| Mississippi Foreclosure
Procedure
Back to State List
Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
Non-judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
Mississippi offers two methods of
foreclosure: by filing lawsuit asking for foreclosure in a Chancery
Court and by sale, if authorized in the mortgage and conducted in
compliance with Mississippi's statutes. The borrower's right to properly
conduct of the sale, after proper notice and advertisement of the sale,
may not be waived in the loan documents. Any defect in the sale that
would cause it to be void may not be corrected by the statute of
limitations until ten years have passed from the date of the defective
sale.
If the deed of trust contains an
authorization for the lender to call upon a trustee to sell the real
estate due to the borrower's default on the loan, such as by non-payment
then the real estate may be sold by the trustee named in the deed of
trust (or later appointed as a substitute) to try and pay off the loan.
No sale by a substitute trustee is valid un less it was first recorded
in the Office of the Chancery clerk of the county where the land is
located, prior to the first posting or publishing of the foreclosure
sale notice. If the lender, instead of some other buyer, acquires title
to the real estate at foreclosure, then the lender will give credit for
the foreclosure sale price against what was due on the loan.
Preliminary Notices
Advertising
In order to be valid, the foreclosure
sale must be advertised for three consecutive weeks before the sale in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land is
located.
Posting
In addition, one notice must be posted
for the same time at the county courthouse door. The notice must name
the borrowers who will lose title.
Cure Procedure
The borrower may stop the foreclosure
at any time prior to the sale by coming up with the missed payments,
accrued costs and attorney's and trustee's fees. Only the amount that is
actually past due needs to be paid. Even though the loan documents
provided that the lender could accelerate the loan and make all future
payments due, the borrower has the legal right to disregard the
acceleration and stop the foreclosure by paying up the missed payments,
accrued costs and attorney's and trustee's fees. The loan is then to be
treated as though it was not accelerated. The borrower may continue to
own and occupy the property and the lender may not foreclose.
Sale Procedures
Place
The place of sale should be the same as
the place of sale for sheriff's sales of property in the county, which
is usually the courthouse.
Manner
The sale must be made by public outcry
in the county where the land is located, or in the county where the
borrower lives. The sale must be for cash to the highest bidder.
Post-Sale Matters
After the sale, the trustee or
substitute trustee must deliver a trustee's deed to the successful high
bidder. The deed should give the names specified in the old deed of
trust that was foreclosed on. The trustee's deed should also give
information sufficient to locate the foreclosed deed of trust or
mortgage in the deed records.
Special Procedures - Foreclosure and
Major Disasters
In Mississippi, the governor may
declare that a natural disaster, an enemy attack, or a man-made
technological disaster makes it imperative to impose a moratorium on
foreclosures. The moratorium may last for up to two years after the
governor's declaration. The borrower can go to court and file a lawsuit
to enjoin a lender from foreclosing. This would be due to damages to the
mortgaged premises or because of economic conditions brought about by
enemy attack, natural disaster or man-made technological disaster
causing the fair market value of the property to decline by 15 percent,
if refinancing is impractical under the circumstances. No cash is
required on the injunction. The borrower must take action because a
foreclosure conducted during a moratorium while the borrower did nothing
is valid, even though the borrower could have won by exercising these
rights.
Redemption
A foreclosure sale under a deed of
trust is final in Mississippi. There is no right of redemption.
Back to State
List
Call Toll Free
(800) 513-0602 |