How Long Does Foreclosure Take in Alberta?

If you have missed mortgage payments, one of your first questions is likely how much time you have. The honest answer is that it depends on your mortgage, your property and the court process, and the law does not promise a fixed schedule.

This article walks through the stages of an Alberta foreclosure, the time periods the law does set, and the things that tend to speed the process up or slow it down.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Foreclosure in Alberta goes through the court

Foreclosure of an Alberta mortgage is governed by Part 5 of the Law of Property Act together with the Alberta Rules of Court. A lender's rights on a land mortgage are limited to the land itself, by sale or foreclosure, and enforcement runs through a court action rather than a separate non-court power of sale.

Because a court is involved, the timeline is partly set by fixed periods in the law and partly by what the Court decides in your case. Foreclosure matters may be heard by Applications Judges in Court of King's Bench chambers.

The stages and the time periods that are set

Before the lender can apply for a redemption order or foreclosure order, it must file certified copies of current titles, and an affidavit of value must also be filed first unless the Court orders otherwise. The law does not say how long those preparation steps take, so they add time that varies from case to case.

What can slow the process down

• The Court may extend the redemption period, and for non-farm land it can consider your ability to pay, the value of the land, whether it has been abandoned, your earning capacity, and whether the default came from temporary or permanent unemployment or other conditions beyond your control.
• For farm land the Court considers a different list: your ability to pay, the value of the land and improvements, whether it has been abandoned, the nature, extent and value of the creditor's security, and whether the failure to pay was due to hail, frost, drought, agricultural pests or other conditions beyond your control.
• Before the final order is entered, the lender must file and serve its statement of secured indebtedness, sale proceeds, any deficiency calculation and bill of costs, which an assessment officer checks and corrects.
• The order nisi can be relieved against by postponing the redemption day at any time before the land is sold under an order for sale.

What can speed it up

• The Court may decrease the redemption period as well as extend it.
• The six-month redemption period does not apply to an order you have consented to.
• Sections 40 and 41 do not apply to a mortgage given by a corporation, so a corporate borrower gets no statutory six-month period or sale-first protection.
• Those sections also do not apply to National Housing Act mortgages or to insured high-ratio mortgages, where the lender may sue on the covenant.
• The Court can make a vesting or cancellation order without first offering the land for sale if the land was transferred or sold while in default or within 4 months before default, was abandoned, or is undeveloped non-farm land.

If you ignore the claim, the process does not stop. Filing a defence or a demand for notice means you are entitled to notice of the lender's applications.

What to do next

• Note the date you were served and count your defence deadline right away.
• Gather your mortgage, any court papers, recent statements and proof of income.
• Check whether your mortgage is with a corporation, insured, or on farm land, since the rules differ.
• Speak with a lawyer early about the options open to you, including whether to file a defence or demand for notice.

Realistic timelines depend on your facts and the Court's schedule, so a lawyer can give you a better sense of what to expect.

Frequently asked questions