How Foreclosure Works in Virginia

Virginia law provides for non-judicial foreclosure of a deed of trust: on default, the trustee named in the deed of trust (or a substitute trustee) can sell the property at a public sale after giving the written notices and newspaper advertisement required by statute, without a court case.

Before a trustee's sale, the trustee or lender must give written notice of the time, date and place of the sale to the current owner by certified or registered mail no less than 60 days before the sale for owner-occupied residential property (14 days for other property), and to recorded junior lienholders and associations that have filed liens. For owner-occupied homes, the notice must include the website of HUD's Office of Housing Counseling listing HUD-approved counselors. The sale must also be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation where the property is located; if the deed of trust sets the number of ads, weekly ads must run at least once a week for two weeks (or daily ads at least once a day for three days), and the sale must be held no earlier than eight days after the first ad and no more than 30 days after the last ad.

The statute requires the written notice of sale to reach an owner-occupied homeowner no less than 60 days before the sale (14 days for other property), and a sale held after newspaper advertising must take place no earlier than eight days after the first advertisement and no more than 30 days after the last one. The trustee may postpone a sale without new notice.