Illinois Laws

Illinois foreclosures are only carried out through a series of judicial proceedings. The process takes about a year to complete.

A lender first files a suit against a defaulted homeowner and gives them thirty days in which to respond by either paying the debt or challenging the default. If payment is not received or the court rules that a default has in fact occurred, they will arrange for the homeowner's property to be sold at public auction in order to reclaim the full loan amount. The sale must take place three months after the court's ruling. During the time between the ruling and the sale, the homeowner can stop the foreclosure by paying off the default debt owed to the lender. In some cases, the homeowner may also be granted up to seven months after the ruling (even though this may extend past the date of sale) in which to provide payment of the full loan amount in order to reclaim their property.

Before a sale, a Notice of Sale outlining the date, location, terms of the sale and people involved must be issued and published once weekly in a local newspaper for six weeks prior to the sale date.

At the sale, the county Sheriff auctions the homeowner's property off to the highest bidder. Once payment of the winning bid is received, the winner receives a Certificate of Sale that is subject to a court's confirmation. If the court confirms, the original homeowner is given thirty days in which to vacate the property, after which the winning bidder may take full control and possession of the property.

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