Notice of DefaultA Notice of Default is a certified notification the lender provides to the county (where the property is located) specifying the deadline they have given you, the homeowner, to pay off what you owe. It is the first legal document you will receive and it marks the beginning of the pre-foreclosure process.It also contains the lender's disclosure of the intent to foreclose on your property at the end of the given deadline. All defaulting borrowers shall receive a NOD as required by the "Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, 15 USC 1692, ET SEQ".
Considering the latest massive numbers of foreclosures nationwide, NOD's are piling-up, resulting in recording delays.Lenders are extremely busy processing loan modifications, foreclosures and handling law suits. Recently, Notices of Default are being recorded 3 to 10 months after the initial default; and in rare instances even longer. When a NOD is recorded, the homeowner receives a letter, sometimes several, usually by Certified mail; containing a notarized copy of the notice giving the mortgagor (you) a predetermined time-frame to cure all past due amounts, generally 90 days from the date of the notice. As an example: if you received a NOD on May 12th 2009, but it was actually recorded on May 7th, 2009, your curative period, exactly 90 days after the recording of the Notice of Default, ends on August 7th, 2009. At any time after that date the lender can schedule your foreclosure date, so long as they send you the proper sale notification or Notice of Sale.Be awareIf you have stopped making your mortgage payments, you should check for a Notice of Default at least once every two weeks or even weekly if you can. Â Simply visit your county's website and look for "recorded documents" and then "official documents" in the public records session. Most searches only require the full name of the borrower(s). By staying informed you won't get caught by surprise; and you will be able to better prepare for this pre-foreclosure process regardless if you want to keep your property or not.
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