Nevada Foreclosure Laws

Most Nevada foreclosures are non-judicial foreclosures and trustee foreclosure sales are the most frequent type of foreclosure sale. While judicial foreclosure is available, it is used far less often. Most non-judicial foreclosures take about four months.

Pre-Foreclosure

Most mortgages in Nevada have a power of sale clause, which allows the lender to foreclose in the event of default without resorting to a lawsuit. The lender can begin a non-judicial foreclosure by filing a notice of default with the county recorder. The lender must also mail the notice of default to the debtor.

From the time the notice is recorded, junior lien holders and the debtor have 35 days to stop the foreclosure by paying the default amount. This is the pre-foreclosure period. Once three months have passed after the notice of default is recorded, the lender can schedule a public auction if the default remains unresolved.

Notice of Auction

A trustee is usually responsible for the foreclosure auction. Before the auction can take place, however, a notice of default must be posted and published. The notice must the posted in three public places at least twenty days before the foreclosure sale. As well, the notice must be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a local newspaper. Finally, all parties affected by the foreclosure must be mailed a copy of the notice as well. If the sale must be postponed, an announcement to that effect must be made at the location and at the time the sale was to have taken place.

The trustee sale can take place at the trustee's office and is open to the public. If the winning bidder is not the lender, he or she must pay the full amount of the bid to the trustee in the form of a cashier's check or cash. Once the bid amount is paid, the ownership of the property is transferred to the winning bidder.

In a non-judicial foreclosure, there is no redemption period in Nevada and the winning bidder is granted the property free and clear of any clouds on the title. In the event of a judicial foreclosure, there is a twelve month redemption period after the foreclosure sale.