How long does foreclosure take in Louisiana?
For most home loans, it rarely takes less than about six months from the first missed payment to the sheriff's sale, and it often takes longer. Part of that is waiting and part is court time. A federal rule generally keeps a servicer from starting foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days behind. After that, a lender using the fast court route often gets from filing to a sale in a few months.
Your own case can be shorter or longer. The dates printed on your notice of seizure are the ones that count. We are a home buyer, not a law firm, a lender or a housing counselor, so a Louisiana lawyer can tell you what applies to your loan.
Want a cash offer, or to have us take over the payments? Call or text Charlie at (318) 714-4321, or Get My Cash Offer. Cash is not promised on every house. No fee, no obligation.
What makes it shorter or longer?
A few things decide the speed. Most of them are set by the lender's paperwork and by whether anyone contests the case.
- Executory or ordinary process. Most home loans use executory process, the fast route. The lender files the mortgage and note, a judge signs an order, and the sheriff seizes and sells the house without a full lawsuit. When the paperwork is not in the right form, the lender has to file an ordinary lawsuit, which generally takes longer.
- Whether anyone fights it. A court challenge, an appeal or a bankruptcy filing can add time or pause the sale. Those are decisions for you and a lawyer.
- A loss-mitigation application. If you send your servicer a complete application early enough, federal rules generally hold up the filing while it is reviewed.
- Resets. A sale date can be moved. A rescheduled sale generally needs a new ad.
- The sale itself. Some houses sell on the sale date, some do not. If nobody bids, the sheriff advertises again.
What are the stages, one at a time?
Here is the usual order for an uncontested case. The times are rough, and only the 120-day and 60-day figures come straight from the rules.
- Missed payments. The servicer calls and writes. You can still sell the house normally, and free help is available.
- The filing. After the loan is more than 120 days behind, the lender asks the court for an order to seize and sell.
- The order and the notice of seizure. The judge signs, and a deputy serves you the notice of seizure. It lists the first sale date, which Louisiana law says is at least 60 days after the judge signed. You may also have a short window to appeal the order.
- The ads. The sheriff advertises the sale in the parish paper. The first ad runs at least 30 days before the sale and the second runs a few days before it.
- The appraisal, if there is one. If the house is sold "with appraisement," it is appraised a few days before the sale.
- Sale day. Each parish sheriff sets the sale days. In Caddo, Bossier and DeSoto Parish they are on Wednesdays; the parish pages below show where and how to check your date.
- After the sale. In general there is no right to buy the house back. Our guide on what happens after a sheriff's sale explains that and deficiency judgments.
Does it matter whether the sale is with or without appraisement?
It matters for money more than for time. "Without appraisement" means the lender chose to sell without an appraisal, and in general the lender then cannot chase you for what the sale does not cover. "With appraisement" means the first offering opens at two-thirds of the appraised value. If nobody bids that much, the sheriff advertises again and sells at a second offering for whatever it brings. That second round is one more way a case can take longer.
The line is on your notice of seizure and in the sheriff's ad. Ask a lawyer what it means for your loan.
Does it take longer in Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto or Webster?
The steps are the same in every parish, because they come from state law. What differs is where the sale is held and how you look up the date. Caddo Parish sells in person at the courthouse in Shreveport. Bossier Parish sells online. DeSoto Parish sells in Mansfield. Webster Parish sells at the courthouse door in Minden. Each parish page shows where to check your date: Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto and Webster.
What can you do at each stage?
You have more choices early than late. The free ones come first.
- While you are behind but not yet in court: call your servicer and ask in writing what it would take to catch up, and whether a repayment plan, forbearance or modification is possible. Keep a copy of what you send.
- Any time: talk to a free HUD-approved housing counselor. They do not charge, and they deal with servicers every day. Use the HUD counselor search.
- Once you have a notice of seizure: talk to a Louisiana lawyer right away, because some deadlines are short. The Louisiana State Bar Association can point you toward one. A lawyer can also say whether bankruptcy makes sense. A filing generally pauses a sheriff's sale.
- Before the sale date: you can sell the house. A closing before the sale pays off the loan through the title company, and you receive anything left over. You can list with a Realtor if there is time and equity, or sell to a buyer like us if the house needs work or the date is close.
- After the sale: the house belongs to the buyer. That is why the weeks before the date matter.
We buy houses. We are not a foreclosure-relief service, we charge homeowners no fee, and we cannot promise how a foreclosure will turn out.
If you want to sell before the sale
We buy houses as they sit, so you do not repair or clean first. A local title company closes, gets the payoff from your lender and pays it out of the sale. You pick the closing date, as long as it is before the sheriff's date. A closing needs time for the title work and the payoff figure, so call early. Our main foreclosure page shows every option side by side, including the ones that do not involve us.
If your loan is for more than the house is worth, see owe more than your house is worth.
Updated October 22, 2026