what is a judicial foreclosure 
judicial foreclosure refers to foreclosure proceedings on a property in which the mortgage lacks a power of sale clause in this case the foreclosure proceedings are settled through the courts power of sale is a clause written into a mortgage in the event of default it authorizes the lender to sell the property in order to repay the mortgage debt in this way legal proceedings can be sidestepped power of sale is permitted in many states as part of a lender s rights to seek a foreclosure 1understanding judicial foreclosurejudicial foreclosure refers to foreclosure cases that go through the court system foreclosure occurs when a home is sold to pay off unpaid debt the procedure is carried out according to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the property is situated which is almost always state law 2 many states require foreclosures to be judicial but in some states foreclosures can be either nonjudicial or judicial 1if the court finds that the mortgage debt is in default an auction can be scheduled for the sale of the property in order to acquire funds to repay the lender this differs from nonjudicial foreclosures which are processed without court intervention 1many states require judicial foreclosure to protect the equity that debtors may still have in the property judicial foreclosure also serves to prevent strategic disclosures by unscrupulous lenders in instances where the auction does not generate enough funds to repay the mortgage lender the former homeowner will still be held liable for the remaining balance 3the amount of time a borrower must be in arrears on a mortgage before a lender is allowed to begin the foreclosure process 4