A little-known fact is that these steps, which the bank must follow to evict a homeowner, are very often broken or violated. This can provide the foreclosure victims with reasons for the eviction to be delayed or stopped completely until the lender and its attorneys are able to follow the correct procedures. Because these are government rules and procedures, many of them contradict each other, as well, and their language is incomprehensible and boring, so many attorneys simply never read the actual rules. Every time they file a lawsuit, and every motion they file in regards to that lawsuit, may have violated numerous rules.
But the bank, after the sheriff sale, will have to request that the court order the former owners and current unlawful occupants to be removed from the house. Usually all they would do is show that the title was transferred on the day of the sheriff sale, which establishes the new owner as having a legal right to determine who lives in the property. After the foreclosure victims have used all of their options to stop foreclosure with no success, and the sheriff sale has been conducted, the eviction process will usually begin very soon.
This request that the bank makes to the court for an eviction order, though, is another opportunity that the foreclosure victims can use for their own purposes. The owners will always get a chance to respond to any motion the bank makes in court, and the bank's attorneys almost always violate some rule of procedure. There are simply too many of them to keep up with, with state-wide rules, county rules, and specific court rules, many of which claim to be in agreement with each other but are contradictory. Obviously, it is up to the foreclosure victims themselves whether they want to answer every motion the bank brings and drag out the process and increase the legal fees that will eventually be added to the total payoff, but most lenders and attorneys have little idea of what they are doing in court.
The main adversary the homeowners will usually have to face when arguing that the lender has violated the rules of procedure is the court judge himself. Judges are frequently aware of the fact that no one can enter court without violating numerous rules, and they will do their very best to protect their lawyer friends from having to play by rules that lawyers have established. When dealing with homeowners in foreclosure, they would rather have the parties work out a solution outside of court, or simply order the house to be sold at sheriff sale, thereby earning their part of lawsuit fees. Making sure that everyone follows written rules and guaranteeing that homeowners receive a fair and meaningful hearing are the last things they care about.
Thus, homeowners have two main options when faced with a possible eviction. First, they can try to work out some deal with the bank, either for more time to stay in the property until they move out, or to purchase the property back somehow but continue living there until they have accomplished this. Or, the former owners may want to argue against the bank in court and point out the numerous rule violations that have occurred. This usually results in the judge allowing the bank and its attorneys to violate these rules, but may be grounds for an appeal and a stay of the eviction order until the appeals court process is over. Either way may buy the homeowners more time to save their homes or move out with the best chance of a quick financial recovery.