How Foreclosure Works in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a judicial foreclosure state – which means for the lender to take away your property rights, they must file a lawsuit against you and personally serve you with the lawsuit.

Once the process server comes to your door and hands you the foreclosure lawsuit, you will have only 20 DAYS to respond. That is a very short window in Wisconsin, so you must take immediate action to protect your rights.

If you do not file an answer to the suit or the answer you attempt to give to the court does not create a genuine dispute with the lender, then the lender will ask the court for a judgment of foreclosure. Usually, the lender will file a Motion for Default Judgment if you do not file an answer or if you do file an answer then the lender will file a Motion for Summary Judgment or Judgment on the Pleadings.

The court will schedule a time to hear the motion and in some counties, the lender will not need to be present for the hearing. You have the right to attend the hearing if you choose, but you are not required to attend. At the hearing, the court will likely grant the lender’s request for a judgment of foreclosure and will set the redemption period.

The typical redemption period set by the court in a case where it is your homestead that you are currently occupying is six months. During this redemption period, you have the opportunity to redeem the property by paying off the judgment in full either through sale of the property or refinance of the property. During this time period, you can also attempt to work out an agreement with the lender to bring the mortgage current and dismiss the foreclosure action.

If at the end of the six month period, you are unable to redeem the property or work out a new agreement with the lender, the lender will schedule with the local sheriff’s department a foreclosure sale of your property. The lender has to advertise this sale for a certain period of time before the sheriff’s sale can be held.

Once the sheriff’s sale is completed, the winning bidder (who is often times your lender) will then go back before the court to ask that the winning bid be confirmed as the sale.

If the court confirms the winning bid, it will enter an order transferring your property to the winning bidder. If you have not already vacated the home by this point, the sheriff’s department will come and order you to leave and can even forcibly remove you if necessary.

The entire process can take seven to ten months to complete for a typical foreclosure. Foreclosures on rental property can take less time and if the lender is seeking to recover from you any shortfall from the sheriff’s sale, then the process can be extended to longer than a year.

The MOST IMPORTANT part of the foreclosure lawsuit process is the twenty day deadline to respond to the complaint. If that deadline is missed, then your options to defend yourself can be very limited.

If you want to speak to an attorney about your foreclosure options, please call our office today at 414-727-0123 to scheduled a free consultation. The attorneys at Maxwell Attorneys LLC will work with you on the best plan for your foreclosure issues.