- Who sends it
- The trustee, who records it with the county auditor, mails it to you, and posts it on the home or serves the people living there
- What it starts
- At least 120 days to the sale (90 if no pre-foreclosure letter was required) and the 90-day mediation cutoff
- Do this first
- Find the sale date, count back 90 days and 11 days, and call a counselor today
What this document is in Washington
RCW 61.24.040 sets the form. The first page names the grantor, the current beneficiary, trustee and servicer, the deed of trust reference number and the parcel number. Part I gives the sale date, time and place. Part III lists the defaults. Part V gives the date 11 days before the sale by which you must cure. Part VI says when and how the notice of default was sent to you.
If you got the Notice of Pre-Foreclosure Options, the notice adds a box that begins "THIS NOTICE IS THE FINAL STEP BEFORE THE FORECLOSURE SALE OF YOUR HOME" with the mediation deadline and phone numbers for help (RCW 61.24.040(3)).
The copy mailed to you must include a separate statement called NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE. It itemizes missed payments, late charges and estimated fees, names the last day to reinstate, and says the trustee will answer a written request for payoff or reinstatement figures within 10 days (RCW 61.24.040(4)). A copy of your deed of trust and loan documents must be enclosed.
What it does and does not mean
- It does not mean the home is sold or that you must leave now. You can stay until after the sale, and the buyer is not entitled to possession until the 20th day after it.
- Sales are held on a Friday, or the next Monday if that Friday is a legal holiday, at a public place in your county (RCW 61.24.040(9)).
- The trustee may continue the sale for periods totaling no more than 120 days, announcing it at the sale and mailing you the new date (RCW 61.24.040(10)).
- Part IX warns that failing to sue to restrain the sale may waive some objections. For an owner-occupied home, claims for fraud, Consumer Protection Act violations or the trustee's failure to follow the law are not waived, but must be brought within two years and can only bring money, not the home (RCW 61.24.127).
The deadlines it starts and how to count them
- Sale date: at least 120 days after the notice is recorded if the pre-foreclosure letter was required, or 90 days otherwise, and never less than 190 days after the default (RCW 61.24.040(1), (12)). Count calendar days from the recording date.
- Mediation cutoff: a counselor or attorney must refer you no later than 90 calendar days before the sale date. Count back 90 days from the sale date printed on the notice (RCW 61.24.163(2)).
- Cure date: you can reinstate at any time before the 11th day before the sale. The Notice of Foreclosure prints the exact date. If the sale is continued, the cutoff moves to 11 days before the actual sale (RCW 61.24.090(1)).
- After the cure date: you can still stop the sale until it is held by paying the whole loan balance, interest, costs and advances.
- Court: to ask a court to restrain the sale, you must give the trustee at least 5 days' notice (RCW 61.24.130). The trustee's name, address and phone for service are printed in the Notice of Foreclosure.
- Newspaper: the notice is published twice, once 35 to 28 days before the sale and once 14 to 7 days before (RCW 61.24.040(5)).
See a Washington sale date is set for a day-by-day plan.
What to do this week
- Write the sale date, the 90-day mediation cutoff and the 11-day cure date on a calendar.
- If you are more than 90 days from the sale and have not been referred to mediation, call 1-877-894-4663 today.
- Send the trustee a written request for the current reinstatement and payoff amounts. The trustee must answer within 10 days.
- Payment to cure must be in cash, certified or cashier's check, money order or verified electronic transfer (RCW 61.24.090(7)).
- Ask your servicer, in writing, about a modification or other option, and ask it to have the trustee continue the sale while it reviews you.
- Call civil legal aid at 1-800-606-4819 if you think the default is wrong or a rule was broken. See how to stop foreclosure in Washington.
Help and scam warnings
Once this notice is recorded and published, expect letters and visits from people offering to save your home. The Notice of Foreclosure tells you to contact the Department of Financial Institutions or the statewide civil legal aid hotline for possible help or referrals.
- Never sign over your deed to someone who promises you can rent the home and buy it back. Washington regulates these deals as distressed property conveyances (chapter 61.34 RCW).
- Free counseling is available through 1-877-894-4663. The Washington foreclosure help page lists more.
The rest of the Washington process
See how foreclosure works in Washington, the timeline, ways to stop it and free help in Washington, or read the national guide to this letter.
Common questions
What is the Notice of Foreclosure that came with my Washington Notice of Trustee's Sale?
It is a statement the trustee must mail to you with the notice of sale (RCW 61.24.040(4)). It lists what you owe to reinstate, the last day to reinstate (11 days before the sale), how to request payoff figures, and how to contest the default in superior court.
Can I still get mediation after a Washington Notice of Trustee's Sale?
Yes, if a counselor or attorney refers you no later than 90 calendar days before the sale date in the notice (RCW 61.24.163(2)). If you are referred after the notice was recorded, the sale cannot happen until the trustee gets the mediator's certification.
My Washington sale was postponed. Do my deadlines change?
The cure date moves to the 11th day before the actual sale date (RCW 61.24.090(1)). The mediation cutoff is tied to the sale date in the notice of sale, unless an amended notice is recorded after a court stay, which allows referral up to 25 days before the new date.
What does Part X, Notice to Occupants or Tenants, mean for me?
It says the buyer is entitled to possession on the 20th day after the sale and can then use a court eviction case against the owner and occupants who are not tenants (RCW 61.24.040(13)). Tenants get separate notice rules.
Other Washington letters
- Notice of Pre-Foreclosure OptionsIn Washington, your lender must send this letter before it can issue a notice of default. If you respond within 30 days, you get 60 more days and a meeting with someone who can approve a workout. It is not a foreclosure yet, and it is your earliest chance to slow the process down.
- Notice of DefaultIn Washington, the notice of default is the formal first step of a trustee foreclosure. It lists what you owe to catch up and warns that a notice of sale can follow in as little as 30 days. It also opens your window to be referred to state foreclosure mediation.
- Notice that you have been referred to mediationAfter a housing counselor or attorney refers you, the Washington Department of Commerce sends everyone a notice that you have been referred to foreclosure mediation and picks a mediator. The notice starts your 23 days to send your financial papers. While mediation runs, the trustee must wait for the mediator's certification.
- Unlawful detainer (eviction) summons after a trustee's saleIn Washington, the buyer at a trustee's sale is entitled to possession on the 20th day after the sale. If you are still in the home, the buyer must file an unlawful detainer case. The summons gives a return date 7 to 30 days after you are served, and only a court order can remove you.
- Trustee's notice of surplusIf your home sold for more than the loan and sale costs, Washington law makes the trustee deposit the extra with the superior court clerk and mail you notice. The court, not the trustee, pays it out. You file a motion in that court, and junior liens are paid in priority order.
Sources
- RCW 61.24.040 (notice of trustee's sale and Notice of Foreclosure forms)
- RCW 61.24.090 (curing defaults before sale)
- RCW 61.24.163 (mediation referral deadline)
- RCW 61.24.127 (claims not waived; two-year limit)
- RCW 61.24.130 (restraining a trustee's sale; 5 days' notice)
- Washington Department of Commerce: Foreclosure Fairness Program