How Foreclosure Works in West Virginia

West Virginia law provides for non-judicial foreclosure of a trust deed: after a default, and once the conditions in the trust deed are met, the trustee must, when the lender requires it, sell the property at public auction after giving the notice of sale required by statute.

The trustee must publish a notice of the trustee's sale as a Class II legal advertisement in the county where the property is located (once a week for two successive weeks), unless an older trust deed made before July 1, 1980 waived publication. A copy of the notice must be sent to the borrower (grantor) by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address in the trust deed or a later address the borrower gave the lender in writing; notice is complete when mailed, even if returned. Junior lienholders who have notified the first lienholder of their lien must be sent notice by certified mail at least 20 days before the sale. The notice must state the time and place of sale, the parties, the date and recording information of the trust deed, a description of the property, and the terms of sale.

The time frames set by the statutes reviewed are: publication of the notice of sale once a week for two successive weeks; certified-mail notice to qualifying junior lienholders at least 20 days before the sale; and, for loans covered by the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, no acceleration or collection action until 10 days after a notice of the right to cure is given.

Under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, after a consumer has been in default on a secured consumer loan for five days, the creditor may send a written notice of the right to cure. The creditor may not accelerate the debt, sue, or take the collateral until 10 days after that notice. During those 10 days, the consumer can cure by paying all unpaid sums due (without acceleration) plus any unpaid delinquency or deferral charges, which restores the consumer's rights as if there had been no default. A consumer who has defaulted and been given notice three or more times on the same obligation loses this right to cure.