Mortgage foreclosure; time for execution of judgment; sheriff's
administrative fee authorized
Sec. 3. (a) In a proceeding for the foreclosure of a mortgage
executed on real estate, process may not issue for the execution of a
judgment or decree of sale for a period of three (3) months after the
filing of a complaint in the proceeding. However:
(1) the period is:
(A) twelve (12) months in a proceeding for the foreclosure
of a mortgage executed before January 1, 1958; and
(B) six (6) months in a proceeding for the foreclosure of a
mortgage executed after December 31, 1957, but before July
1, 1975; and
(2) if the court finds that the mortgaged real estate is residential
real estate and has been abandoned, a judgment or decree of
sale may be executed on the date the judgment of foreclosure or
decree of sale is entered, regardless of the date the mortgage is
executed.
(b) A judgment and decree in a proceeding to foreclose a
mortgage that is entered by a court having jurisdiction may be filed
with the clerk in any county as provided in IC 33-32-3-2. After the
period set forth in subsection (a) expires, a person who may enforce
the judgment and decree may file a praecipe with the clerk in any
county where the judgment and decree is filed, and the clerk shall
promptly issue and certify to the sheriff of that county a copy of the
judgment and decree under the seal of the court.
(c) Upon receiving a certified judgment under subsection (b), the
sheriff shall, subject to section 4 of this chapter, sell the mortgaged
premises or as much of the mortgaged premises as necessary to
satisfy the judgment, interest, and costs at public auction at the office
of the sheriff or at another location that is reasonably likely to attract
higher competitive bids. The sheriff shall schedule the date and time
of the sheriff's sale for a time certain between the hours of 10 a.m.
and 4 p.m. on any day of the week except Sunday.
(d) Before selling mortgaged property, the sheriff must advertise
the sale by publication once each week for three (3) successive
weeks in a daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation. The
sheriff shall publish the advertisement in at least one (1) newspaper
published and circulated in each county where the real estate is
situated. The first publication shall be made at least thirty (30) days
before the date of sale. At the time of placing the first advertisement
by publication, the sheriff shall also serve a copy of the written or
printed notice of sale upon each owner of the real estate. Service of
the written notice shall be made as provided in the Indiana Rules of
Trial Procedure governing service of process upon a person. The
sheriff shall charge a fee of ten dollars ($10) to one (1) owner and
three dollars ($3) to each additional owner for service of written
notice under this subsection. The fee is:
(1) a cost of the proceeding;
(2) to be collected as other costs of the proceeding are
collected; and
(3) to be deposited in the county general fund for appropriation
for operating expenses of the sheriff's department.
(e) The sheriff also shall post written or printed notices of the sale
in at least three (3) public places in each township in which the real
estate is situated and at the door of the courthouse of each county in
which the real estate is located.
(f) If the sheriff is unable to procure the publication of a notice
within the county, the sheriff may dispense with publication. The
sheriff shall state that the sheriff was not able to procure the
publication and explain the reason why publication was not possible.
(g) Notices under subsections (d) and (e) must contain a
statement, for informational purposes only, of the location of each
property by street address, if any, or other common description of the
property other than legal description. A misstatement in the
informational statement under this subsection does not invalidate an
otherwise valid sale.
(h) The sheriff may charge an administrative fee of not more than
two hundred dollars ($200) with respect to a proceeding referred to
in subsection (b) for actual costs directly attributable to the
administration of the sale under subsection (c). The fee is:
(1) payable by the person seeking to enforce the judgment and
decree; and
(2) due at the time of filing of the praecipe;
under subsection (b).
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.14. Amended by P.L.98-2004,
SEC.118; P.L.238-2005, SEC.55 and P.L.240-2005, SEC.1.
Last modified: May 24, 2006