How Foreclosure Works in Arkansas

Both. Arkansas allows court (judicial) foreclosure, and its Statutory Foreclosure Act also allows a non-judicial sale by a trustee or mortgagee after recording a notice of default and intention to sell. The non-judicial procedure is available only when the lender is a mortgage company, bank or savings and loan, does not apply to property used primarily for agriculture, and does not affect the right to foreclose in court.

Before starting a non-judicial foreclosure, the lender must mail the borrower, at least 10 days in advance, copies of the note and mortgage, the note holder's name and the note's location, information on available loan modification or forbearance programs, and (for payment defaults) a payment history. The lender must then record a notice of default and intention to sell, including the warning "YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PROPERTY IF YOU DO NOT TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION," and mail it by certified and first-class mail within 30 days of recording to the borrower, successors and junior lienholders. The sale notice must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks (the last no more than 10 days before the sale), posted at the courthouse, and listed with an online foreclosure-notice service. Borrowers who applied for loan modification or forbearance must be told they do not qualify at least 10 business days before the sale.

In a non-judicial foreclosure, at least 60 days must pass after the notice of default and intention to sell is recorded before the property may be sold. The borrower information packet must be mailed at least 10 days before the foreclosure is started.

Yes, in a non-judicial foreclosure. After the notice of default is recorded and before the sale, the borrower may cure by paying the entire amount then due (not principal that would not be due without the default) plus costs actually incurred and trustee's and attorney's fees. The foreclosure is then dismissed and the loan is reinstated as if no acceleration had occurred.