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Every term this site uses, defined. If a word appears in a table header or a listing on this site and is not here, that is a bug — the glossary is meant to be complete, not representative.
A sheriff sale is a public auction at which a county sheriff sells real property under a court order, most often to satisfy a foreclosure judgment.
A sheriff sale is a public auction at which a county sheriff sells real property under a court order, most often to satisfy a foreclosure judgment.
It is the last step of a judicial foreclosure. The sheriff advertises the sale, auctions the property to the highest bidder, and delivers a sheriff's deed once the sale is final. In some states another officer sells instead: the clerk of court in Florida, a master commissioner in Kentucky, a referee in New York.
See also: Judicial foreclosure, Plaintiff, Sheriff's deed, Upset price
A judicial foreclosure is a foreclosure carried out through a lawsuit, in which a court enters a judgment for the lender and orders the property sold.
States that foreclose this way sell through the sheriff (or a court officer). States where a deed of trust lets a trustee sell without a lawsuit hold trustee's sales instead, which are not on a sheriff's list.
See also: Sheriff sale, Judgment, Trustee's sale
A trustee's sale is a foreclosure auction held without a lawsuit, by the trustee named in a deed of trust, in the states that allow non-judicial foreclosure.
It is a different process from a sheriff sale and is not covered on this site.
See also: Judicial foreclosure
The plaintiff in a sheriff sale is the party that sued to foreclose: usually the lender, its loan servicer, or a bank acting as trustee for the trust that owns the loan.
In a tax foreclosure the plaintiff is the county, city or a tax-lien buyer; in an association foreclosure, the condominium or homeowners' association. The plaintiff usually bids at the sale, up to what it is owed.
See also: Defendant, Credit bid, Judgment
The defendant in a sheriff sale is the party being foreclosed on: the borrower and owner, and often others with an interest in the property, such as a spouse, a second lender or a tenant.
A defendant can still stop the sale by paying off the judgment, filing for bankruptcy or winning a stay, which is why a scheduled sale is never certain.
See also: Plaintiff, Stay, Redemption
The plaintiff's attorney is the law firm that brought the foreclosure, and the usual contact for the upset price and the status of a sale.
See also: Plaintiff, Upset price
The judgment is the amount the court found the defendant owes the plaintiff, which the sheriff sale is held to satisfy.
A listing's judgment usually excludes the interest that has run since the judgment and the sheriff's costs, so the payoff on the day of the sale is higher than the figure listed.
See also: Upset price, Credit bid, Surplus
The upset price is the minimum the plaintiff will accept at a sheriff sale, the opening bid below which the property goes back to the plaintiff.
New Jersey uses the term most. Many sheriffs announce it only at the sale or on request from the plaintiff's attorney, which is why a listing can show the judgment but no opening bid.
See also: Opening bid, Judgment, Plaintiff's attorney
The opening bid is the figure a sheriff sale starts at: the upset price, a statutory minimum, or for a tax foreclosure the taxes and costs owed.
In Ohio a mortgage foreclosure's first sale cannot accept less than two-thirds of the sheriff's appraisal. Where a listing prints no opening bid, the record says so rather than guessing one.
See also: Upset price, Appraised value
A credit bid is a bid the plaintiff makes with the debt it is owed instead of cash, which it may do up to the amount of its judgment.
A third-party bidder has to beat it in cash. When nobody does, the property goes back to the lender and becomes bank-owned (REO).
See also: Plaintiff, Judgment, REO (bank-owned)
The appraised value is the value set by appraisers the sheriff appoints before a sale, in states that require one, such as Ohio and Kentucky.
It sets the minimum at a first sale and, in Kentucky, whether the owner keeps a right to redeem after the sale.
See also: Opening bid, Redemption
The deposit is the part of the bid a winning bidder must pay at the sale, usually in certified funds, with the balance due by a deadline the sheriff sets.
The amount varies by state and county: a percentage of the bid in some, a flat sum in others. A bidder who fails to pay the balance usually forfeits the deposit.
See also: Sheriff sale
A postponement (or adjournment) moves a scheduled sheriff sale to a later date, at the request of a party or by court order.
Sales are postponed often, sometimes many times. The record counts every postponement the sheriff posted and keeps the dates, so a bidder can see whether a sale is likely to go ahead.
See also: Stay, Rescheduled
A rescheduled sale is one the sheriff has moved from the date first listed to a new one.
The date shown is always the newest; the earlier one is kept as the date it moved from.
See also: Postponement
A stay halts a sheriff sale until a court lifts it, most often the automatic stay that a bankruptcy filing puts on every collection action.
A stayed sale is taken off the sheriff's list; this site removes it from every count until it is listed again.
See also: Postponement, Defendant
A writ of execution is the court's order directing the sheriff to sell the property to satisfy a judgment.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey sheriffs sell under one; some states call it an order of sale. Delaware's mortgage writ is a writ of levari facias, and its tax writ a monition.
See also: Sheriff sale, Judgment
A sheriff's deed is the deed the sheriff delivers to the buyer once the sale is final, conveying whatever interest the defendant had, without warranty.
It does not promise clear title. Senior mortgages, some tax and municipal liens, and other interests the foreclosure did not cut off can survive the sale, which is what a title search before bidding is for.
See also: Sheriff sale, Confirmation of sale
Confirmation is the court's approval of a sheriff sale, in the states that require one, after which the deed is delivered.
In Ohio the buyer pays the balance and receives the deed after the court confirms the sale; until then the sale can still be set aside.
See also: Sheriff's deed
Redemption is the defendant's right to keep the property by paying what is owed, before the sale and, in some states, for a time after it.
New Jersey allows it for ten days after the sale; Kentucky gives six months when a property sells for less than two-thirds of its appraisal. A redeemed sale is cancelled.
See also: Defendant, Appraised value
Surplus is what a sheriff sale brings in above the judgment, costs and liens it pays, which belongs to the defendant and junior lienholders.
It arises only when a third party outbids the plaintiff by more than the debt.
See also: Judgment, Credit bid
REO, or real estate owned, is property a lender took back at its own foreclosure sale because no one outbid its credit bid.
See also: Credit bid
A master commissioner is the officer a Kentucky circuit court appoints to conduct its judicial sales, in place of the sheriff.
See also: Sheriff sale, Appraised value
A tax foreclosure is a lawsuit by a taxing body (or the buyer of its tax lien) to sell a property for unpaid taxes, which ends in a sheriff sale like a mortgage foreclosure.
It usually opens at the taxes and costs owed, far below a mortgage sale's judgment.
See also: Opening bid, Plaintiff
An association lien foreclosure is a sale forced by a condominium or homeowners' association for unpaid dues and assessments.
Whether a mortgage survives the sale depends on the state and the priority of the association's lien; the title search answers it.
See also: Plaintiff, Sheriff's deed
A parcel number is the county's identifier for a piece of land, the key to its tax and ownership records.
Formats differ by county; the same parcel is printed with different punctuation in different places, and search matches it either way.
The court case number identifies the foreclosure lawsuit behind a sheriff sale, and is what ties every listing of the same sale together.
See also: Sheriff's number
The sheriff's number is the sheriff's own reference for one sale, used on the sale list and at the auction.
See also: Court case number