If you're asking yourself 'how long can i stay in my home after foreclosure', I hope you are checking for someone else or you are getting information before your situation gets to that point. If you are to that point, you may still have some options to keep your home.
How long you can stay in your home after foreclosure can vary from state to state. It also depends on your definition of foreclosure. Let's back up and talk about the process of foreclosure. Some people think that as soon as you miss a payment, your house is in jeopardy of foreclosure. Normally you need to be over 90 days late on your mortgage before the lender will start the foreclosure process. I have known people to be 6 months late and have gotten no definite word from the lender. Don't wait that long before taking action - you don't want to push it.
Some distressed homeowners don't realize that the lender does not want to foreclose on your home. It is a liability for them to have real estate on their books. Banks will bend over backwards to help you get out of the situation so that you can keep making mortgage payments to them. As embarrassing as it may be, you have to keep in communication with your lender so you can work something out.
If you are over 90 days late and your lender has sent you a certified notice of foreclosure and a court date has been set, then you have about 90 days if nothing is worked out with the lender, before your house goes on the auction block. During this time there is still many opportunities to work with your lender to come up with an arrangement so that you can keep your house.
After the foreclosure auction, depending on local laws, there is a period of redemption. This is the time during which the original homeowner can buy back the house if they can get financing. This would mainly be helpful if the homeowner did not have time to complete financing before the home went to auction. After ownership changes hands it is now up to the new home owner to evict the previous homeowner if they are still in the home. If there were no successful bidders, the home is considered an REO and the lender is now the owner of the home and will set about putting the property up for sale.
Learn more about how does foreclosure work.