In Maine, foreclosure is a type of court case typically brought by a lending institution to offer a customer's (property owner's) home to please a financial obligation. In a foreclosure case, the property owner is the "defendant" and the lender is the "plaintiff."

A foreclosure case generally takes several months or more to complete. Simply submitting a case does not permit a lending institution to take ownership of the home or require a house owner to move out. There are often ways to settle the case before it is completed.

If you are a Maine property owner who resides in a 1-4 unit residential or commercial property that is in foreclosure, you deserve to demand mediation through the Foreclosure Diversion Program.

Foreclosure Step by Step

Step 1: Notice of Default Letter

If a house owner falls back in paying the mortgage, the lender sends a letter to the homeowner stating just how much need to be paid by a specific deadline (giving at least 35 days) in order to get back on track and avoid foreclosure. This is called a "notice of default and right to cure" letter (default letter). See 14 M.R.S. § 6111.

Please note: if the homeowner attempts to pay after the deadline, the quantity required to catch up will be more than the quantity the default letter requires due to the fact that more will be required after the due date. Even if the lender accepts the default letter quantity after the deadline, the property owner will still be behind in month-to-month payments and/or the overall quantity due.

Step 2: Foreclosure Summons & Complaint

If the property owner does not capture up by the due date in the default letter, the lending institution might start a foreclosure action by "serving" the house owner with a foreclosure summons and problem. The property owner might be served face to face by a constable, or by mail (if the property owner indications and returns an invoice of the sent by mail problem).

Once a foreclosure case has begun, if the lending institution accepts any payment from the property owner, even for less than the complete amount owed, the foreclosure is cancelled (unless the celebrations agree in composing that it is not). Because of this, it is not unusual for property owners who attempt to send in checks after they have actually been served to have those checks returned. See 14 M.R.S. § 6321 ¶ 5.

The foreclosure court documents consist of important info, including:

- The place and of the court where the case has actually been filed