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Kansas · What this letter means

Kansas foreclosure letters and notices

The papers Kansas homeowners receive, in the order they usually arrive. Each page uses the name on the Kansas document, explains the deadline it starts under Kansas law, and lists what to do this week.

  1. Step 1

    Notice of right to cure default

    Kansas requires a written notice of your right to cure only for certain loans: a second or other subordinate mortgage, or a loan made for more than 100% of the home's value that is not federally backed. If you get one, you have 20 days to pay the missed payments and late fees, and the loan goes back to normal.

    What it means
  2. Step 2

    Summons and petition (foreclosure lawsuit)

    In Kansas, a lender can only foreclose on your home by suing you in district court. The case starts when you are served with a summons and a copy of the petition. You have 21 days after service to serve a written answer, or the lender can ask for a default judgment.

    What it means
  3. Step 3

    Journal entry of judgment and decree of foreclosure

    In Kansas, a judgment is not effective until the judge signs a journal entry or judgment form and it is filed with the clerk. In a foreclosure, it sets the amount owed, orders the home sold by the sheriff, and sets your redemption period after the sale. That period decides how long you can stay.

    What it means
  4. Step 4

    Notice of sheriff's sale

    The notice of sheriff's sale gives the time and place of the auction of your home under the court's order of sale. Kansas law requires it to be published in a newspaper once a week for 3 weeks in a row. After the sale, the judge must still confirm it, and you usually keep a right to redeem.

    What it means
  5. Step 5

    Sheriff's return of sale and order confirming sale

    After the auction, the sheriff reports the sale to the court in a return of sale. The judge then decides whether to confirm it. Before confirmation, you can ask the judge to refuse a very low bid or to credit the fair value of your home against what you owe.

    What it means
  6. Step 6

    Certificate of purchase

    In Kansas, when a home sold at a sheriff's sale is subject to redemption, the buyer gets a certificate of purchase. It says the buyer will get a deed unless the home is redeemed. Until then you are entitled to live in the home and can buy it back through the clerk of the district court.

    What it means

Got a letter not listed here? See every foreclosure letter explained, or how foreclosure works in Kansas.