One of the most common questions asked by consumers who are going through a foreclosure is, "how long can I stay in my home after my home is foreclosed on before I have to leave?" Foreclosure can be an embarrassing enough event to go through let alone having to worry about coming home one day and either finding your home locked up by the county sheriff or your belongings thrown out of the home on the lawn. Nobody wants to take the chance of that happening, especially if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of friends that are unaware of your financial situation.

So how long can you remain in your home after it has been foreclosed upon or do you need to move from the property as soon as the foreclosure process is started? A homeowner can remain in the home all the way up through the time of the sheriff's sale of the property. You do not have to vacate the property immediately after finding out your home is being foreclosed on. The sheriff's department will not come over and board up your home, change the locks or throw your personal belongings out on the front lawn while you are at work. You are still the homeowner of record until the home has been bought via sheriff sale. Therefore, you still have a right to remain in that home until the home is transferred to someone else through the sheriff sale. Many times your lender will buy the home back through sheriff sale and this will put the home into their name and remove you as the owner of the home. You can wait until the sheriff comes to the home at this point to evict you. However, you may want to simply consider leaving as soon as the home has sold through the sheriff sale.

Therefore, even after your home is foreclosed upon you may still remain in the home because you are still the owner of the home. Most foreclosure processes can take anywhere from as little as 2 months up to as long as a year. Although in rare occasions the process has even taken up to 2 years. You will be able to remain in the home until you are evicted and it is highly recommended that you begin saving as much money as possible to prepare for life after foreclosure. Expect to pay larger deposits up front for things such as rentals, utilities, and phone and cable services. While foreclosures are not the most pleasant of life's experiences, you can still make the best of a bad situation by remaining in the home and saving up as much money as you can.