Source: http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/foreclosure/laws-in-washington.html
Timestamp: 2017-10-22 02:47:04
Document Index: 783918821

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 38', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61', '§ 61']

Washington Home Foreclosure Laws - AllLaw.com
Learn about Washington foreclosure laws, procedures, and protections during the process.
If you are a struggling homeowner facing a foreclosure in the state of Washington, you should get acquainted with the state’s foreclosure laws. For example, you should know that Washington law gives most homeowners the right to request a pre-foreclosure meeting with the lender to discuss options to avoid foreclosure. Also, once the foreclosure has started, a homeowner gets the right to cure the default (and reinstate the mortgage) for a certain amount of time before the sale. These are just a few of the key features of Washington’s foreclosure laws.
Below you’ll find a summary of some of the main aspects of Washington foreclosure law along with citations to the statutes so you can review the law yourself.
How to Locate Washington’s Foreclosure Laws
The citations to Washington’s foreclosure statutes are:
Washington Revised Code Sections 61.24.020 through 61.24.140 (nonjudicial foreclosures), and
Washington Revised Code Sections 61.12.040 to 61.12.170 (judicial foreclosures).
You can find the Revised Code of Washington on the Washington state legislature’s website at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw. If you need help finding the statutes, see Finding Your State’s Foreclosure Laws.
Key Aspects of Washington’s Foreclosure Laws
We’ve summarized important parts of Washington’s foreclosure laws below. You can find more detailed articles on various features of Washington foreclosure law in Nolo’s Washington Foreclosure Law Center.
Most Common Type of Foreclosure Procedure in Washington
Most Washington foreclosures are nonjudicial, which means the foreclosure takes place without court supervision. Judicial foreclosures, on the other hand, go through the court system. (Learn more about nonjudicial and judicial foreclosures.) Since the majority of foreclosures in Washington are nonjudicial, this article focuses on that process.
In Washington, a foreclosing lender must give one pre-foreclosure notice and two foreclosure notices to the defaulting borrower.
Notice of pre-foreclosure options. Before starting the foreclosure, the lender must contact the borrower to inform him or her about the opportunity to meet with the lender to try to work out an alternative to the foreclosure. Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.031.
Notice of default. To begin the foreclosure, the lender or trustee (the third party that handles nonjudicial foreclosures) mails a notice of default to the borrower, as well as posts the notice in a conspicuous place on the property (or personally serves the notice of default on the borrower), 30 days before recording or serving a notice of sale. Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.030.
Notice of sale. At least 120 days (or in some cases 90 days) before the sale, the trustee will:
record a notice of sale the county recorder's office
post the notice in a conspicuous place on the property (or serve the notice on any occupant of the property). Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.040.
The notice of sale must also be published in a newspaper. Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.040.
Washington law provides protections similar to the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to any resident of Washington state who is a member of the national guard or a member of a military reserve component. Wash. Rev. Code §§ 38.42.010 to 38.42.904. (Learn more about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.)
Reinstating the Loan Before the Foreclosure Sale in Washington
“Reinstating” is when you catch up on the defaulted mortgage's missed payments (principal and interest) plus costs and fees in order to stop a foreclosure. (Learn more about reinstatement to avoid foreclosure.)
In Washington, you can reinstate the loan at any time prior to the 11th day before the sale. Wash. Rev. Code §§ 61.24.040, 61.24.090.
Right of Redemption After Foreclosure in Washington
In some states, you can redeem (repurchase) your home within a certain period of time after the foreclosure. In Washington, you can't redeem the home after a nonjuducial foreclosure. Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.050. (To get details on redemption after a foreclosure in Washington, see Nolo’s article If I lose my home to foreclosure in Washington, can I get it back?)
Washington’s Anti-Deficiency Law
Deficiency judgments are not allowed following nonjudicial foreclosures in Washington. Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.100. (For a summary of the deficiency law in Washington, see Washington Laws on Post-Foreclosure Deficiency.)
In Washington, the purchaser is entitled to possession of the home on the 20th day after the foreclosure sale. If the foreclosed homeowners don't leave, the purchaser may file a lawsuit to evict them from the home. (The purchaser shall have a right to summary proceedings to obtain possession.) Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.060.