Yes, a Sheriff’s Sale can be delayed, also known as stayed, either at the request of the lender or upon a stay granted by a judge. In some states, the it can be delayed up to one hour before the bidding at a foreclosure sale. Note that some states do not have it but some form of a foreclosure sale.
The common technique to delay a Sheriff’s Sale is to convince the foreclosing mortgage lender to request it. In many cases, though not all, a lender will delay it to allow a short sale to reach a settlement.
Sometimes a lender will only initiate their request to stay the Sheriff’s Sale a mere two to three days before the sale date. The bank does this just in case the short sale transaction is not working out to their satisfaction, so they can quickly go ahead with the foreclosure sale if necessary. The risk to sellers and agents is that if the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, the Sheriff’s auctioneer might not receive the message to delay the sale. Unfortunately, we have seen this happen on several occasions.
In some states, once the Sheriff’s Sale occurs, it is final. Some states permit a right of redemption, whereby the former owner could unwind the sale a few days after it occurs if they provide enough money to pay off the loan.
Another method of delaying is for the borrower to declare bankruptcy. A bankruptcy will postpone the foreclosure sale until the trustee or presiding judge releases the real estate from the bankruptcy proceeding. We have seen borrowers declare bankruptcy a mere hour before a Sheriff’s Sale. In those cases, they have been able to delay the foreclosure action for months while the bankruptcy runs its course.
One other technique is for the borrower or their representative to convince a judge to grant a stay. Sometimes a judge will delay a Sheriff’s Sale to allow for a possible conciliation. We have seen various judges grant stays from 30 days to six months. The borrower may file a petition seeking relief from the judgment or a delay of the sale.
In rare cases, the Sheriff’s department will postpone a foreclosure sale due to a high volume of cases.
