North Dakota Foreclosure Laws

North Dakota foreclosure laws allow only judicial foreclosures. Most foreclosures in the state take approximately five months.

Pre-Foreclosure

Before initiating foreclosure, the lender is required by law to give the debtor at least thirty days notice. If the debtor cannot be found, the lender is responsible for publishing a notice advertising the intention to foreclose on the property. The notice of intent is sometimes called the pre-foreclosure notice.

Once the debtor has been advised of the lender's intent to foreclosure, the lender can file in court. This begins the foreclosure. The court evaluates the case and determines how much the debtor owes and sets a deadline for payment. If the debtor does not pay by this deadline, the property can be sold to pay off the default amount. Up to thirty days before the foreclosure sale, the debtor can still stop the foreclosure process by paying the default amount in full.

Notice of Auction

Before the foreclosure auction can take place, the notice of sale must be published and posted. This process can take two months. The notice must be published in a local newspaper, and the last notice to the published in the newspaper must appear no less than ten days before the auction date. As well, the debtor must be provided with a notice of sale.

Foreclosure auctions in North Dakota are conducted by the county sheriff or the sheriff's deputy. The winning bidder must pay the full bid amount at the auction, in cash. Once this happens, the winning bidder is given a certificate of sale. Once the six month redemption period has passed, the ownership of the property is transferred to the winning bidder. During the redemption period, however, the debtor still has a chance to redeem the property.