Foreclosure
![House in Salinas, California under foreclosure, following the popping of the U.S. real estate bubble.](/Images/godic/202501/28/Foreclosedhome1513.JPG")
![Notices accumulate on the door and window of a foreclosed, unoccupied house](/Images/godic/202501/28/Notices_on_door_and_windows_of_foreclosed_house,_Walden,_NY,_April_20131513.jpg")
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower, who has stopped making payments to the lender, by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortgage lender (mortgagee), or other lienholder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower (mortgagor)'s equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law (after following a specific statutory procedure).