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Foreclosure is a slow and painful process of losing your home due to the lack of payment of your mortgage or back taxes. Homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes are contacted via letters and phone calls that alert them that they are in risk of losing their home if they do not pay the bills that are past due. After a period of about 2-3 months (pending on the state the home is in) the homeowner will receive a posting on their door announcing the date of the Sheriff or Public Trustees Sale auctioning off their house to qualified bidders. This sale date may also publicize online or in local newspapers, those advertisements are foreclosure listings.

Foreclosure listings are the information provided publicly on bank owned homes and government foreclosures. Foreclosure listings are a way for those who are interested in entering the real estate game to get substantial discounts on the purchase of properties. Consumers interested in browsing and purchasing a home from a foreclosure listing should be aware that many of the properties are sold as is (meaning the previous owners stripped them of all appliances, hardware and even electrical wiring).

There are typically two ways consumers can purchase foreclosed homes and taxes vary based on the way the property is purchased. If you buy a home from a foreclosure listing from a Sheriff or Public Trustees Sale all junior liens other than property taxes are wiped out. You will become responsible for paying the taxes to keep the property up to date.

If a home cannot be sold through the aforementioned sale type, the property then reverts back to the lender. Homes sold directly through lenders are typically sold with a clean title, meaning no additional taxes are due. Foreclosure listings will provide a tip for what properties may become bank owned properties.

Times are tricky and you want to be prepared in a case of an emergency. Your family has cut their spending habits dramatically and all your spare cash is being saved in an emergency fund. Right now you feel like you are teetering on the edge and just want to get all your ducks in a row and research your state foreclosure resources before you actually need them.

There are several resources for finding this type of information. The federal HUD agency provides a state-by-state breakdown of foreclosure resources available to consumers at http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/local.cfm. Some of the information provided is contact information for nonprofit housing counselors, legal assistance and information on where you can file a complaint with consumer affairs. The foreclosure resources available to those in jeopardy vary from state to state. Your best bet for researching your state foreclosure resources is to start with the federal website. The links provided are non-profit and HUD sponsors many.

In general the foreclosure process as far as the timing varies depending on the state you live in. To find the information that would be most applicable to you visit your favorite search engine and enter "foreclosure laws" and the name of your state in the browser. You can also visit http://www.foreclosurelaw.org/ to find all the links necessary for your state laws.

The Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation website for your state may also be a valuable foreclosure resource. Many of their home pages are chock full of links and resources to help consumers find answers and assistance to their mortgage problems. The web pages are also fairly easy to navigate, so you can browse and find more information about your state foreclosure resources easily.

As a compassionate human being, you have mixed feelings about purchasing a foreclosed home. Like any purchasing situation, there are pros and cons to buying a foreclosed property and all should be weighted equally so you can come up with a decision that you feel most comfortable in making.

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The foreclosure process does not happen in the blink of an eye. It is actually a process that can take several months to complete. Although the exact time frame differs from state to state there are some federal rules about how many payments you miss before foreclosure becomes imminent.

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