If you are a residential homeowner who is or may be facing foreclosure in Nevada, this article will help you locate the law governing the foreclosure process in your state and summarize the key information you will need to know. This article will help you answer the following questions:
- What is the foreclosure process in Nevada?
- What rights do you have to cure or reinstate your mortgage?
- Are there any state law protections for homeowners in financial distress?
Locating Nevada’s Foreclosure Laws
To find out what is covered in Nevada’s foreclosure laws, you need to turn to Nevada’s statutes. The citation to Nevada’s foreclosure law is Nevada Revised Statutes Sections 40.430 to 40.463 and 107.080 to 107.110. Judicial foreclosures are covered in Sections 40.430 to 40.463, and nonjudicial foreclosures are covered in Sections 107.080 and 107.110.
Nevada’s foreclosure statutes can be found by taking the following steps:
- Start at the website of the Nevada Legislature at www.leg.state.nv.us.
- On the menu on the left of the screen, click “Law Library.”
- Click “Table of Contents” under Nevada Revised Statutes (2009) in the left column of the chart.
- Scroll down and click “Chapter 40: Actions and Proceedings in Particular Cases Concerning Property.”
- Scroll down to find Sections 40.430 to 40.450, which are listed under the heading “Actions for Foreclosure of Real Mortgages,” and Sections 40.451 to 40.463, which are listed under the heading “Foreclosure Sales and Deficiency Judgments.”
To find Sections 107.080 to 107.110, follow steps one through three above, click “Chapter 107: Deeds of Trust,” then scroll down to the sections listed under the heading “Default and Sale.”
Summary of Nevada’s Foreclosure Laws
A summary of the most important information in Nevada’s foreclosure laws relevant to residential homeowners is presented below. Because nonjudicial foreclosures are the most common type of foreclosure in Nevada, this information focuses on nonjudicial foreclosures. “Mortgage lender” refers to the bank or financial institution holding the mortgage, and “borrower” refers to the residential homeowner.
Nonjudicial Foreclosure
A mortgage lender does not need to sue the borrower in court to foreclose. Once a borrower has defaulted on his or her mortgage, the lender has the right to sell the property securing the mortgage, subject to certain requirements. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.080.
Borrower’s Right to Cure
A homeowner has up to five days prior to the date of the foreclosure sale to prevent the foreclosure sale by making any missed payments on the mortgage or by curing any other deficiency, as well as paying for the mortgage lender’s foreclosure fees or expenses. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.080.
Notice Requirements
The mortgage lender must file a notice of breach and election to sell with the office of the recorder in the county where the property is located. This notice must be recorded at least three months before the date of the foreclosure sale. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.080. After this three-month period expires, the mortgage lender must file the notice of sale with the county recorder, as well as deliver the notice of sale to the borrower by registered or certified mail, post the notice for 20 days in three public places, and publish in a newspaper a copy of the notice once a week for three consecutive weeks. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.080.
Along with the notice of default and election to sell, the mortgage lender must provide the borrower the following information:
- Contact information for the person authorized to negotiate a loan modification on behalf of the lender
- Contact information for at least one local housing counseling agency; and
- A form on which the borrower may elect mediation. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.086.
Mediation
The mortgage lender is required to notify the borrower of the availability of mediation. If the homeowner requests mediation, the lender may not take further action to foreclose on the property. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.086. If your goal is to delay foreclosure as long as possible, it is in your best interest to elect mediation.
Right of Redemption
In nonjudicial foreclosures, homeowners do not have a right of redemption. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.080(5).
Deficiency
judgment. The lender has the right to sue the borrower for the
deficiency within six months after the date of the foreclosure sale,
unless all of the following conditions are met:
- The mortgage lender is a financial institution.
- The property securing the mortgage is a single-family dwelling.
- The borrower was the owner of the property at the time of the foreclosure sale.
- The borrower used the proceeds of the mortgage to purchase the property.
- The property was the borrower’s primary residence continuously after the borrower took out the mortgage.
- The borrower did not refinance the mortgage.
If all of these conditions are met, the homeowner is not liable to the lender for any deficiency remaining after the foreclosure sale. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 40.455.
The amount of the deficiency is limited to the lesser of these two amounts:
- The difference between the amount of the outstanding mortgage debt and the property’s fair market value at the time of the foreclosure sale, or
- The difference between the amount of the outstanding mortgage debt and the foreclosure sale price. Nev. Rev. Stat. §40.459.
