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

If a trustee's sale is set on your Tennessee home, you still have options until the auction, but very few after it. Start by confirming the date, because Tennessee sales are often postponed and the new date may only be announced online or at the sale. Then work down this list with your servicer, the trustee, a counselor or a lawyer. Do not wait for the last day.

Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

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

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Options still open before a sale in Tennessee

  • Confirm whether the sale is still on

    Now, and again the day before the sale

    Your notice must name the website of the internet posting company that posts the sale, and postponements are posted there and announced at the sale. Check that site and call the trustee named on your notice. The Secretary of State must keep a list of approved posting company websites.

    Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 35-5-104(a)(7), 35-5-101(e)(2), (f)(2)

  • Get a complete application to your servicer and ask for a postponement

    More than 37 days before the sale for federal review protection; any time before the sale to ask

    Send everything the servicer asks for and keep proof. Tennessee lets a sale be postponed for up to a year without new newspaper ads, so ask the servicer to tell the trustee to postpone while you are reviewed, and get it in writing.

    Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101(e)

  • Reinstate or pay off through the trustee

    By your deed's deadline, often 5 days before the sale

    Ask both the trustee and the servicer for a written reinstatement and payoff figure and exact payment instructions. In one Tennessee case, money wired to the servicer the evening before the sale did not stop it.

    JCR, LLC v. Hance (Tenn. Ct. App. 2023)

  • Ask a judge to stop the sale

    Before the sale

    If the default is wrong or the notices were not given as required, a lawyer can file suit and ask for a temporary injunction. The court will require a bond unless you file on a pauper's oath.

    Tenn. R. Civ. P. 65.05

  • Bankruptcy stay

    Before the trustee's sale

    A bankruptcy filing stops the sale automatically. It has serious costs and effects, so talk to legal aid or a licensed bankruptcy attorney before filing.

    11 U.S.C. § 362(a)

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 Tennessee.

Common questions in Tennessee

Will I be told if my Tennessee foreclosure sale is postponed?

Not always by mail. Each postponement must be announced at the scheduled sale and posted with the internet posting company, except a delay of less than 5 days, which needs no online posting. You get a mailed notice only when the sale is put off more than 30 days, at least 10 calendar days before the new date (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101(e)).

Can a Tennessee foreclosure sale be held online?

Yes. Tennessee's foreclosure notice law defines the sale location as either the physical place where the sale is held or the website of an internet bidding platform if the sale is online (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101(g)). Your notice tells you which one applies to your home.

What is the deadline to reinstate a Tennessee deed of trust before the sale?

It depends on your deed of trust, since no Tennessee statute sets one. A common form of deed lets you reinstate until 5 days before the sale (JCR, LLC v. Hance, Tenn. Ct. App. 2023). Find the reinstatement section in your deed, and pay early so the money clears in time.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Tennessee

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.

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Sources for this page

  1. JCR, LLC v. Hance, No. E2022-00765-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 28, 2023)
  2. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 65.05, Injunction bond
  3. Help4TN: Homeowner, Mortgage Default and Foreclosure
  4. Tennessee Public Chapter 515 (2025), rewriting Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101 (including (g), sale location), effective July 1, 2025
  5. Tennessee Public Chapter 1001 (2010), deficiency judgments (codified at § 35-5-118)
  6. Tennessee Public Chapter 834 (2010), notice of the right to foreclose (former § 35-5-117)
  7. Tennessee Public Chapter 122 (2011), repealing § 35-5-117 effective January 1, 2013
  8. THDA: Homeowner's Assistance Fund
  9. THDA: Foreclosure Prevention
  10. JCR, LLC v. Hance, No. E2022-00765-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 28, 2023)