What Are the Main Steps in a Power of Sale?

Robust Numbers Continue for Ontario Home Sales- Know How To Hold on To your Valued Home

Many real estate professionals feared that the bottom may drop out of the housing market due in large part to the Covid-19 pandemic. These fears have not been realized. Despite an ongoing pandemic, Ontario and Provinces across the country have experienced a robust real estate market.

National home sales increased by 2% in January 2021 alone with the overall year-over-year activity up by 35.2%, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.  January of this year also saw a national average sale price increase of 22.8%.

Housing sales are booming, and inventory is tight with the number of buyers outweighing available housing inventory. This is welcome news for Ontario homeowners. 

For those homeowners, however, that have struggled to keep up with the costs of owning a home during the pandemic, it may have been impossible to keep up with monthly mortgage payments. When Ontario homeowners fall into arrears with mortgage payments, they are in mortgage default. Lenders may decide to try to put the property in good standing or try to repossess the property and sell it at market value in the condition it is currently in. 

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) had speculated towards the end of 2020 that up to 2 percent of insured mortgages could be in jeopardy of falling into arrears. In Ontario, the actual number of properties in arrears as of November 2020, according to the Canadian Bankers association is 0.10% which represents 2,008 properties. Lower than predicted by CMHC but these homeowners must address any arrears in mortgage payments to prevent lenders from taking legal action due to mortgage default. 

If an Ontario homeowner is facing a power of sale or foreclosure on their property, steps should be taken to stop the process from carrying out to completion and losing possession of the property. It is also crucial to understand the steps that are involved in a power of sale (the far preferred method used to handle mortgage default by Ontario lenders.) 

It is important to keep in mind that the process of a power of sale takes time. The initial steps that your lender legally takes, through to completion can take up to 6 months. This time is valuable for the Ontario homeowner. The time that can allow for the mortgage to be put in good standing. A power of sale has steps that also must be followed to be legally carried out properly.

Steps Involved in a Power of Sale in Ontario

1. Lender Must Allow for 15 days– once a borrower has missed a payment or is substantially late, the Ontario Mortgage Act requires that the lender provide a borrower 15 days to try to rectify the situation before a lender can exercise the power of sale. 
2. Send a Notice of Sale to Borrower- Once 15 days have passed a lender is now entitled to send a letter. This letter is referred to as a Notice of Sale. The notice of sale letter will specify that the borrower has gone into default and that the borrower has a redemption period to try to rectify the situation by making up any missed payments. 
3. Lender Will Issue a Statement of Claim- If the borrower does not rectify the financial situation and pay what is due by the end of the redemption period the lender has the legal right to issue what is called a Statement of Claim to address the debt owning and take possession of the property.
4. Lender Can Take Possession of the Property– After the Statement of Claim has been issued and the borrower has neither paid off the entire mortgage loan plus legal fees nor put the mortgage in good standing, the lender is now in the position to take possession of the property and take legal steps to evict by asking the court for a Writ of Possession. The current owners will be asked to evict the property at a specified date once the Sheriff has filled out the eviction paperwork. The Sheriff will send a Notice of Eviction which will specify the time and date that the homeowners must vacate the property. If they do not leave voluntarily, then they may be forcibly removed by the authorities from the property.
5. Take Steps to Sell the Property- It is only at this step of the power of sale proceedings that the lender can legally possess the property and attempt to sell the property in the condition it is currently in. The fees will be the responsibility of the previous owner and can be very substantial. The profit will go to the former homeowner but will be considerably reduced through the enormous costs associated with a power of sale.

Mortgage Broker Store Can Help You Stop a Power of Sale On your Home

At Mortgage Broker Store we know how important your home is to you. We also are very experienced in the process of the power of sale and the steps that can be taken to stop the process from moving forward to completion. Don’t risk losing your home.  We have access to a large network of private lenders that can sit down with you and discuss different private mortgage loan options that can cover any arrears that you may owe as well as allow you to pay your principal mortgage payments comfortably. Don’t hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience. We will be able to address any concerns you may have if you are under threat of the power of sale.

jonathan March 19th, 2021

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