How to avoid foreclosure in Utah

How foreclosure works in Utah, step by step

1. Missed payments

   Federal rules generally stop your servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. Contact your servicer early and ask what relief it offers.

   12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f)

2. Written notice before the notice of default

   Before a notice of default is recorded on a home you live in, the servicer must name a single point of contact and send you a written notice. The notice must list the amount needed to cure and give you at least 30 days to pay it.

   Utah Code § 57-1-24.3(2)

3. Notice of default is recorded

   The trustee records a notice of default with the county recorder. The trustee must then wait at least three months before giving notice of a sale. During these three months you can cure the default or apply to the single point of contact for foreclosure relief.

   Utah Code §§ 57-1-24, 57-1-24.3(3)

4. Notice of trustee's sale

   The notice of sale is published in a newspaper once a week for three weeks, posted on the public legal notice website for 30 days before the sale, and posted on the property and at the county recorder's office at least 20 days before the sale. The Utah courts say a copy must also be mailed to you at least 20 days before the sale.

   Utah Code §§ 57-1-25, 57-1-26, 45-1-101

5. Trustee's sale

   The home is sold at public auction to the highest bidder at the time and place in the notice. The lender or servicer can postpone the sale to allow more time to work out relief.

   Utah Code §§ 57-1-24.3(8), 57-1-25, 57-1-27

6. After the sale

   If you stay after being served with a notice to quit by the buyer, you can be sued for unlawful detainer, and the buyer must go through the court to remove you. The lender has three months after the sale to sue for any shortfall.

   Utah Code §§ 78B-6-802.5, 57-1-32

Utah foreclosure deadlines to know

These are the periods written into the law. Your own dates are on the notices you received. If a notice and this page disagree, trust the notice and ask a counselor or lawyer.

Your rights as a homeowner in Utah

Other Utah protections

• Pre-default notice and single point of contact

  Before recording a notice of default on an owner-occupied home, the servicer must send a written notice with the itemized cure amount, at least 30 days to pay, and the name, phone, email and address of a single point of contact.

  Utah Code § 57-1-24.3(2)

• No notice of sale while your relief application is undecided

  If you applied for foreclosure relief, the notice of trustee's sale cannot be given until the single point of contact sends you a written decision. The law does not require the servicer to offer or approve relief.

  Utah Code § 57-1-24.3(5), (6), (10)

• Three-month reinstatement right

  For three months after the notice of default is recorded, you can cure by paying only the past-due amount and actual costs, not the full loan.

  Utah Code § 57-1-31

• Fair market value limit on deficiency

  A deficiency judgment is capped using the home's fair market value at the sale date, not the auction price.

  Utah Code § 57-1-32

Utah mortgage assistance programs

If the home is sold for more than you owe

After paying sale costs and the foreclosed loan, the trustee must pay any balance to the people legally entitled to it, or may deposit it with the clerk of the district court in the county where the sale took place. The clerk must notify the claimants the trustee listed within 15 days. You can then file a petition asking the court to decide who gets the money. The Utah courts website has the petition form.

Utah Code § 57-1-29

Ways to avoid foreclosure

Most of your options come from federal rules and from whoever owns or insures your loan, so they work the same way in Utah as anywhere else. What changes by state is how much time you have to use them.

• Repayment plan
• Forbearance
• Payment deferral or partial claim
• Loan modification
• Reinstatement
• Short sale
• Deed in lieu of foreclosure
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy