, one of which shall be at the county courthouse. In addition, there shall be two weekly publications of such notice in some newspaper printed in the county, with the first publication being at least four weeks before the date of sale, and the second at a later time before the date of sale. If the borrower is in actual occupation and possession of the property, the notice must be served on them at least twenty days prior to the date of the sale.

The sale must be at public auction, between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm and the time must be stated clearly in the notice of sale. The sheriff shall receive and give a receipt for a sealed written bid submitted prior to the public auction. The sheriff may require all sealed written bids to be accompanied by payment of any fees required to be paid at the public auction by the purchaser, to be returned if the person submitting the sealed written bid is not the purchaser. The sheriff must keep all written bids sealed until the commencement of the public auction, at which time the sheriff will open and announce the written bids as though made in person.

The sale may be postponed, but if it postponed for more than three days, notice of the new sale must be publicly announced at the time the sale was to have been made.

Alternative non-judicial foreclosure procedure

Borrowers in Iowa have the option of avoiding a foreclosure suit by voluntarily conveying all of their rights in the property secured by the mortgage to the lender. If the lender accepts the conveyance from the borrower, they are given immediate access to the property. However, they must waive any rights to file for a deficiency judgment against the borrower.

Additionally, the borrower is required to sign a "disclosure of notice and cancellation", which states, among other things, that they are voluntarily giving up their rights to reclaim or occupy the property. The borrower and lender must also file a jointly executed document with the county recorders office stating that they have chosen to proceed with the foreclosure using the voluntary foreclosure procedures.

Quick Facts
-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instrument: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Varies
-  Right of Redemption: Yes
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: Yes, but with restrictions

In Kentucky, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage in default by using the judicial foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
Generally, in judicial foreclosure, a court decrees the amount of the borrowers debt and gives him or her a short time to pay. If the borrower fails to pay within that time, the clerk of the court then advertises the property for sale.

At some point prior to the scheduled date of foreclosure, an appraisal of the property must be made. If the foreclosure sale price is less than two-thirds of the appraised value, the borrower has a period of one year (12 months) from the date of the sale to redeem the property by paying the amount for which the property was sold, plus interest.

It is possible to obtain a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the difference between the amount the borrower owed on the original loan and the foreclosure sale price, but only if the borrower was personally served with the lawsuit, or failed to answer.

Quick Facts
-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instruments: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Typically 60 days
-  Right of Redemption: No
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: Yes

In Louisiana, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage in default by using the judicial foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
There are two types of judicial foreclosure proceedings in Louisiana, executory and ordinary process.

The executory process takes place when the lender uses a mortgage that includes an "authentic act that imparts a confession of judgment", as provided in the Louisiana statutes. Essentially, this means the borrower signed and acknowledged the obligations of the mortgage in the presence of a notary public and two witnesses. This type of mortgage makes the foreclosure process easier for the lender because once the suit has been filed and the original note and a certified copy of the mortgage has been provided, the court will issue an order for the process to begin.

Once ordered, the borrower must be then be served with a demand for the delinquent payments. The borrower has three (3) days to provide the delinquent payments or the court will order a writ of seizure and sale and the property will be sold after proper notice has been advertised for thirty (30) days.

Lenders may also sue to obtain a deficiency judgment, but buyers have no rights of redemption.

Quick Facts
-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instruments: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Typically 90 days
-  Right of Redemption: Yes
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: Yes

In Maine, lenders may foreclose on mortgages in default by using either a judicial or strict foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
Although Maine allows lenders to pursue foreclosure by judicial methods, which involves filing a lawsuit to obtain a court order to foreclose, it is only used in special circumstances. The primary method of foreclosure in Maine is strict foreclosure.

Strict Foreclosure
The strict foreclosure process is based on Maine's foreclosure doctrine in which the lender owns the property until the mortgage has been paid in full. If the borrower breaks any of the conditions established in the mortgage prior to the time the loan is paid in full, he or she will lose any right to the property and the lender will either take possession of the property or arrange for it's sale.

In either case, the borrower has either a three (3) month (post-1975 mortgages) or a twelve (12) month (pre-1975 mortgages) redemption period. If the lender has taken possession of the property, they must hold possession of it for the entire redemption period to finalize the foreclosure. If the lender chooses to sell the property without taking possession of it first, they must file an initial suit and then wait until the redemption period has passed to sell the property by special procedures set forth by the court.

The lender may file a for a deficiency judgment, but it is limited to the difference between the fair market value, as determined by an appraisal, and the balance of the loan in default.