There is no single Federal law governing national foreclosures, so the foreclosures process itself, and the way in which foreclosure sales are handled, will differ according to the state in which a foreclosure occurs. But in the majority of states, foreclosures take at least sixty days to be completed.

The national foreclosures rate in the US has climbed steadily for the past year, so those interested in investing in foreclosures have a wide range of national foreclosure properties from which to choose. For each of these properties, regardless of its location, there will be a pre-foreclosure period during which the lender will give the homeowner a chance to pay off their delinquent house payments.

The increase in national foreclosures, however, is due in large part to the increase in the prime lending interest rate, which forced the monthly payments of home buyers with adjustable rate mortgages to climb. Even though most lenders give their homeowners a chance to catch up on late payments, the chances of its happening are not high.

If the homeowner fails to pay the amount in default, the lender will then file a Notice of Foreclosure at the Court House of the County in which the foreclosure property is situated. After doing so, the lender will also have to give notice to the property owner, any of its lien holders, and the public at large, that the property will be offered at a public auction. The huge amount of national foreclosures means that every urban newspaper across the country will have long lists of properties to be sold at public auction.

If the primary lender on the foreclosed property fails to notify the other lien holders of the auction, the lien holders may have the right to be paid the amounts of their liens, plus interest, by the new owner of the foreclosure. The number of national foreclosures almost guarantees that some of them will be sold with liens attached, so before deciding to bid on a property, have a title search performed on it.

Finding What You Want Among National Foreclosures Even though there is no all-encompassing national foreclosures procedure, the basic method of publishing upcoming foreclosure auctions in local newspapers is the best way to find listings of foreclosures in your area. Most state foreclosure laws require that a lender publish the intent to auction a foreclosure throughout the four weeks just before the sales date.

National foreclosures are so many and diverse that the best ways to find ones which meet your needs are to search on the Internet for foreclosure listing services; to visit a public library and study the newspapers for the cities where you'd like to bid on foreclosures; or to find a real estate agent who deals in foreclosures.