questions & answers

Question: I recently returned home from a 3 year prison sentence. The home i own was vacant and went into foreclosure. The mortgage company changed the locks, however i still own the home and plan on refinancing and keeping it. Am i allowed back into the house now, to live there since i still legally own it?

Answer:

“Your mortgage servicer can start the foreclosure process once you are 120 days behind on your mortgage payments. In Arizona, the bank is allowed to schedule a trustee sale of the home on the 121^st day. The sale can take place as soon as 210 days (the trustee sale process takes 90 days in Arizona) after you miss your first payment. In most circumstances, the person or bank who purchases the home at the trustee sale will then get a court order saying only they have the right to be in the property.

I question whether you still legally own the home. You should visit the Recorder’s office where the deed for your home is recorded. When you go there, ask the clerk to pull up all of the recent documents that have been recorded. If the home has been sold, then you should see a notice of trustee sale and a trustee’s deed upon sale recorded for your home. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse a sale in most circumstances. You can also conduct a search on Arizona Public Access Case Look-Up website http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/publicaccess/. If you search the name of the person on the mortgage, you should find a court action brought for possession of the house. The case would either be a forcible entry and detainer action or perhaps a declaratory judgment.

If you determine that the home has been sold, you should also visit the Office of the Treasurer. If the purchase price of the home at the trustee sale was greater than the balance owed on the mortgage, then you might be able to get the left over money. The Treasurer should be able to tell you if there is money in their account that you could claim, but sometimes it takes months after the sale before the money is actually deposited with the Treasurer.  You should visit your local legal aid office for assistance in getting the left over money if there is any. You only have two years to claim the money. You should also visit the legal aid office if you did not have any notice of the sale, or if you need help getting your belongings back from inside the home. You can apply online for free legal aid assistance at this website http://www.azlawhelp.org/accessToJustice.cfm. “