Washington Foreclosure Laws

Expected Timeline: Four to five months
Security Instrument: Mortgage or Deed of Trust. Deed of trust most commonly used.
Type of Process: Judicial or nonjudicial. Nonjudicial most commonly used.
Protections for Servicemembers: Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.220
Time to Respond: Notice of default must be served 30 days before notice of sale. Notice of default must be served by first class mail and registered/certified mail with return receipt requested. Notice must also be posted on the property or personal service. Notice of sale must be served in same manner as notice of default and must be done at least 90 days before sheriff sale.
Reinstatement Period: Homeowners may reinstate the loan up to 11 days before sheriff sale.
Protections for High-Cost Mortgages: None.
Redemption Period: None.
Eviction Process: New owner may file eviction lawsuit twenty days after foreclosure auction.
Deficiency Judgments: Allowed in judicial foreclosures. Not allowed in nonjudicial.
Limits on Deficiency Judgments: Deficiency judgments are allowed in judicial foreclosure proceedings, but not if nonjudicial foreclosure is pursued.
Cash Exempted in Bankruptcy: $11,000 for single person, $22,000 for married couple.
State Statutes: Wash Rev. Code § 61-24.020 to 61.24.140

Washington state foreclosure law allows lenders to use either the Non-Judicial or Judicial Foreclosure process. If there is no power of sale clause present in the original loan documents, the lender will pursue Judicial Foreclosure. The lender must sue the borrower in court and foreclosure can be declared only by the court. A deficiency judgment may be awarded to the lender if the property is found by the court to have been abandoned for at least six (6) months before the decree of foreclosure.

If a power of sale clause is present in the original loan documents, the lender can pursue Non-Judicial Foreclosure. This clause authorizes the lender to sell the property in the event the borrower goes into default on the loan. If the power of sale clause specifies the time, place, and terms of the sale, then those details must be used.

The notice of sale must be sent by regular mail to the borrower's attorney on record, if such exists. A copy of the notice must also be sent to the borrower by certified mail with return receipt requested to the borrower's last known address. This must be done at least thirty (30) days before the scheduled sale date.

Publication of the notice must be at least once per week for four (4) consecutive weeks in a newspaper generally circulated. The notice must also be posted in two public places, one of which must be the door of the county courthouse, for four (4) weeks prior to the sale date.

The sale must take place at least one-hundred and ninety (190) days after the default has been declared. The borrower can stop the foreclosure anytime until eleven (11) days before the sale date by paying the amount past due plus costs, including attorney fees and trustee fees.

Sales in Washington state are held on Fridays between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM . The high bidder at the auction will be given a certificate of sale.

The sale may be postponed, but the length of the postponement may not be longer than one week from the original date of sale. Notice of the postponement must be given to all parties to the sale, and the notice must be posted publicly beneath the original posted notice.

The Non-Judicial Foreclosure process in Washington state does not allow for the lender to sue the borrower to obtain a deficiency judgment.

State Website: www.leg.wa.gov