Foreclosure sale date set in Illinois: what you can still do

Options still open before a sale in Illinois

• Confirm whether the sale is still on

  Now, and again the day before

  The notice of sale must list the name, address and phone number of a person to contact, the time and place, and the website if bidding is online. Call that contact, and check your case file with the circuit clerk. If a sale is put off, the new date is announced at the sale or posted on the seller's website, and a new notice is required only if the new date is 60 days or more away.

  735 ILCS 5/15-1507(c)

• File a Motion to Stay Foreclosure Sale

  After the judgment of foreclosure and before the sale

  This statewide form asks the judge to delay the sale. The court's instructions say to use it if you have a loan modification application pending, a short sale contract, or another good reason. File it with the circuit clerk, tell the clerk the sale is coming up so the motion is heard in time, and send copies to the other parties the same day. A stay delays the sale but does not undo the judgment.

  Illinois Courts approved form instructions

• Finish a loss mitigation application or ask the lender to hold the sale

  A complete application more than 37 days before the sale gets federal protection

  Call your servicer and the lender's attorney, whose name is on your court papers, and ask in writing that the sale be postponed while your application is reviewed. If the lender agrees, get it in writing and still confirm the sale was actually taken off the schedule.

  12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(g)

• Redeem or pay off the loan

  Before the redemption date stated in the judgment of foreclosure

  Until the redemption period ends you can pay the full judgment amount, including through a sale or refinance. Give the lender's attorney written notice of the date you will redeem at least 15 days ahead, not counting weekends and court holidays. Ask for a written payoff statement right away, since the lender has 10 business days to send it.

  735 ILCS 5/15-1603(e), 15-1505.5

• Ask to vacate a default judgment

  No later than the date the lender files its motion to confirm the sale

  If the judgment was entered because you never responded, file a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment of Foreclosure and explain why you missed the deadline. If you believe you were never properly served, talk to a lawyer first, because that challenge has to be raised before or together with this motion.

  Illinois Courts approved form instructions

• File bankruptcy

  Before the sale is held

  A bankruptcy petition filed before the sale puts an automatic stay on it. Get advice from a bankruptcy lawyer or legal aid first, because the lender can ask to lift the stay and repeat filings within a year get less protection.

  11 U.S.C. § 362(a), (c)

• If the sale happens, object before it is confirmed

  At or before the confirmation hearing

  Go to the hearing on the motion to confirm the sale. Tell the judge if you were not given the required notice of sale, if the terms were unconscionable, if there was fraud, or if confirming would be unjust. A homeowner living in the home does not have to post a bond to ask that a sale held without proper notice be set aside.

  735 ILCS 5/15-1508(b), (c)

Common questions in Illinois