Foreclosures in the State of Utah are either judicial or non-judicial; that is in court or out of court. The out-of-court foreclosures of mortgage are more common. The entire process of the non-judicial foreclosure would take about five months to complete.

The lender shall initiate the foreclosure proceedings once the default of payment occurs by filing a suit in court against the borrower for the amount of debt owed. The court shall examine the suit filed by the lender to verify the veracity of the default and the amount payable as loan.

If the court is convinced of the default, it may direct the borrower to repay the borrowed sum, plus any costs, within a specified time. If the borrower fails to make the payment as directed by the court within the specified time, the property is offered in a scheduled public sale.

Majority of the foreclosures in the State of Utah can be initiated by the lender without recourse to the courts, if the power-of-sale clause is included in the mortgage, which is normally done. The process of foreclosure is initiated by the lender by recording with the county recorder a notice of default and the lender shall mail the borrower a copy of the notice of default. The borrower has a period of three months, after the notice of default is recorded with the county recorder, within which the borrower can pay the amount in default, along with the costs, if any, and halt the foreclosure process.

If the borrower does not respond to the notice by payment of the default amount, the property can be scheduled for sale in a public auction.

After the elapse of the period of three months from the date of recording the notice of default, and within a period not less than 20 days before the date of the sale, the notice of sale is required to be posted in a conspicuous location on the property to be sold. The notice shall also be posted at the office of the county recorder.

Besides the posting of the notices, the lender shall publish the notice of sale in a local newspaper, once a week and for a period of three consecutive weeks. The last date of publication shall not be less than 10 days from the date of the sale, but also shall not be more than 30 days from the scheduled date of the sale.

The foreclosure sale in the State of Utah is conducted as a public auction at the courthouse of the county where the property is situated. The time of sale shall be between 8 a.m. and 5 a.m. The property shall be awarded in favor of the highest bidder. In the event of any surplus amount generated by way of sale price being higher than the debt, the extra monies shall be disbursed to any existing junior lien holders. Further surplus shall be disbursed to the borrower.

Once the sale is completed in an out-of-court foreclosure procedure, the borrower has no right of redemption.

If you need more information about Utah foreclosure laws, you should contact a foreclosure lawyer, or contact us so we can recommend one for you.