For the sake of this blog & SEO purposes, I'm going to give the specifics for the Bellingham Foreclosure process, although this process applies to all of Washington State & the Washington State Foreclosure process.

The Bellingham area and Washington in general, for the most part is a non-judicial foreclosure state, which means that due to a "power of sale" clause in the deed of trust, your lender has the right to foreclose in order to recoup the defaulted amount that is owed. 

If the Deed of Trust contains specifics on the method/terms of foreclosure then those rules/guidelines will trump, but if there are no set guidelines within the Deed the non-judicial power of sale is carried out as follows.

1.  Notice of Sale must be delivered and received via certified mail at the home owners last known address.  Notice must also be give to the home owners attorney via snail mail.  Both shall be delivered 30 days prior to the sale of the property at the Bellingham Foreclosure Auction.

The sheriff must publish a notice of the sale once a week, consecutively, for four (4) weeks, in any daily or weekly legal newspaper of general circulation published in the county that the property is located.  The sheriff must also post the notice in two public places, on the courthouse door & in the county where the sale will take place.  Notices must be posted 4 weeks prior to the sale date up until the sale takes place.

The notice must include the time/place of the foreclosure sale, the names of the parties on the deed, the date of the deed, recording information, a property description,  terms of the sale, & the borrowers rights (or lack of) redemption. 

2.   The Bellingham Foreclosure Process can be stopped (up until 11 days before the auction) if the borrow pays in full any defaulted amount plus fees associated with the process, such as trustee and attorney fees. 

3.  The Bellingham Foreclosure sale takes place via auction at the courthouse between 9:00 - 4:00 on Friday, unless it's a legal holiday...in which case the sale in on the next business day.  The sale cannot take place sooner than 190 days from the first day of default. 

For more information on the Bellingham Foreclosure process, feel free to give me a call or drop me an email...or visit the Bellingham Foreclosure site for videos & information on stopping foreclosure.

Tara specializes in Bellingham Short Sales, Bellingham Bank Owned Real Estate, Lease options, & Seller financing.  If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Bellingham, give her a call.  She's honest, reliable, and well educated in the realm of real estate.