Behind on your mortgage in Washington: how foreclosure works and where a sale fits
Yes, you can sell your house before foreclosure in Washington, as long as the sale closes before the trustee's sale date. Most foreclosures here run through a trustee, out of court, and the earliest trustee's sale is 190 days after the default.
Selling is one option. Ideal Home Sale doesn't deal with your lender for you and has no say over a trustee's sale.
It takes about a minute, there's no obligation, and your details are never sold.
or call Jason (425) 242-4673
How long does foreclosure take in Washington?
At least 190 days from the default to the earliest possible trustee's sale, and usually longer. Washington's Deeds of Trust Act sets a minimum gap between each step: the lender's first contact, the notice of default, the recorded notice of sale, and the sale itself, held on a Friday in the county where the house is.
Day 0
Payments fall behind (default)
RCW 61.24.040 checked Oct 6, 2026
First
The lender must contact the borrower
A borrower who answers the lender's first letter in the first 30 days gets 60 more days to meet with the lender before a notice of default.
RCW 61.24.031(1)(a) checked Oct 6, 2026
30+ days before the notice of sale
Notice of default
RCW 61.24.030(8) checked Oct 6, 2026
90 or 120+ days before the sale
Notice of sale is recorded
RCW 61.24.040(1) checked Oct 6, 2026
Until the 11th day before
Reinstatement stays open
RCW 61.24.090(1) checked Oct 6, 2026
Day 190 at the earliest
The trustee's sale
RCW 61.24.040(12) checked Oct 6, 2026
Most Washington home loans are secured by a deed of trust, so a trustee can foreclose without going to court. The steps come in a fixed order. First the lender has to reach out, and a borrower who answers in the first 30 days gets an extra 60 days to talk it through with the lender before any notice of default. The notice of default comes at least 30 days before the notice of sale is recorded. The notice of sale is recorded with the county at least 90 days before the sale, or 120 days when that first letter was required. Until the 11th day before the sale date, the borrower can still cure the default by paying the past-due amount and the trustee's costs. The sale can't take place less than 190 days after the default. Each of those numbers is a floor, and many foreclosures take longer.
- Lender's first contact: a borrower who responds in the first 30 days gets 60 more days before a notice of default (RCW 61.24.031(1)).
- Notice of default: at least 30 days before the notice of sale is recorded (RCW 61.24.030(8)).
- Notice of sale: on the county's records 90 days ahead of the sale at the latest, 120 when the lender owed the first-contact letter (RCW 61.24.040(1)).
- Reinstatement: the borrower can cure the default up to the 11th day ahead of the sale (RCW 61.24.090(1)).
- The trustee's sale: no sooner than 190 days after the default, at a public place in the county, on a Friday or the Monday after a Friday holiday (RCW 61.24.040(9), (12)).
The notice of sale names the trustee, the sale date and the place. In King, Snohomish, Pierce, Skagit and Thurston counties alike, it is recorded with the auditor of the county where the house sits and mailed to you, so the date on it is the one that counts. These sections of the Deeds of Trust Act change on January 1, 2028, when a 2025 rewrite takes effect; this page follows the version in force today.
What are your options if you're behind on mortgage payments?
Depending on how far along the foreclosure is, the routes include catching up the loan, mediation with the lender, a modification or repayment plan, bankruptcy through an attorney, a short sale, or selling the house. Which of them are still open depends on the dates on your notices.
- Catch up the loan (reinstatement)
- Until the 11th day before the sale date, you can cure the default by paying the trustee the past-due amount plus the trustee's expenses and fees, and the sale proceedings end there (RCW 61.24.090(1)).
- Ask for mediation
- Washington's foreclosure mediation program needs a referral, for example from an attorney. On a deed of trust, the referral can come any time after the notice of default and no later than 90 days before the sale date in the notice of trustee's sale (RCW 61.24.163(2)).
- Apply for a modification or a repayment plan
- That decision belongs to the lender. Federal servicing rules give a complete application some protection: the servicer has 30 days to evaluate one that arrives more than 37 days before a sale (12 CFR 1024.41(c)(1)).
- Talk to a bankruptcy attorney
- Bankruptcy has its own rules for a house in foreclosure, and only an attorney can tell you whether it fits your case. Washington Law Help lists free and low-cost legal aid by county.
- Sell the house
- A sale pays the loan off at closing. It can be a listing when there is equity and enough time, or a cash sale when the house needs work or the calendar is short. Where a sale fits, below, covers both.
Can you sell your house before foreclosure?
Yes. You own the house until the trustee's sale, so you can list it or accept an offer up to then. Escrow pays the loan, the past-due amount and the trustee's costs from the sale at closing, and a paid-off loan leaves nothing for the trustee to sell. What limits a sale is the time left on the notice.
What happens to the loan and the notice when the house sells?
When a sale closes, escrow orders a payoff statement from the lender, pays it in full along with the trustee's fees, and the trustee records a reconveyance, the same release that follows any paid-off mortgage. Whether a sale can close in time depends on the title work, any other liens on the house, and whether the price covers what is owed. If it doesn't, the lender has to agree to a short sale.
