How long can you stay in home in Illinois after foreclosure judgment?

[GoneBust]

The court approved a summary judgment against us on Friday. Does anyone know how long before we are forced out of our home? We were told 6-7 months by our new attorney, but the lending bank's attorneys will not give us a date - they said there is no set time in Illinois.

Who should we believe?

[GoneBust]

It is very upsetting that this information is not readily available to people who have been foreclosed on. It adds yet another mystery to an already devastating process! Why is is such a difficult question to find out when you are going to be kicked out on the street???

[ValleYum]

Googling your thread title as a search query, I found this...

Here a whole foreclosure process in Illinois:

* Default
* Filing of Foreclosure
* Personal Service of Summons
* Foreclosure Judgment and Order of Sale
* Reinstatement Period Expires (90 days after personal service)
* Redemption Period Expires (7 months after personal service or 3 months after judgment, whichever is later)
* Foreclosure Sale
* Foreclosure Sale Confirmed
* Right to Possession Expires (30 days after foreclosure sale confirmed)
* Eviction by Sheriff of Named Parties
* Recording of Foreclosure Deed

Sources:
http://www.illinoislegaladvocate.org...t&contentID=69

http://www.illinoisprobono.org/index...&contentID=327

From: http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73015

So I would guess you are in the redemption period?

[GoneBust]

Here is what was posted on the thread you referenced:

In IL a foreclosure is judicial. The evicition is done at the same time as the foreclosure. Meaning the court issues a judgment of foreclousre and sale. The lender can take the judgment to the sheriff on or after the sale date.

This is not like a landlord tenant evicition. They have you evicted right now. It is up to the lender as to how soon they want you to vacate. It could be tomorrow, it could be next month.

Is this actually true?

Some websites state that there is a redemption period of at least 90 days, other websites say there is none at all. Why is it so difficult to find out when I am going to be forced out of my home? I called the county clerk for the court where the judgment was granted, and they said they could not give me a timeline. My new attorney says 6-7 months, but the post that I quoted above refutes this.

This is a nightmare!!! There are no rentals available in my area due to all of the foreclosures that went before us, so we are going to have to change school districts for my two daughters ages 12 and 16. We can't even tell them if they can expect to finish out the school year here.

[GoneBust]

Here is yet another statement from Foreclosure.com that contradicts the quote that I posted above:

How long does it take to foreclose a property in Illinois?

Depending on the court schedule, it usually takes approximately 215 days to effectuate an uncontested foreclosure. This process may be delayed if the borrower contests the action, seeks delays and adjournments of hearings, or files forbankruptcy. Property owners have a right to reinstate a defaulted mortgage within ninety (90) days of the personal service of the foreclosure complaint. Property owners have thirty (30) days after the foreclosure sale is confirmed to retain possession and occupancy of the property at the expiration of which they must vacate.

[GoneBust]

Here is yet another statement of timeline from Foreclosures.com:

If the court issues a judgment of foreclosure: The borrower has 7 months from the date of service (or three months from the date the judgment is issued, whichever is later) in which to redeem the property by paying the amount due. Because the borrower may offer defenses to the suit for a judgment, 6 or 7 months may pass before the judgment is issued. If the borrower fails to redeem, a notice of sale is issued.

Is this true? How can I know which one of these to believe?

[ValleYum]

Stop looking. I would believe your new attorney. It is consistent with the timeline I first quoted but you are right - there is not clear-cut information and it is likely because it is dependent on court schedules.

No amount of agony and website searching is going to change the timing - it simply is what it is - try not to make yourself sick over this. Thank goodness kids are so resilient, they won't be as upset if you aren't acting upset. Know what I mean?

You just need to start planning and be ready to move ASAP if/when a rental opens up - I would be checking with realtors and watching Craigslist and packing up stuff you don't use. I set up 1 room here to hold boxes of knick-knacks and china and books and I try to pack a box every day. I also am using this as an opportunity to simplify our lives and lessen clutter - less to dust and Goodwill has benefited a great deal.

I truly, truly wish you the best.

[GoneBust]

Okay, now I am REALLY confused... I just called a lady who is the debt counselor that I have worked with at our lending bank for the past 24 months, and she told me this:

"You have at least 10 months before you will be asked to move out of the home. In the mean time, you should try to sell it or bring the loan payments current to avoid foreclosure. You have not been foreclosed yet."

How can she say we haven't been foreclosed yet? The summary judgment was approved by the court last Friday!

[GoneBust]

I truly, truly wish you the best.

Thank you! I really appreciate your reply!!!

[ValleYum]

Look at the timeline. You are on Line 4. The judge has ordered the sale (with the summary judgment he signed) you still have to wait out the redemption period and have the actual sale AND the expiration of your right of possession.

It's up in the air as to a precise timeline because of how long it may take the judge to approve/sign things in a bogged down system.

Hang in there!

[GoneBust]

So you mean we haven't had a foreclosure put on our credit record yet?

Thanks!!

[ValleYum]

So you mean we haven't had a foreclosure put on our credit record yet?

Thanks!!

Can't swear to it but it doesn't look that way from what I read because technically you could redeem your property. Ask your attorney to make sure!

