Foreclosure is a situation in which a homeowner is unable to make full principal and interest obligations on his/her mortgage, which allows the lender to seize the property, evict the homeowner and sell the home, as stipulated in the mortgage contract. One month after the homeowner misses a home loan payment, he/she is in default and will be notified by the lender. Three to six months after the homeowner misses a mortgage payment, presuming the mortgage is still delinquent, and the homeowner has not comprised the missed payments within a particular grace period, the financial institution will get started to foreclose. Typically the farther behind the customer falls, the more difficult it becomes to catch up since lenders add fees for payments that are 10 to 15 days past due. Each state has its own foreclosure laws in the notices the lender must post publicly and/or with the homeowner, the homeowner's choices for bringing the loan current and avoiding foreclosure, and the process fo...