Facing Foreclosure in Texas

Texas moves fast

Most Texas mortgages are foreclosed non-judicially, meaning no lawsuit is required. Chapter 51 of the Texas Property Code governs the process, including the notice a lender must give before a sale, and foreclosure sales are held on the first Tuesday of the month. Compared with states that require a court process, the timeline from default to sale can be short.

We're describing the general framework, not your specific case. The notices, cure periods and deadlines that apply to you depend on your loan documents and your circumstances. Read the statute, and talk to a housing counselor or an attorney about your situation.

The options people usually have

• Reinstate. Pay what's past due plus fees and the loan returns to current. Simple if you have or can get the money.
• Loan modification or forbearance. Your servicer changes the terms or pauses payments. This takes time to process, which is why calling early matters.
• Repayment plan. The arrears get spread across future payments.
• Sell before the sale date. If there's equity, selling — whether on the market or to a buyer like us — pays off the loan and you keep what's left instead of losing it in the foreclosure.
• Short sale. If you owe more than the house is worth, the lender may approve a sale for less than the balance. Slow, and the lender has to agree.
• Deed in lieu. You hand the property back. Usually a last resort.
• Bankruptcy. Filing can halt a sale, with significant consequences. This is a question for a bankruptcy attorney, not for us.

Start here, before you call anybody selling something

Talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor. It's free, they don't earn a commission on your decision, and they'll walk through every option including ones that don't involve selling. We recommend this to people who call us, before they've decided anything.

Where we fit

If selling turns out to be the right answer and you'd rather not put a distressed house on the market with a deadline hanging over you, that's the situation we're built for. We can give you a number quickly so you know whether a sale actually solves the problem. If it doesn't — if you're too far underwater for our offer to clear the loan — we'll tell you that instead of stringing you along.

What we will never do: ask you for money up front, ask you to sign the deed over outside of a title company closing, or tell you to stop talking to your servicer.