How foreclosure works in Connecticut

The notices you will receive in Connecticut, in order

1. 60-day notice by registered or certified mail

   Mailed by the lender before it can start a foreclosure

   This notice tells you that you are behind. It gives you 60 days to meet or talk with the lender or a consumer credit counseling agency, and to contact the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority about emergency mortgage assistance. Use those 60 days. Call the lender and a housing counselor right away.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-265ee(a)

2. Writ, summons and complaint

   Served by a state marshal at least 12 days before the return date

   This starts the lawsuit. If you live in a 1 to 4 unit home, a mediation notice, a Foreclosure Mediation Certificate and a blank Appearance form must be attached. Find the return date on the summons. You do not go to court that day, but your deadlines count from it.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-31l(a), 52-46, 52-48

3. Notice of foreclosure mediation from the court

   Sent by the court within 3 business days after the lender returns the papers to court

   This notice tells you to file your Appearance (JD-CL-12) and Foreclosure Mediation Certificate (JD-CV-108) within 15 days after the return date. It also tells you to start gathering pay stubs, bank statements and other financial papers.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l(b), (c)

4. Notice of assignment to mediation and the lender's document package

   Package due from the lender by day 35 after the return date

   Once your forms are accepted, the court assigns your case to mediation. By day 35 the lender must send you a 12-month account history, an itemized reinstatement amount, a copy of the note and mortgage, and the forms it needs. The court then sets a meeting with a mediator, aiming for day 49 after the return date.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l(d)

5. Motion for default and motion for judgment

   Filed by the lender after mediation ends or 8 months pass

   If there is no agreement, the lender can file both at once. With the motion for judgment it must serve you its appraisal report, and at least 5 days before the hearing it must file a preliminary statement of what it claims you owe. Read these papers and check the numbers.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l(g); Conn. Practice Book §§ 23-16, 23-18

6. Judgment with a law day or a sale date

   Entered by the judge at the hearing on the motion for judgment

   In a strict foreclosure the judge sets law days. If you do not pay the full debt by your law day, title passes to the lender. In a foreclosure by sale the judge appoints a committee, an appraiser and a sale date. The court must later approve the sale.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-24, 49-25; Conn. Practice Book § 23-17

7. Execution of ejectment

   Issued after title passes, served by a state marshal

   This court order lets a marshal remove people from the home. The removal cannot happen until at least 5 business days after the execution is served. Before that, the marshal must try to tell you the date and time, and how to get back any belongings that are taken to storage.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-22

The legal steps in Connecticut

1. Missed payments and the 60-day notice

   Under federal rules your servicer generally cannot start a foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. For most home loans, Connecticut also makes the lender mail you a notice by registered or certified mail before it can file. The notice gives you 60 days to meet or talk with the lender or a credit counseling agency and to contact the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority about emergency mortgage assistance.

   12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-265ee

2. A marshal serves the lawsuit

   The case starts when a marshal serves you a summons and complaint. For an owner-occupied home with 1 to 4 units, a notice about the court mediation program, a Foreclosure Mediation Certificate form and a blank Appearance form must be attached to the front. Find the return date on the summons. You do not go to court that day, but your deadlines are counted from it.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l(a)

3. File your Appearance and ask for mediation

   File the Appearance (form JD-CL-12) and the Foreclosure Mediation Certificate (form JD-CV-108) with the court within 15 days after the return date. If the court gets them later than that, you need a judge's permission to get into mediation. Filing an Appearance also means you get notice of everything that happens in your case.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-31l(c), (d)

4. Mediation with a court mediator

   You first meet with a Judicial Branch mediator to get your financial papers in order, then with the lender. The mediation period ends no later than the third session with the lender or 7 months after the return date, whichever comes first, unless a judge changes it. While mediation is open, the judge cannot enter a judgment of strict foreclosure or foreclosure by sale.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-31l(f), 49-31n(a)

5. Judgment: strict foreclosure or foreclosure by sale

   If there is no agreement, the lender asks for judgment. The judge orders either a strict foreclosure with a law day or a foreclosure by sale with a sale date. Any party can ask in a written motion for a sale instead of a strict foreclosure, and the judge decides. You can ask the judge for more time when the date is set.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-15, 49-24, 49-25

6. Law day or auction

   In a strict foreclosure you can keep the home only by paying the full debt, with costs and fees, by your law day. If you do not, the lender owns the home the next day. In a foreclosure by sale, the home is auctioned on the sale date and the court must approve the sale.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-15, 49-25, 49-26

7. After title passes: ejectment and any deficiency

   If you are still in the home, the new owner can ask the court for an execution of ejectment. In a strict foreclosure it is on hold until the day after the last law day, and after a sale it can issue only once the appeal period for the sale approval has passed. A marshal cannot remove you until at least 5 business days after serving it. The lender may also ask the court for a deficiency judgment if the home was worth or sold for less than the debt.

   Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 49-14, 49-22, 49-26, 49-28; Conn. Practice Book § 23-17(b)

Common questions in Connecticut