West Virginia foreclosure help
How to avoid foreclosure in West Virginia
Most West Virginia home loans use a deed of trust, and foreclosure happens without a court case. When the lender asks, the trustee publishes a notice of sale in a local newspaper, mails you a copy by certified mail and sells the home at a public auction. A court gets involved only if someone sues to challenge the sale or, afterward, to evict.
Reviewed against West Virginia law and official sources on October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
- West Virginia at a glance
- Type of foreclosure
- Nonjudicial (no court case)
- Catch up to stop the sale
- Limited
- Buy back after the sale
- No
- Owe money after the sale
- Possible
- Foreclosure mediation
- No statewide program
How foreclosure works in West Virginia, step by step
How long it takes: At a minimum, about five months from your first missed payment: federal rules generally block foreclosure for the first 120 days, a right-to-cure notice gives you at least 10 days, and the sale notice must then be published once a week for two weeks. This is the legal minimum, not a prediction. West Virginia's process is one of the fastest, so act early.
Missed payments
Federal rules generally stop your servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. Use this time to contact your servicer, a housing counselor and legal aid.
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f)
Notice of right to cure
For a consumer loan, the lender must send a written notice of your right to cure. It must state the amount needed and the date to pay. The lender cannot accelerate the loan or move against the property until 10 days after giving that notice. A copy must also go to any co-signer. You lose this right if you have been in default and given notice 3 or more times on the same loan.
W. Va. Code § 46A-2-106
Notice of trustee's sale
The trustee publishes a notice of sale in a newspaper in the county once a week for two weeks in a row. A copy must be sent to you by certified mail at the address in your deed of trust or a newer address you gave the lender in writing. Notice counts as given when mailed, even if you do not pick it up.
W. Va. Code §§ 38-1-4, 59-3-2
Trustee's sale
The trustee sells the home at public auction at the time and place stated in the notice.
W. Va. Code § 38-1-3
After the sale
The trustee pays the sale costs and the debt and must pay any surplus to you, and must file an account of the sale with the county clerk within 2 months. State trustee sale law does not provide a right to buy the home back. If you stay, the buyer can file an unlawful detainer in circuit court. A suit to challenge the sale for a notice or procedure problem must be filed within one year.
W. Va. Code §§ 38-1-4a, 38-1-7, 38-1-8, 55-3-1
West Virginia foreclosure deadlines to know
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Time to cure after the right-to-cure noticeW. Va. Code § 46A-2-106 | At least 10 days after notice is given |
| Newspaper notice of saleW. Va. Code §§ 38-1-4, 59-3-2 | Once a week for 2 successive weeks |
| Deadline to sue over a notice or procedure defectW. Va. Code § 38-1-4a | 1 year from the sale date |
| Mailed notice to junior lienholders who asked for itW. Va. Code § 38-1-4 | At least 20 days before the sale |
| Trustee's account of sale filed with the county clerkW. Va. Code §§ 38-1-8, 38-1-8a | Within 2 months after the sale |
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 West Virginia
Can I stop a foreclosure in West Virginia by catching up on what I owe?
Limited rightFor a consumer loan you have a right to cure the default by paying the unpaid sums due, without the loan being accelerated, until the cure period in the notice ends. That period is at least 10 days after the notice is given. You lose this right if you have been in default and given notice 3 or more times on the same obligation. After that, any right to catch up and stop the sale depends on your deed of trust and your servicer.
W. Va. Code § 46A-2-106
Can I get my home back after a foreclosure sale in West Virginia?
No redemption after saleWest Virginia's trustee sale statutes do not provide a right to buy the home back after the sale. Act before the sale date.
Can the lender come after me for the remaining balance in West Virginia?
Deficiency judgments allowedThe lender can sue you for the shortfall if the sale brings less than you owe. In that lawsuit you cannot defend by arguing that the home sold for less than its fair market value, as long as the sale followed the trustee sale law.
W. Va. Code § 38-1-7(b)
Is there foreclosure mediation in West Virginia?
