Utah Foreclosure Laws

Utah foreclosure laws permit both judicial and non-judicial foreclosure, but the vast majority of foreclosures in the state are non-judicial. The foreclosure process in Utah can last approximately five months.

Pre-Foreclosure

A lender can begin a judicial foreclosure by filing a suit in court against the debtor for the default amount. The court must first determine whether a default has occurred. If they decide that this is the case and a default has occurred, the court will decide on how much the debtor must repay and by when this amount must be repaid. If the debtor fails to repay the required amount by the deadline, a foreclosure auction is scheduled.

To initiate a non-judicial foreclosure in Utah, a notice of default must be recorded with the county recorder. The lender also needs to mail a copy of this notice to the debtor. Once this notice has been recorder with the recorder, the property is in pre-foreclosure for three months, until the auction can take place. During this pre-foreclosure stage, the debtor can repay the default amount and additional costs to stop the foreclosure process.

The Foreclosure Auction in Utah

Twenty days before the auction is to take place, the notice of sale must be posted and published. The notice must be posted at the county recorder's office and at a visible location on the property to be sold. The lender must also publish the notice in a local newspaper once weekly for three weeks successively. The final notice in the newspaper must appear less than thirty days but a minimum of ten days before the auction.

The foreclosure auction takes place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the courthouse. The highest bidder is given ownership of the property. If the bid price is higher than the default amount, the surplus money is given to the junior lien holders. If there are no junior lien holders or if there is more surplus after the junior lien holders have been paid, the extra money is given to the debtor. For a non-judicial foreclosure in Utah there is usually no redemption period after the auction.