My previous question was a little vague....
My neighbor signed her house over to her son and he borrowed against it but didn't pay the payments therefore they have foreclosed on it. She is loosing her house that her husband had paid for in full before passing away. Her son is loosing his also. The attorney "for the company that purchased it", it is his company, gave them a letter stating "vacate premissis in 5 days". Is this an actual eviction? Shouldn't he be going thru the court to actually evict them? She was my nanny growing up and is 90 now so she has alot to pack in such a short period of time. HELP with factual info. is despirately needed! I just don't know where to look.

ScottGem

You have a misunderstanding of legalities here. When a house is foreclosed on the occupants of that house have no right to remain in the house once the foreclosure is finalized. Doesn't matter whether they are the renters or previous owners. The new owners have the right to send a letter orderng them to vacate. They would have no legal right unless there was some problem with the foreclosure, to stay on the premises.

They could, however, refuse to leave. At that point the new owner would need to institute formal eviction proceedings with the end result of a sheriff coming and forceably evicting them and their belongings.

JBragg05

I am obviously mis-informed here in VA. The property was not actually sold. The mortgage company took it back and they are turning it over to a realtor. There have been alot of shady things going on with the mortgage company but the homeowner can't find the documents that the attorney needs. They are packing to vacate tomorrow but were told by others that there needs to be a formal eviction thru the court system before they are actually "put out".
Thanks for your input.

ScottGem

To have someone physically removed from the property does require a court order. The first step in that process is to just tell them to vacate. If they don't, then court proceedings to forcibly remove would have to be instituted.

The point here is they have no legal right to continue occupying the property once the mortgage company forecloses. So the mortgage company has every right to tell them to get out. What the mortgage company can't do is forcibly remove them. That has to be done by someone authorized by a court.

This is actually the same as a landlord evicting an tenant for non payment. Once the tenant stops paying, the landlord can tell them to get out. But to forcibly remove them requires court authorization.

asucse

This might be a good guide to the eviction process in Virginia:
PWC - Eviction Process