What can I do if I am facing foreclosure in Caddo or Bossier?
You can still act before the sheriff sells the house. Most people start with the loan servicer, a free housing counselor, and a Louisiana attorney. Some catch the loan up. Some ask for a loan change. Some sell the house, including by a short sale if the lender agrees. A bankruptcy filing is a separate legal decision that can pause a sale. None of those steps is something we do for you.
We buy houses. We are not a law firm, a lender, or a housing counselor. We charge homeowners no fee. We do not negotiate with your lender, and we do not promise to stop a sale. A Louisiana attorney should read your papers. The Louisiana State Bar Association can help you find one.
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 is executory process in Louisiana?
Most Louisiana home loans use a fast court path called executory process. The lender files the mortgage and the note, a judge signs an order, and the sheriff seizes and sells the house without a full trial. If the paperwork is not in the right form, the lender has to use an ordinary lawsuit, which generally takes longer.
You will usually see this first as a notice of seizure served by a deputy. That paper is not the sale. You still own the house until the sheriff's sale is complete. Our guide on a notice of seizure explains the paper, and how long foreclosure takes in Louisiana walks the stages. The dates on your own notice are the ones that count.
This page explains how Louisiana foreclosure generally works. It is not legal advice. Talk to a Louisiana attorney about your case.
How soon is a sheriff's sale, in general terms?
There is no single number of days, but two rules set a floor. A federal rule generally keeps a servicer from starting a foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days behind. After a judge signs the order, Louisiana law says the first sale date is at least 60 days later. The sheriff also advertises the sale: once at least 30 days ahead, and again in the last week. Many cases take longer than that floor. A court challenge, a loss-mitigation review, or a bankruptcy filing can add time. Those are decisions for you and a lawyer.
Caddo Parish and Bossier Parish both use Wednesdays, and they do not use the same sale. Go by your parish, not by a date you heard about the other side of the river.
- Caddo Parish (Shreveport, Keithville, Greenwood, Blanchard, and the rest of the parish) sells in person at the Caddo Parish Courthouse, 501 Texas St. in Shreveport, on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM. The sheriff posts a sale list, and you can also search Civil View. Details, including which room, are on our Caddo Parish page. How to stop or avoid a Caddo sale is the Caddo-only page.
- Bossier Parish (Bossier City, Benton, Haughton, Plain Dealing, and the rest of the parish) sells online on Wednesdays through Bid4Assets. Check Bid4Assets for the bidding hours on your date. The sheriff's real estate list shows whether a sale has been stopped. Details are on our Bossier Parish page. How to stop or avoid a Bossier sale is the Bossier-only page.
A sale date can move. Confirm yours on the sheriff's list or with our address check. Weekly counts show how many sales are on the public lists. They do not name owners or streets.
Can I reinstate the loan?
Often you can ask. Reinstatement means paying what the servicer requires to put the loan back in good standing, on the servicer's terms, in time. Ask for that amount in writing. Do not guess it from a figure on a sheriff's list. Keep a copy of what you send, and write down the date and the name of each person you speak with.
Your loan papers or your servicer may allow this until the sale. Some do not. A HUD-approved counselor deals with servicers every day and does not charge you. Search the HUD counselor list, or contact Catholic Charities of North Louisiana in Shreveport. We do not reinstate loans and we do not call your servicer for you.
Can I get a loan modification?
You can ask your servicer, in writing, about a loan modification, a repayment plan, or forbearance. A modification changes the loan. A repayment plan spreads the missed payments out. Forbearance pauses or reduces payments for a time. None of those is real until the servicer agrees in writing.
If you send a complete loss-mitigation application early enough, federal rules generally hold up the foreclosure filing while the servicer reviews it. "Early enough" depends on your case. A counselor or a Louisiana attorney can tell you whether that rule still helps you. We do not get loan modifications, and we do not promise that a servicer will say yes.
Can I sell the house before the sheriff's sale?
Yes, in many cases. You still own the house until the sale is complete, so you can sell it yourself. A closing before the sale date pays the loan off through a title company, and you receive whatever is left after that payoff and the other costs. You pick the closing date only if the title work and the payoff can be ready before the sheriff's date. Call early. The morning of the sale is a bad time to start.
You can list with a Realtor if there is time and equity and you want to test the open market. If the house needs work, or the date is close, a sale as it sits is the other path. Our pages for Shreveport and Bossier City explain that sale. Selling a house as is covers the trade-offs.
What is a short sale?
A short sale is a sale where you owe more than the house will bring, and the lender agrees to take less than the full debt. The lender has to approve it. Approval can take time you may not have if a sale date is close. What happens to any leftover debt is a question for a lawyer, not a guess. Our page on owing more than the house is worth and the guide on short-sale deficiency in Louisiana and Texas explain the pieces. We do not promise that a lender will approve a short sale.
Should I talk to a bankruptcy attorney?
If bankruptcy is on your mind, talk to a bankruptcy attorney before you file. A bankruptcy filing generally pauses a sheriff's sale. That pause has limits, and it is a legal decision. We are not that attorney, and we do not tell you to file. Our bankruptcy page describes how a sale of the house usually works during a case, including that a trustee or the court may have to approve it. Start with the lawyer.
What about a cash sale to us?
Selling to us is one option on the list, not the first and not the only one. We buy houses in Caddo and Bossier as they sit. You do not repair, clean, or hold showings first. Sometimes we pay cash. Sometimes we take over the payments. Cash is not promised on every house. You get the choice in writing, and you can say no.
If you accept, a local title company closes on a date you pick, as long as the paperwork can be ready before the sheriff's date. The title company pays off the loan from the sale. We charge homeowners no fee. Charlie takes seller calls at (318) 714-4321 and usually calls back the same day.
What does not bring the house back?
For a typical mortgage foreclosure in Louisiana, there is generally no right to pay a set amount after the sheriff's sale and take the house back. A tax sale is a different system. Do not plan on months after the auction. Our guide on foreclosure redemption and the guide on what happens after a sheriff's sale cover that. The useful time is before the sale.
Be careful with anyone who charges you a fee up front and promises to stop the foreclosure. We do not charge that fee, and we do not make that promise.
The steps in statute order are on the Louisiana sheriff's sale timeline. If the house is in Marshall, Longview, or Tyler, the sale is a Texas trustee sale, explained on before a trustee sale in East Texas. Equity, a possible deficiency, timing, and credit are compared on auction versus a sale before that date. That page is not legal advice. En español: antes de una subasta del sheriff.
Updated November 13, 2026