Postponing Sheriff’s Sales

Zachary Zawarski, Esquire, has had a lot of success postponing sheriff’s sales for homes that are facing foreclosure. If your home is located in Allentown, Easton, or Bethlehem, we may be able to help you. Our two primary counties of practice are Lehigh County and Northampton County, but we have also helped clients in Monroe County, Bucks County, and other counties in Pennsylvania.

A sheriff’s sale occurs after a lender’s attorney obtains a judgment. Since most foreclosure actions are uncontested, lenders typically receive default judgments, allowing the bank to schedule a home for sale at the next sheriff’s sale. There are several legal tactics that can be used to postpone a sheriff’s sale.

If your goal is to walk away from the home, my recommendation would be to list the home for sale so you can sell the home as a short sale rather than a bank foreclosing. This will help salvage your credit tremendously. If you list the home for sale and obtain an offer, we are experienced in getting the bank’s approval for a short sale and we will ensure that the bank is unable to obtain a deficiency judgment. If you have received an offer and the lender is not working with you, we are able to file a Petition to Postpone the Sheriff’s Sale to force the lender to review the short sale offer. Additionally, if this is your primary residence, the debt forgiveness will not be treated as income either. We also partner with a team of Realtors experienced in getting short sales listed and sold.

If your goal is to keep your home, but the bank has already obtained a default judgment, we’ve also had a lot of success postponing sheriff’s sales and vacating default judgments. When a foreclosure action is filed, the lender’s attorney must be cognizant of the fact that several procedural rules must be followed so due process is followed. If any procedural errors were made, it’s possible to vacate a default judgment, which would postpone a sheriff’s sale pending a judicial hearing on the matter. In some cases, a bank is willing to offer a loan modification at this point.

Lastly, bankruptcy is another option to consider to postpone a sheriff’s sale. A bankruptcy prevents all debt collection proceedings while the case is resolved in bankruptcy court.

If you are looking to prevent a sheriff’s sale in Pennsylvania, please contact us at (610) 417-6345. We are located in Bethlehem, PA and we would be happy to discuss what options are available to you to prevent foreclosure.