For AZ Homeowners • 4 min read
Already Got a Notice of Trustee's Sale? Here's What to Do in the Next 7 Days.
A practical, day-by-day playbook for Arizona homeowners inside the 90-day foreclosure window.
First: you have time. Use it.
Arizona law (ARS §33-808) requires at least 90 days between a Notice of Trustee's Sale being recorded and the auction. That's your window. Here's how to use the first 7 days of it.
Day 1 (today)
- Find the notice. Confirm the recorded date and the scheduled sale date. The sale date is on the notice in bold.
- Don't panic. Don't run. Running from calls just gives the lender less opportunity to work with you.
- Call a short sale specialist. A 15-minute call tells you what options are on the table.
Day 2
- Pull your loan documents. Note the lender name, loan number, and the servicer (the company you actually pay each month — can be different from the lender).
- Gather recent bank statements and pay stubs. You'll need 2 months of each.
Day 3
- Write a one-page hardship letter. Plain language, honest, chronological. What happened, when, and why the payment isn't sustainable.
- Check your home's rough value. A free home value report will tell you if you're underwater or have equity.
Day 4
- If you have a second mortgage or HELOC, pull those statements too. Both lenders must agree for a short sale to go through.
- Decide who lives with you and what documentation applies to them. Joint borrowers have to sign the short sale package too.
Day 5
- Talk to a bankruptcy attorney if the sale date is within 30 days. Filing Chapter 13 triggers an automatic stay that halts the auction. This doesn't fix the underlying problem but buys weeks to complete a short sale.
- Don't file unless you need to. Bankruptcy has its own credit and legal consequences.
Day 6
- Sign the listing agreement. Once the home is listed, we can start notifying the lender and submitting the short sale request with a buyer offer.
- Prepare the house to show. Not spotless — just accessible. Buyers are patient with short sale homes.
Day 7
- Package submitted to lender. The short sale package plus a signed purchase offer goes to the lender's loss mitigation team.
- Postponement request filed. Most lenders will postpone the trustee's sale once a full package is in review.
What happens next
Over the following 30–60 days, the lender reviews your hardship and the buyer's offer. I handle all the back-and-forth. You sign closing docs 60–120 days later and walk away.
The single biggest mistake
Waiting. Every day between today and the auction is a day of leverage you're giving up. Call now — even if you think you don't have a hardship, even if you're embarrassed, even if you're not sure what to do.