How long do I have after a sheriff's sale?
If your home has been through a sheriff's sale in Minnesota, you usually have six months from the date of that sale.
That period is called the redemption period, and it matters more than most people are told.
What you can do during those six months#
You can stay in your home. The person who bought at the sale cannot move in, cannot start work on the property, and cannot rent it out. That is not a courtesy — it is your right under Minnesota law.
You can pay off what is owed and keep the house. The amount is the sheriff's sale bid plus interest and certain costs, not your original mortgage balance. On some properties that is considerably less than people expect.
You can sell the property yourself. You still own it. If it is worth more than the redemption amount, the difference belongs to you — and this is the part most people do not know.
You can talk to a free housing counsellor, who is not selling anything.
Find your exact date#
It is on your sheriff's sale paperwork. The county sheriff's office can also confirm it.
Get it from the sheriff or from your own documents. Not from someone who has contacted you about buying the house. That date is the most important fact in your situation and it should come from an official source.
Most people get six months. Some situations get twelve — certain agricultural property, and some older mortgages. If a court has formally declared the home abandoned, it can be as short as five weeks.
The most important question#
Is your home worth more than the redemption amount?
Being behind on payments feels like being broke, and being told your house has been sold sounds like it is gone. Neither of those tells you whether there is money in the property.
The redemption amount is the amount bid at the sale, plus interest and certain costs. Not what you originally borrowed.
If your home is worth more than that number, there is equity in it, and that equity is yours if you act before the deadline. It is not yours afterwards.
How to find out:
Call the county sheriff and ask for the redemption amount and the exact expiry date.
Find out roughly what the property is worth. A local estate agent will give you an opinion at no cost. Your county assessor publishes an estimated market value on the property record, free to look up.
Compare the two numbers. That comparison tells you which situation you are actually in, and everything else follows from it.
What happens more often than people expect#
We track Minnesota redemption periods from the sheriff's sale to what actually happened, using recorded property documents.
Across 326 tracked cases:
| What happened | Share |
|---|---|
| The owner paid off the amount and kept the home | 33.4% |
| The owner sold during the redemption period | 15.0% |
| The property went to the lender or was resold | Remainder |
Nearly half did not end with the owner losing everything.
And having equity is what made the difference. Where the amount bid at the sale was less than half what the property was assessed at, 58.1% of owners kept their homes — across 31 cases we tracked. Where the bid was 80% or more of the assessed value, 20.0% did, across 50 cases.
People with equity in their homes find a way more often than not. That is what the records show.
Talk to a free housing counsellor first#
HUD-approved housing counsellors are free. They are not selling anything and they do not take a share of anything.
What they can do: look at your whole situation, tell you what applies to you, and in some cases help stop a foreclosure entirely — through a payment plan, a loan modification, or a programme you may not know exists.
Where to find one: the Minnesota Homeownership Center maintains a network of counselling agencies across the state, and HUD publishes a directory of approved counsellors.
Do this before speaking to anyone offering to buy your home. Not because every buyer is acting badly, but because a counsellor has no interest in the outcome and can tell you what your options are before someone else frames them for you.
If someone has contacted you about buying#
You have probably already heard from several people. Letters, calls, sometimes someone at the door.
That is because the sheriff's sale is a public record. It is not because something has gone wrong beyond what you already know.
Some of those people are offering something useful. If you have equity and cannot pay off the redemption amount, selling before the deadline turns equity into money in your hand instead of losing it.
Some are not. Minnesota has a law, chapter 325N, specifically about people who approach homeowners in foreclosure. Among other things:
- Nobody may charge you a fee before they have actually done what they promised
- Someone offering to help you stop the foreclosure may not take an interest in your property
- If you sign an agreement to sell, you have a right to cancel it within a set number of days, and that right cannot be signed away
- The contract has to be in writing, in a particular form
Practical things to hold onto:
Do not sign anything the day it is put in front of you.
Do not pay anyone up front.
Find out what your home is worth before agreeing a price. If someone offers you a figure, that figure should be compared to something.
Ask a housing counsellor, or a lawyer, before signing. Legal aid organisations help people in foreclosure at no cost.
What happens if the deadline passes#
Ownership passes to whoever bought at the sale. In Minnesota this happens automatically when the period ends.
You do not have to leave that day. If you are still living there, the new owner has to go to court to remove you, and that takes further time.
Any equity in the property is no longer yours. This is the reason the deadline matters. Once it passes, the difference between what the property was worth and what was owed belongs to somebody else.
And some lenders may have a short window after yours. If somebody else was owed money on the property — a second mortgage, for example — they may be able to step in for a few days after your period ends.
Questions people ask us#
"Can they change the locks?"
Not during your redemption period. You have the right to live in the property until it ends. If someone has changed the locks, shut off your utilities or removed your belongings, that is unlawful and a legal aid organisation can help you the same week.
"Do I still have to pay the mortgage?"
The mortgage that was foreclosed has been dealt with by the sale. What matters now is the redemption amount if you want to keep the home. If there is a second mortgage or another loan on the property, that is a separate question and a counsellor or lawyer should look at it.
"What about the property taxes?"
They keep running. If they go unpaid long enough that starts a completely separate process on a much longer clock — years, not months. Ask the county about the tax position so you know where you stand on both.
"I got a letter saying I have to leave by a certain date."
Check the date against your sheriff's paperwork. Letters from buyers sometimes give a date that is not your legal deadline. The sheriff's office will tell you the real one, free, over the phone.
"Someone offered to let me stay if I sign the house over."
Be very careful with this. Arrangements where you sell and stay on as a tenant, sometimes with a promise to buy it back, have a long history of going badly for the homeowner. Several states have restricted them. Do not sign one without a lawyer looking at it first, and legal aid can do that at no cost.
"Is it too late?"
Not until the deadline passes. People pay off the redemption amount in the last weeks, and people sell in the last weeks. The one thing that closes the door is the date arriving with nothing done.
If you decide to sell#
Some people decide selling is the right answer. If you have equity and cannot raise the redemption amount, selling before the deadline turns that equity into money rather than losing it.
A few things to protect yourself:
Find out what your home is worth first, before anyone offers you a number. An estate agent will give you an opinion free.
A normal sale usually pays more than a quick cash offer. You still own the property and you can list it like anyone else. A quick sale to an investor is faster and more certain, and it is usually for less money. Both can be reasonable — the point is to know which you are choosing.
Make sure the timing works. A normal sale takes weeks. If your deadline is close, that matters, and a counsellor or agent can tell you honestly whether there is time.
Get the deadline in writing in any agreement, and get the cancellation rights Minnesota law gives you.
Do not pay anyone up front, and do not sign anything the day it is put in front of you.
What to do this week#
- Find your exact deadline from the sheriff's paperwork or the sheriff's office.
- Ask the sheriff for the redemption amount.
- Find out roughly what your home is worth, from an agent or the county assessor.
- Compare those two numbers.
- Call a free HUD-approved housing counsellor.
- Do not sign anything before you have done the first five.
You have more time and more options than the letters suggest. A third of the Minnesota homeowners we have tracked through this kept their homes, and a further one in seven sold and kept what was left. Neither of those happened by waiting for the deadline.