What is a short sale in real estate?
A short sale is a sale where the price won't cover the mortgage payoff, so the lender agrees to accept less than it is owed to let the sale close. The lender decides whether to approve it and on what terms, and the approval often takes weeks, which matters when a sale date is already set.
The lender is the one taking the loss on the loan, and the seller usually receives nothing from the sale. Read the lender's approval letter closely before you sign, preferably with an attorney, because it says whether the lender keeps any right to collect the difference afterward. Other liens, such as a second mortgage or a judgment, have to be released as part of the same closing.
Where a sale fits
A sale is one option among several, and it fits best once you've decided not to keep the house. How much equity there is, and how many days are left on the notice of sale, usually decide between a listing and a cash sale.
- List it
- With equity and enough time before the sale date, a listing usually brings the higher price. Jason can list it as your broker, and he'll tell you plainly if the calendar is too tight for a listing to close. Jason Bryant is a licensed broker with Windermere Real Estate (license 101377).
- Sell it as-is for cash
- When the house needs work or the days are short, a cash sale skips the repairs and the showings. Ideal Home Sale makes a written offer only when the numbers work for both sides, the offer lists the payoff and every cost line by line, and the closing date goes into the contract.
- What Ideal Home Sale doesn't offer
- We don't offer to lease the house back to you after a sale, or to sell it back to you later, and we don't deal with your lender for you.
How Ideal Home Sale works when a sale date is already set
We work toward a sale that closes before the trustee's sale date, with the loan paid off at closing. We can't promise that any sale will close in time: the title work, other liens and the price all decide that, and we say so at the walkthrough.
For your house that is either a written cash offer, when the numbers work, or a listing with Windermere Real Estate, when there is equity and enough time for buyers to find it. If the house needs a little work to show well and there is equity and time, we may pay for light upgrades and be repaid from the sale at escrow, on terms agreed in writing for that house before any work starts.
Is a tax foreclosure the same thing?
No. When property taxes go unpaid, the county treasurer forecloses instead of a lender. In Washington the treasurer can issue a certificate of delinquency once taxes are three years past due, and the county then sells the property at its own tax sale, on a schedule each treasurer posts.
The guide to selling a house with liens or back taxes covers how county tax sales work and how back taxes are paid from a sale.
Questions sellers ask
What is the 120 day rule for foreclosure?
It's a federal mortgage servicing rule. A servicer generally can't make the first notice or filing for a foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)(1)). Washington's own notice periods then run on top of that.
What is the 37 day foreclosure rule?
Under the same federal rule, a complete loss mitigation application that reaches the servicer more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale gets an answer from the servicer in 30 days, and the servicer generally can't hold the sale until the application is decided and any appeal has run its course (12 CFR 1024.41(c)(1), (g)).
Can I still live in my house if it's in foreclosure?
Yes. You own the house until the trustee's sale. Under Washington law the buyer at a trustee's sale is entitled to possession on the 20th day after the sale (RCW 61.24.060(1)), so the date on your notice of sale tells you how much time you have.
Is it too late to sell once a sale date is set?
Not by itself, since you own the house until the sale. The sale has to close before the date on the notice, so the earlier you start, the more room there is for the title work and the payoffs.
Where is a trustee's sale held?
At a public place in the county where the house is, named in the recorded notice of sale. It happens on a Friday, or on the following Monday when that Friday is a legal holiday (RCW 61.24.040(9)).
Can a lender foreclose without going to court in Washington?
Yes, for most home loans. A deed of trust with a power of sale lets a trustee foreclose out of court under chapter 61.24 RCW, following the notice periods on this page. Some loans are foreclosed through the courts instead.
Will Ideal Home Sale talk to my lender for me?
No. Your lender and the trustee run the foreclosure. If you sell, escrow orders the payoff from the lender as it does on any sale.
Sources
- RCW 61.24.031, the lender's first contact and the 30 + 60 day window before a notice of defaultchecked
- RCW 61.24.030, requisites to a trustee's sale (subsection 8: the notice of default)checked
- RCW 61.24.040, the notice of sale, the place and day of sale, and the 190-day minimumchecked
- RCW 61.24.060, the buyer's right to possession on the 20th day after the salechecked
- RCW 61.24.090, curing the default until the 11th day before the salechecked
- RCW 61.24.163, the foreclosure mediation program and its referral deadlinechecked
- RCW 84.64.050, certificate of delinquency after three years of unpaid property taxchecked
- 12 CFR 1024.41, federal loss mitigation procedures (Regulation X)checked
- Washington Law Help, free legal information and legal aidchecked
If you've decided to sell, start with the address
Send it with the sale date on your notice. We'll schedule a walkthrough, put any offer in writing, and tell you plainly when a listing is the better fit for the time you have. Jason Bryant is a licensed broker with Windermere Real Estate (license 101377).
Selling is one option. Ideal Home Sale doesn't deal with your lender for you and has no say over a trustee's sale.
It takes about a minute, there's no obligation, and your details are never sold.
or call Jason (425) 242-4673