No statewide programWest Virginia has no statewide foreclosure mediation program that we could find. Because most foreclosures do not go through a court, there is no settlement conference. Legal Aid of West Virginia can tell you whether you have defenses worth raising in court.
Other West Virginia protections
Written right-to-cure notice
On a consumer loan, the lender must send a written notice stating the amount needed to cure and the deadline, and must wait 10 days after giving it before accelerating the loan or taking the collateral. A copy must also be sent to any co-signer, and a waiver buried in the loan agreement does not count.
W. Va. Code § 46A-2-106
Published and mailed notice cannot be waived
A deed of trust cannot waive the newspaper notice, and a copy of the notice must be sent to you by certified mail in every case. The notice must state the time, place and terms of sale.
W. Va. Code § 38-1-4
One year to challenge a defective sale
If the required notice was given, a lawsuit to set aside the sale for a notice or procedure failure must be filed within one year of the sale.
W. Va. Code § 38-1-4a
Notice to tenants after a trustee's sale
If you rent a home sold at a trustee's sale, the buyer can end an unexpired written lease with 90 days' written notice, or 30 days before the lease ends if that is sooner. A month-to-month tenancy can be ended with 30 days' written notice.
W. Va. Code § 38-1-16
West Virginia mortgage assistance programs
West Virginia Homeowners Rescue Program
Closed to new applicationsThe West Virginia Housing Development Fund announced that the West Virginia Homeowners Rescue Program is closed to new applications. Reports of that announcement give the portal closing date as May 8, 2024. We did not find another statewide mortgage payment program that is open. The Fund has a help page for homeowners whose loans it holds.
If the home is sold for more than you owe
The trustee must apply the sale money first to the costs of the sale, including the trustee's commission, then to the debts the deed of trust secures. Any surplus must be paid to you as the grantor, or to your heirs or assigns. If the home sold for more than you owed, write to the trustee named in the notice of sale and ask for an accounting. The trustee must file an inventory and account of the sale with the county clerk where the deed of trust was first recorded within 2 months of the sale, so you can also ask the clerk for it.
W. Va. Code §§ 38-1-7(a), 38-1-8
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 West Virginia as anywhere else. What changes by state is how much time you have to use them.
Step by step
West Virginia foreclosure guides, step by step
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.
Free, official, nationwide
Free help anywhere in the country
HUD-approved housing counselors
Free foreclosure prevention counseling from agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A counselor can review your budget and deal with your servicer alongside you.
(800) 569-4287CFPB: help for struggling homeowners
Plain-language guides from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a complaint form if your mortgage servicer is not following the rules.
Legal Services Corporation: find legal aid
Find the free civil legal aid office for your county if you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit or given a sale date and cannot afford a lawyer.
Ask a question
Need help avoiding foreclosure in West Virginia?
Tell us where things stand. A person reads every message and writes back with the options that fit your situation and the free, official help available in West Virginia.
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If a sale is days away, do not wait for an email. Call a free HUD-approved housing counselor now at (800) 569-4287.
Sources for this page
Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Laws and programs change. If you find something out of date, tell us.
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-3 (sales under trust deeds)
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-4 (notice of sale)
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-4a (statute of limitations for sales by trustees)
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-7 (application of proceeds; action to recover a deficiency)
- W. Va. Code § 46A-2-106 (notice of consumer's right to cure default)
- W. Va. Code § 59-3-2 (legal advertisements; frequency of publication)
- WVHDF news release: WV Homeowners Rescue Program closed to new applications
- Legal Aid of West Virginia: Foreclosure podcast
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-8 (return of account of sale)
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-8a (trustee's report of sale disclosure form)
- W. Va. Code § 38-1-16 (sale under deed of trust; preexisting tenancy)
- W. Va. Code § 46A-1-102 (definitions; consumer loan)
- W. Va. Code § 55-3-1 (unlawful entry and detainer)
- W. Va. Code § 55-3-3 (return day and service of summons)