When you've cut down on your other expenses as much as possible, it still might be impossible to keep up with your mortgage payments. After you fall far enough behind on the loan, the servicer (on behalf of the lender or subsequent loan owner) will likely start a foreclosure.
A "foreclosure" is a state-specific legal process that ends when your home is sold to a new owner at a foreclosure sale. Here’s a step-by-step explanation of what typically happens in a Maryland foreclosure.
What Happens After You Stop Making Mortgage Payments in Maryland?
After you miss a payment and the grace period expires, the servicer can charge a late fee to your account. Each month you don't pay, you'll get charged this fee. To find out the late charge amount, look at the promissory note you signed when you took out the loan or review your monthly mortgage payment statement.
During the first few months that you're delinquent on the loan, the servicer has to comply with specific requirements under federal law, including:
- It must contact you or make reasonable efforts to contact you by phone or in person no later than 36 days after you fall behind to tell you about the availability of loss mitigation options, like a loan modification, if appropriate. The servicer also has to contact you again within 36 days after each subsequent missed payment. (12 C.F.R. § 1024.39 (2025).)
- By the time you’re 45 days delinquent, the servicer has to assign someone to help you with the loss mitigation process. The designated personnel has to be available to you by phone and be able to tell you about the status of your loss mitigation application, if you apply, as well as applicable timelines. (12 C.F.R. § 1024.39 (2025).)
- In most cases, the servicer must hold off on starting the foreclosure until your loan is more than 120 days delinquent. (12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 (2025).)
What Is the Maryland Foreclosure Process?
Most foreclosures in Maryland are what’s called “nonjudicial” or “quasi-judicial.” With a nonjudicial foreclosure, the lender must complete specific out-of-court steps detailed in state law before selling the property.
In most states, a court is not involved in a nonjudicial foreclosure whatsoever. However, in Maryland, a court participates to a minimal degree, so the process is sometimes called "quasi-judicial."
Preforeclosure Notice Under State Law
In Maryland, the lender must send you a notice of intent to foreclose (NOI) at least 45 days before beginning the foreclosure. For owner-occupied residential properties, the notice of intent has to include a loss mitigation application and mediation information if the lender offers prefile mediation. (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1 (2025).)
The foreclosure action normally can't be filed in court until the later of 90 days after default (or 120 days if the loan is covered by federal law) or 45 days after the NOI. The lender can ask a court to waive these requirements under some circumstances, like if you never made any payments on the loan or you abandon the home. (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1 (2025).)
How the Maryland Foreclosure Process Works
The foreclosure officially begins when the lender files a document called an “order to docket” with the court. The lender serves you the order and a form allowing you to request mediation. However, the lender might have already offered you the chance to participate in prefile mediation before the foreclosure began. If you went to mediation before the foreclosure starts, then it isn't available after foreclosure begins except as otherwise provided in a prefile mediation agreement.
You get 25 days to request mediation. You'll then receive a list of required documents that you must provide along with notification of the scheduled mediation date, which will be no later than 60 days after your request. All documents must be provided 20 days prior to the mediation. (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1 (2025).)
If you aren't able to work out a way to avoid foreclosure in mediation or otherwise, the lender then publishes a notice of sale in a newspaper at least once a week for three weeks. The lender can schedule the foreclosure sale no sooner than 15 days after mediation. (Md. Rule 14-209, Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1 (2025).) The lender also mails a notice of sale to you between 10 and 30 days before the sale. (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1, Md. Rule 14-210 (2025).)
After the sale, which is a public auction, the court must ratify it.
How Do Maryland Foreclosure Sales Work?
At the sale, the foreclosing lender will likely make a bid on your property using a “credit bid.” With a credit bid, the lender gets a credit in the amount of the mortgage debt. The lender can bid up to the total amount owed, including fees and costs, or it might bid less.
In some states, including Maryland, when the lender is the high bidder at the sale, but bids less than the total debt, it can get a deficiency judgment against the borrower. If the sale results in a deficiency, the lender can file a motion for a deficiency judgment within three years after a court ratifies the auditor's report. (Md. Rule 14-216(b), Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.17 (2025).) (After the court ratifies the sale, a court-appointed auditor determines the distribution of the sale proceeds and files a report.)
But if a bidder offers more than you owe and the sale results in excess proceeds (that is, money over and above what’s needed to pay off all the liens on your property), you’re entitled to that surplus money.
Filing Exceptions to the Sale
When Do I Have to Move Out After a Maryland Foreclosure?
Again, as part of the process, the court must ratify the sale. If you don’t move out once the sale is ratified, the lender (often the high bidder at the foreclosure sale) may apply for a writ of possession from the court.
What Are Your Rights in a Maryland Foreclosure?
Maryland law provides you with certain rights during the foreclosure process. For example, you get the right to reinstate the loan by bringing the account current, which stops the foreclosure from going forward, up to one business day before the foreclosure sale. (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 7-105.1 (2025).) Also, until the court ratifies the sale, you have the right to “redeem” (buy back) the home by paying off the full amount of the mortgage loan.
Or you might be able to qualify for another alternative to foreclosure after applying for a loss mitigation option.
You might also consider filing for bankruptcy. Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can delay the foreclosure for a couple of months and eliminate other debts, including a foreclosure deficiency judgment. But if you're behind in mortgage payments when you file, you'll probably have to give up the home. If you want to keep your home and you're behind in payments, filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy might allow you to keep it through a repayment plan. To find out about the options available, speak with a local bankruptcy attorney.
Getting Help With Foreclosure
While this article provides an overview of a typical Maryland foreclosure, keep in mind that federal and state laws are complicated. If you want to read Maryland’s foreclosure laws for yourself, go to Title 14, Chapter 200 of the Maryland Rules, which provides many of the procedural requirements for foreclosures. Real estate transactions are governed by the Real Property Article of the Code of Maryland. Title 7 of the Real Estate Article provides additional guidelines related to foreclosures.
Statutes change, so checking them is always a good idea. How courts and agencies interpret and apply the law can also change. And some rules can even vary within a state. These are just some of the reasons to consult with an attorney if you’re facing a foreclosure.
Also, lenders and servicers frequently make mistakes or skip steps when processing foreclosures. But most foreclosure errors go unchallenged. If you're facing a foreclosure and think the lender or servicer has skipped a step, made an error, or violated state or federal foreclosure laws, consider talking to an experienced foreclosure attorney. You could potentially have a defense to the foreclosure, which could force the lender to start the process over or give you leverage to work out an alternative.