New Hampshire Foreclosure Laws

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Judicial Foreclosure Available:	Yes
Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available:	Yes
Primary Security Instruments:	Deed of Trust, Mortgage
Timeline:	Varies by Process, Typically 60 days
Right of Redemption:	None
Deficiency Judgments Allowed:	Yes

In New Hampshire, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage or deed of trust in default by using either the judicial or non-judicial foreclosure processes or any of the following special methods: Entry under Process, Entry and Publication or Possession and Publication.

Judicial Foreclosure

Judicial Foreclosure involves the sale of the mortgaged property under the supervision of a court. The property is subject to auction by the county sheriff or some other officer of the court. The proceeds first go to the lender to satisfy the mortgage; then other lien holders; and, finally, to the borrower if any proceeds are left. All parties must be notified of the foreclosure. A judicial decision is announced after pleadings at a hearing in a state or local court.

Non-Judicial Foreclosure (Power of Sale)

Also known as Foreclosure by power of sale, Non-Judicial Foreclosure is used when a power of sale clause exists in a mortgage or deed of trust. This process involves the sale of the property by the mortgage holder without court supervision. It is generally more expedient than foreclosure by judicial sale. As in judicial sale, the mortgage holder and other lien holders are respectively first and second claimants to the proceeds from the sale.

Power of Sale Foreclosure Guidelines

If the deed of trust or mortgage contains a power of sale clause and specifies the time, place and terms of sale, then the specified procedure must be followed. Otherwise, the non-judicial power of sale foreclosure is carried out in the following phases:

A notice of sale must be recorded in the county where the property is located and then: 1) mailed to the borrower at least twenty-five (25) days before the sale; and 2) published once a week for three (3) weeks, with the first publication appearing not less than twenty (20) days before the sale, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is located.

The notice should contain the time, date and place of sale, a description of the property and the default, as well as a "warning" to the borrower, informing him the property is going to be sold and what rights he has to stop the procedure.

The foreclosure sale must be held on the property itself, unless the power of sale clause specifies a different location.

Special Methods of Foreclosure

1. Entry under Process - The lender may foreclose by entering the property under process of law and maintaining actual possession of the property for one year.


2. Entry and Publication - By peaceable entry onto the property and continued, actual, peaceable possession for a period of one year, and by a publishing a notice stating the time of possession, the lender and borrowers name, the date of the mortgage and a description of the property in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is located. The notice must be published for three (3) successive weeks, with the first publication appearing at least six (6) months before the borrowers right to redeem has expired.


3. Possession and Publication - By the lender in possession of the property publishing a notice stating that from and after a certain day, the property will be held for default of the mortgage and the borrowers rights to the property will be foreclosed. Said notice must be published in a newspaper printed in the county where the property is located for three (3) successive weeks and must give the borrower and lenders name, the date of the mortgage, a description of the property and the lenders intention to hold possession of the property for at least one (1) year.

Borrowers have no rights of redemption when any of the three (3) special methods of foreclosure are used.

United States Foreclosure Law