Your timeline
Map your key dates from the letter you received.
Learn how Georgia foreclosure works.
How a Georgia foreclosure unfolds
What the video says
01 · More than 120 days behind
Payments fall behind
It starts with missed payments. Federal rules generally stop your servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind.
12 CFR § 1024.41(f)(1)02 · At least 30 days before the sale
The notice of sale is mailed
Your lender must mail you a written notice of the sale at least 30 days before it. The notice counts once it is mailed, even if you never receive it.
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.203 · The four weeks before the sale
The sale is advertised
The sale runs in your county's legal newspaper once a week for the four weeks before it. The ads are public, and investors read them.
O.C.G.A. §§ 9-13-140, 9-13-14104 · 5 days before the sale
The reinstatement window closes
Standard Georgia security deeds let you catch up, paying everything past due plus fees, until 5 days before the sale. After that, that right usually ends.
Standard Georgia security deed (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 3011), § 2005 · The first Tuesday of the month
Sale day
The home is auctioned at the county courthouse between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The winning bidder is often the lender.
O.C.G.A. §§ 44-14-162, 9-13-16106 · After the sale
The new owner must go to court
Georgia has no general right to buy the home back. To make you leave, the new owner must file a dispossessory case, and you generally have 7 days to answer.
O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-50, 44-7-51
Key terms
The words in your letters and in the legal ads, and what they mean for you.
Security deed
The document you signed at closing that pledges your home for the loan. Its "power of sale" lets the lender sell the home at auction without going to court, as long as it follows Georgia's notice and advertising rules.
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162Servicer
The company that collects your payments and handles your loan day to day. It may not be the company that owns the loan.
12 CFR § 1024.2(b)Notice of sale
The letter that starts the countdown. It must be mailed at least 30 days before the sale and name who has full authority to change your loan.
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162.2Legal organ
Your county's official newspaper for legal notices. The sale must be advertised there once a week for the four weeks before it.
O.C.G.A. §§ 9-13-140, 9-13-141Reinstatement
Catching up by paying everything past due, plus fees and costs. Standard Georgia security deeds allow it until 5 days before the sale.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 3011, § 20Loss mitigation
Your servicer's options for avoiding foreclosure, such as a repayment plan, forbearance, a loan modification, a short sale or a deed in lieu. You ask for them with a loss-mitigation application.
12 CFR § 1024.41Deficiency
What is still owed if the home sells for less than the loan. In Georgia, the lender can pursue it only if a court confirms the sale.
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-161Surplus funds
Money left after the sale costs, the loan and other liens are paid. It goes to whoever is legally entitled to it, often the former owner.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 3011, § 26(d)Dispossessory
The court case a new owner must file to make you leave after the sale. You generally have 7 days to answer once you are served.
O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-50, 44-7-51
Your rights with your servicer
Federal rules set deadlines your servicer must meet. They cover most first mortgages on the home you live in. Small servicers follow fewer of them.
120 days before foreclosure can start
A servicer generally can't send the first foreclosure notice or filing until you are more than 120 days behind.
12 CFR § 1024.41(f)(1)Word on your application
If your application arrives 45 or more days before a sale, the servicer must tell you within 5 business days whether it is complete and, if not, what is missing.
12 CFR § 1024.41(b)(2)A decision within 30 days
A complete application received more than 37 days before the sale must be reviewed within 30 days for every option the servicer offers.
12 CFR § 1024.41(c)(1)No sale while it decides
If a complete application arrives more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer can't hold the sale until it denies you and any appeal is over, or you turn down or fail an offer.
12 CFR § 1024.41(g)A right to appeal
If a complete application arrived 90 or more days before the sale and you are denied a loan modification, you have 14 days to appeal.
12 CFR § 1024.41(h)Written answers
Send a written notice of error or request for information. The servicer must acknowledge it within 5 business days and answer within set deadlines, usually 30 business days.
12 CFR §§ 1024.35, 1024.36
Money after the sale
What happens to what you owe, and to anything left over, once the home is sold.
If it sells for less than you owe
To sue you for the rest, the lender must ask a superior court to confirm the sale within 30 days. The court must find the home sold for its true market value, and you must get notice of the hearing.
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-161If it sells for more
Surplus funds go to whoever is legally entitled to them, often you. Ask the foreclosure law firm in writing, and be wary of "finders" who want a large cut.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 3011, § 26(d)Forgiven debt can be taxed
Debt forgiven in a short sale or deed in lieu may count as income. The federal exclusion for a main home expired for most debt forgiven after 2025. Ask a tax professional before you agree.
26 U.S.C. § 108(a)(1)(E); IRS Publication 4681Your credit
A foreclosure can stay on your credit report for up to 7 years. Catching up, a modification or selling before the sale usually does less damage.
15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)
Spotting scams
The legal ads are public, so expect letters and calls. These are the warning signs.
Fees before results
Companies that offer to save your home or change your loan generally can't charge you until you have signed a written offer from your lender.
12 CFR § 1015.5"Don't call your lender"
Federal rules bar relief companies from telling you to stop talking to your lender or servicer.
12 CFR § 1015.3Claims to be official
Relief companies can't say they are with the government or your lender when they aren't.
12 CFR § 1015.3Sign over your deed, buy it back later
A common trick: you sign the deed over to "save" the home and rent it back, then lose the house and your equity. Have an attorney or HUD-approved counselor read anything first.
Send your payments to us
Never send mortgage payments to anyone but your servicer.
Guarantees and pressure
No one can promise to stop a sale. Real help gives you time to read and get advice, so never sign anything under pressure.
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