Maryland Foreclosure Laws

Specific Guidelines On Maryland Foreclosure Laws

The Maryland foreclosure laws lay down specific guidelines pertaining to differing possible scenarios that could bring about a foreclosure of property. The primary security instruments that are used as points of reference to decide the merits of each case are the deed of trust and the mortgage document.

The Foreclosure Procedures in Maryland

An assent to decree and a non-judicial foreclosure are the two courses of action open for lenders to recover their losses from distressed property. The option of a judicial foreclosure is resorted to when the agreement between the lender and the borrower does not contain either a power of sale or an assent to decree. Under such circumstances the lender can file a complaint and obtain a decree of sale. This complaint should be filed in a county court of the county where the property is located. This complaint is the beginning of the foreclosure process.

What is Next?

Once the complaint has been filed, the court is required to evaluate it to determine whether or not the borrower is at fault. If the evidence finds the borrower guilty of breach of trust the court sets a time, place and amount and notifies the borrower. If the borrower fails to meet the conditions set by the court he loses all rights over the property which is then repossessed by the lender and sold off to settle the debt. This is done under the court's supervision.

A parallel can be drawn between the assent to decree foreclosure and the power of sale clause in a non judicial foreclosure. An assent to decree foreclosure implies that the borrower agrees to the property being sold if he doesn't fulfill payment conditions. The one point of difference between the two is that an assent to decree foreclosure requires the lender to file a complaint in court. For non judicial foreclosures the law requires the filing of an order to docket before the start of the foreclosure proceedings.