The second option of the seller is to file a lawsuit in the circuit court of the county where the property is located asking the court to eliminate the buyer's interest in the property. This is known as strict foreclosure. In a strict foreclosure action, the seller gets the property back and the buyer must pay to the seller all of the seller's attorney fees and foreclosure costs. In a strict foreclosure lawsuit, the buyer is not responsible for a deficiency other than attorney fees and foreclosure costs and has no right to buy the property back. The final foreclosure option is known as forfeiture.
Forfeiture is very similar to a foreclosure by advertisement and sale of a trust deed.
Here, the seller sends notice to the buyer and other parties having an interest in the property, explaining the amount of the debt and a forfeiture date. If the buyer does nothing, the buyer's interest in the property will be eliminated, and the buyer must immediately move out of the property. With a forfeiture, however, the buyer does have the right up until the forfeiture date to make up the back payments together with attorney fees and forfeiture costs and then stop the forfeiture. The seller will then file a notice in the county records showing that the forfeiture proceeding has ended. The final category of liens involve those that are placed against the property without the owner's consent.