In Arizona, foreclosure can be a swift and simple procedure by a mortgage company. Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage company can obtain legal ownership of a property. It relinquishes a home owner from any all right to the property and evicts the homeowner from the premises.

In most cases, foreclosure can begin a soon as a home owner is late with the mortgage payment. If the payment is due on or before the first of the month, for example, the lender has every legal right to initiate foreclosure proceedings against the home owner.

However, most institutional lenders will try to work out alternatives with a home owner in default before trying to repossess a home. If a home owner works with his or her lender, the lender will an additional three month window on average before foreclosure is initiated. For more information on pre-foreclosure workouts with a lender.

If an alternative cannot be worked out between the lender and the home owner, the lender may begin foreclosure proceedings. Because most home owners have a trust deed, the foreclosure timeline is simple and quick because it does not have to go to court to foreclose upon a home.

In Arizona, a lender must appoint its trustee, the person or entity that has the legal right to sell the home in a trustee sale, to handle the appropriate paperwork.

By law, the trustee must record in the county recorder's office a "Notice of Trustee's Sale". This is the legal notice that the home is to be sold no sooner than 90 days from the recording date of the notice. This notice must also be published a minimum of once a week for four consecutive weeks in a "newspaper of general circulation" in that county. The trustee will mail a notice within five days of the recorded notice of trustee sale to the home owner and other parties affected by the foreclosure.