Can I Sell My Dover House in Foreclosure?

How We Help with a Dover Foreclosure

We buy houses as-is, in any condition — no repairs, no cleaning, no cleanout required to sell to us — in Dover and Kent County. You get a written offer and written terms before you commit. If you decide to sell, a title company handles the closing. We work toward closing before the scheduled sheriff’s sale when the title, payoff, and timing allow it.

Mortgage Foreclosure and Tax Sale Have Different Deadlines

Mortgage foreclosure in Delaware

Delaware mortgage foreclosures go through Superior Court in a case called scire facias sur mortgage. For an owner-occupied home with one to four units, the lender normally must send a notice of intent to foreclose and wait 45 days before filing. Exceptions include certain small seller-financed loans, abandoned or voluntarily surrendered homes, and some cases after bankruptcy. The notice explains how to catch up and lists housing counselors. Before judgment, the lender must also state under oath that it gave you a chance to apply for help, such as a loan change.

When the case is filed, you receive notice about Delaware’s Automatic Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program. A meeting is set 45 to 75 days after you are served. You must appear in person. The law asks you to meet with a HUD-approved housing counselor and file a Certificate of Participation within 30 days. The court cannot enter judgment until the day after the scheduled mediation. If you do not answer the case, the court can enter judgment and order the house sold.

The sheriff posts sale notices at least 10 days before the sale and advertises it for two weeks in newspapers. The court must confirm the sale before the buyer receives a deed; after confirmation, there is no right to buy the house back. If the sale brings in more than is owed, the extra money goes to the owner. Read the Delaware mortgage-foreclosure law and the law on notice of a sheriff’s sale.

If the notice is about unpaid property taxes

A tax sale is separate from a lender’s mortgage foreclosure. The mortgage notice and mediation deadlines above do not tell you when a tax sale can happen. Follow the dates in the tax-sale notice and contact the county office named there; do not use mortgage-foreclosure deadlines to calculate a tax-sale date.

If the Payoff Is the Problem

Think the payoff is more than the house is worth? Ask us — we've gotten lenders to come down before.

What Happens Next

1. If a sale is scheduled, tell us the date and what kind of notice you received. You can call or use the form.
2. We review the property and give you a written offer and written terms before you decide whether to commit.
3. If you choose to sell, a title company checks the title and current payoff information so the amounts due are clear in the closing paperwork.
4. We work toward closing before the sheriff’s sale if the title and payoff work can be completed in time. Check your case notices for the current sale date.

It's real estate. Sometimes there are bumps in the road. We won't disappear when that happens, and we'll be fighting to get this to the closing table.

Questions and Contact

Compare possible sale proceeds with a listing using the Dover home-sale net proceeds calculator.

We'll give you a written cash offer within 24 hours.