[LookingFrwrd]

Probably depends on your lender (and what county you are in) but ours is Countrywide/BofA and we received our summary judgement in September 2009, original sale was scheduled for March 2010 but has since been postponed 7 times and cancelled twice. We are currently scheduled for Sheriff's sale on December 21st but I learned today that there will be a foreclosure moratorium from December 19th until January 3rd so it looks like we are going to be postponed again (not sure if that's Will County, State of IL or the lender issuing the moratorium.)

We want the house to go -- moved out of state 2.5 years ago and just need it to all be done so we can stop paying the HOA and carrying insurance on it. I have begged and pleaded with BofA to just let the sale go through for the last 1+ year. I contacted the Illinois Attorney General's office about a month or so ago and have now asked for their help in getting the sale finalized since BofA is blaming the AG's office for all the postponements. AG's office is actually who called me today to notify me of the upcoming moratorium but said they are asking BofA to make an exception and let our sale go through since we've notified both parties that we have no interest/intent in keeping the home, it was discharged in Ch 7 BK in Feb '09 and we are out of state.

But you are not truly foreclosed on until that Sheriff's sale is final and if our experience is par for the course in Illinois, you might have quite some time to go before that will happen.

Good luck!

[AbbeyA]

Here is our experience in Illinois with foreclosure and what I have learned of the process. As you know, it is a judicial process and carried out through the court system. Once the foreclosure (lis pendens) is filed, the process starts to play out. For us, the process moved quickly and the judgment of foreclosure and sheriff sale occurred about 6 - 7 months after we were served. Since we have young chilren and I needed to make sure we knew what was going on and when we would need to start looking for a rental home, I was able to find that the sheriff sale dates were posted on the Lake County Sheriff's office website, usually 3 months in advance of the actual date the sheriff sale would occur. By looking in our local newspaper, I was also able to see that some of the judgments of foreclosure and sheriff sale were dated several months before the actual date of sheriff sale. Others, like our home, were scheduled about 2 months after the judgment of foreclosure and sheriff sale. I don't know why some took so long and ours was so soon after the judgment -- maybe something to do with the lender and how aggressive they are in getting posession of the home?

Our judgment of foreclosure and sheriff sale occurred in late July 2010, and I found our house on the Lake Co. Sheriff Dept website under sheriff sale dates in mid-August 2010, with a sale date of October 12th 2010. Once the sheriff sale occurs, then there needs to be a hearing called a confirmation hearing in front of a judge to approve the sale of the home. In our case, the sheriff sale was Oct 12th 2010 and the confirmation hearing didn't take place until early February 2011. You do not have to be out of the home until 30 days AFTER the CONFIRMATION HEARING occurs. If you stay in the home beyond that, the bank (or whoever bought the home at the sheriff sale) will need to go through the legal eviction process.

I was able to find out the date of the confirmation hearing by calling the courthouse and giving the case number. I also was able to find out a lot of information by calling the law office that handled the foreclosure for our lender. They were very forthright with information and answered every question I had.

I also spoke with the people at the Sheriff Dept that work in the foreclosure division -- they were also extremely helpful to me. FYI -- we did not receive a letter notifying us of the date of sheriff sale until 5 DAYS before the sheriff sale occurred. So if I hadn't found out what I did, it would have been a much more stressful situation with a huge rush to find a rental for our family of 6.

So I would say to start at your county sheriff dept. website and start looking around and finding the foreclosure and sheriff sale schedule. I think the information is on all of the different county websites, but I'm not positive about that. Here is a link to the Lake county sheriff dept. website, in case you are in Lake county. http://apps01.lakecountyil.gov/sheriff/foreclosure/

You can search by zip code, which I found to be the easiest way to make sure I wouldn't miss it. If it wasn't there under our zip code, I knew it wasn't scheduled yet. You can also call the attorney office handling your foreclosure, but I didn't do that until after the sheriff sale occured -- I didn't want them to be "reminded" of our case if the paperwork was at the bottom of a stack or something like that.

We have some friends going through this right now -- their foreclosure was filed and the lender didn't show up for one of the hearings. The lender then scheduled another hearing a year later and tried to resume the process and the judge threw the whole case out and the lender had to start all over from the beginning again. Their initial foreclosure was filed in October 2009 and was finally thrown out about 4 months ago. They have now filed and served the home owners with a new foreclosure suit. So, they will have been in the house for around 3 years before they need to go. (I have to admit that I am a little envious of the length of time it has taken for them, I can only imagine how much more money we could have saved if we had been there for so long without paying anything )

Good luck to you and I hope all of this makes sense and is helpful!

[chicago513]

Hi AbbeyA, thanks for your detailed post. I will be sure to look things up myself rather than rely on notices. I am current on all payments but I am about to stop paying on the mortgage in the next 1-2 months.

I spoke with a couple BK attorneys and of course, different advice from all 3. One said short sale, which I’ve ruled out as that doesn’t help my other debts. The other two differed on when to file BK7. One said to file now, while I’m current (but would wipe my Credit Card, Medical, and mortgage debt), and said I would get 12-18 months in my house during foreclosure process (I don’t know if I can trust this as I have no recourse against an attorney after BK is handled). The other said to wait it out and file right before foreclosure and that is how I would be able to stay for as long as possible.

I would really appreciate your thoughts as we appear to be/have been in similar situations. I also have young kids and I want to make this as advantageous for me and my family but I also want this to be an easy transition for them. Thank you.