Skip to main content
How to Avoid
Foreclosure
Get free help

Missouri · Get help now

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

If a trustee's sale is set on your Missouri home, time is very short, because the notice only has to go out 20 days ahead. First confirm the date with the trustee. Then work down this list with your servicer, the trustee and a counselor or lawyer the same day. If the lender may buy the home, do not miss the written notice of intent to redeem.

Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

Reviewed against Missouri law and official sources on October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Tell us your sale date

Free. A person replies with the options and official help that fit. Messages about a scheduled sale are answered first.

For example: a sale date, what your servicer has told you, or what changed in your income. Please do not include your loan number, Social Security number or bank details.

Free, and there is nothing to buy. A person reads your message and replies by email, or by phone if you leave a number. We never ask for a fee and we do not sell your details. See the privacy policy.

Options still open before a sale in Missouri

  • Confirm whether the sale is still on

    Now, and again the day before the sale

    Call the trustee named in your notice of sale and ask for the date, time and place. The notice is also published in the local newspaper. If the trustee continues the sale, it is announced only at the sale, so be there or have someone there at the stated time.

    RSMo §§ 443.320, 443.355

  • Send written notice of intent to redeem

    At the sale or within 10 days before the advertised sale date

    Give the trustee a signed written notice that you intend to redeem if the lender buys the home, and keep proof of delivery. This keeps open the one-year right to buy the home back, which also requires a court-approved bond within 20 days after the sale.

    RSMo §§ 443.410, 443.420

  • Ask the servicer to postpone

    Before the sale starts

    Call your servicer, explain any pending application or sale contract, and ask it to agree to postpone. Missouri law lets you and the lender agree to more than one continuance or a longer one. Get the agreement in writing and check the new date with the trustee.

    RSMo § 443.355

  • Pay what is owed

    Before the sale

    The Missouri Bar says you have until the sale date to pay the total amount owed, including attorney fees, or make arrangements with your lender. Ask the servicer or trustee for the exact figure in writing. If the debt is paid to the trustee before the sale, the trustee records a certificate that releases the deed of trust.

    RSMo § 443.400

  • Check for a notice problem

    Before the sale

    Check that the notice was mailed by certified or registered mail at least 20 days before the sale and that the sale is set in your county. If the owner died within the last 6 months, the sale cannot go ahead. Bring the notice to legal aid or a licensed attorney right away if something looks wrong.

    RSMo §§ 443.300, 443.310, 443.325

  • Bankruptcy stay

    Before the sale is held

    A bankruptcy filing stops the sale while the stay lasts, and a Chapter 13 case filed before the sale can let you cure the default over time. It has serious effects, so talk to a licensed bankruptcy attorney or legal aid first.

    11 U.S.C. §§ 362(a), 1322(c)(1)

Call today, not tomorrow

With a sale on the calendar, every option above has a cutoff. A free HUD-approved housing counselor can call your servicer with you today: (800) 569-4287. For legal aid and court help, see free foreclosure help in Missouri.

Common questions in Missouri

Where are foreclosure sales held in Missouri?

In the county where the home is located (RSMo section 443.310). The sale is at the time and place stated in the notice, and a time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. is treated as reasonable (RSMo section 443.327). If no time is stated, the sale is held at the time customary in that county.

My Missouri sale was continued at the auction. Will I get a new letter?

Not for a single continuance. RSMo section 443.355 lets the trustee continue the sale once, for up to 7 days, just by announcing the new date, time and place at the sale. If the trustee drops the sale and starts over, it must give a new notice under the 20-day rules.

What does a Missouri redemption notice need to say, and who gets it?

RSMo section 443.410 requires written notice to the person making or who is to make the sale, which is the trustee, stating your purpose to redeem if the lender buys. It must be given at the sale or within 10 days before the advertised date. Because the bond and court steps that follow are strict, ask legal aid or a lawyer to help.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Missouri

Understand the process

What is happening and how much time there is.

Weigh your options

What can stop it, and what happens if it goes ahead.

Get help now

Who to call, and what to do when a sale is scheduled.

Back to the Missouri overview

Free, official, nationwide

Free help anywhere in the country

Sources for this page

  1. RSMo § 443.350, Foreign trustee must have Missouri cotrustee
  2. RSMo § 443.380, Recitals in trustee's deed prima facie evidence
  3. RSMo § 534.090, Serving of summons
  4. RSMo § 443.290, Mortgages and security agreements with power of sale
  5. RSMo § 443.300, Death of debtor, foreclosure stayed
  6. RSMo § 443.310, Sales, where made, number of days' notice
  7. RSMo § 443.320, Notice, contents, how published
  8. RSMo § 443.325, Individual notice of foreclosure sale
  9. RSMo § 443.327, Times and places of trustee's sale
  10. RSMo § 443.355, Continuance of sale without readvertisement
  11. RSMo § 443.360, Compensation of trustees
  12. RSMo § 443.370, Penalty for overcharging
  13. RSMo § 443.400, Redemption before sale
  14. RSMo § 443.410, Foreclosures by trustee's sale, redemption
  15. RSMo § 443.420, Notice of redemption, how given
  16. RSMo § 443.430, Motion for approval of bond for redemption
  17. RSMo § 443.440, Certificate of sale, deed on failure to redeem
  18. RSMo § 443.454, Enforcement and servicing of real estate loans, local law preempted
  19. RSMo § 443.190, Petition to foreclose (judicial foreclosure)
  20. RSMo § 534.030, Unlawful detainer defined, foreclosure notice to tenants
  21. RSMo § 534.070, Complaint and summons, court date
  22. RSMo § 534.210, Merits of title cannot be inquired into
  23. RSMo § 534.330, Judgment for complainant
  24. RSMo § 534.350, Execution, when issued
  25. RSMo § 407.935, Foreclosure consultants, definitions
  26. RSMo § 407.937, Right to cancel contract
  27. RSMo § 407.938, Contract form and required notices
  28. RSMo § 407.940, Foreclosure consultants, unlawful acts
  29. RSMo § 407.943, Action against foreclosure consultant
  30. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank v. Sunrise Farms Development, LLC, No. 13-1479 (Dec. 13, 2013), describing Missouri deficiency law and First Bank v. Fischer & Frichtel
  31. Missouri Legal Services: Home Foreclosures
  32. Missouri Legal Services: Steps You Can Take to Avoid Foreclosure
  33. The Missouri Bar: Steps You Can Take to Avoid Foreclosure (brochure)
  34. Missouri Legal Services: Applying for Legal Aid
  35. SAFHR for Homeowners (Missouri HAF program)
  36. MHDC: Resources for Homeowners
  37. U.S. Department of the Treasury: Homeowner Assistance Fund
  38. Missouri Attorney General: Consumer Protection
  39. Missouri Division of Finance: Consumer Complaints
  40. The Missouri Bar: LawyerSearch
  41. Missouri Free Legal Answers
  42. Missouri Department of Revenue: Property Tax Credit