Has anyone loaned money & had to foreclose on a property?

[Christa Kirby]

We have a property in Hampton, VA we have a lien on & would like to foreclose to get our money back. Has anyone been in this position? I'd love to know how it worked out for you? Was it expensive to foreclose?

Thanks for any info. you can give!

[Patti Robertson]

Yep.  I’ve done it too.  In my case, I had to go through the process twice because the first time a family member asked the court for an emergency injunction to stop the foreclosure and it was accepted. This meant the $1700 we had spent on the required advertising notices had to be spent all over once the court decided we were acting in good faith and had a cause to foreclose.

My advice for the next time you lend - have a deed in lieu signed up front that says if the borrower defaults you just have to record this document to take the house back.  This way, unless the borrower has an add’l lien attached to the house (which is what happened in my case, you can avoid the process of a formal foreclosure all together. Any attorney who works with investors would have these documents available to help you structure your loans up front.