What is the modern definition of the word “foreclosure,” and legally what does it mean?
A foreclosure is a legal procedure that a lender initiates to reclaim ownership and possession of a property after a borrower fails to repay the loan in accordance with the contractual terms. Each state in the United States has its own legal procedures for taking foreclosure action. Background Mortgages and Deeds of Trust The foreclosure process — from its initiation to its completion — is determined by whether the instrument that created the borrower’s obligation to repay the loan was a mortgage or a deed of trust. Mortgages and deeds of trust are the legal instruments that create a lien against the borrower’s property. Nationwide, the states are about equally divided in their use of mortgages and deeds of trust, and a few state even use both. While both deeds and mortgages serve the same purpose, the major difference is found in the length of time it takes a lender to foreclose on a delinquent loan — approximately 12-18 months for a mortgage foreclosure compared to 4-5 months for a t
