How a foreclosure actually moves in Arizona — the real process, the statutory clock step by step, and what happens after the sale: redemption, deficiency, and the statutes behind every deadline. Read it before a sale date reads you.
Process: Non-judicial (deed of trust trustee's sale); judicial foreclosure also available.
Non-judicial trustee's sale under A.R.S. Title 33, ch. 6.1 — the standard route.
| # | Step | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Record the notice of sale in the county recorder's office (§ 33-808(A)(1)); contents per § 33-808(C) | Day 0 — starts the clock |
| 2. | Mail the notice of sale to the trustor and other specified parties | Within 5 business days after recording (§ 33-809(C)); to other interested parties within 30 days of recording (§ 33-809(A)-(B)) |
| 3. | Post the notice in a conspicuous place on the property (or at the courthouse/superior court) | >= 20 days before the sale (§ 33-808(A)(3)) |
| 4. | Publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation | Once a week for 4 consecutive weeks; last publication >= 10 days before the sale (§ 33-808(A)(4)) |
| 5. | Reinstatement window: trustor may cure by paying amounts actually in default plus costs/fees | Until 5 p.m. on the last business day before the sale (§ 33-813) |
| 6. | Trustee's sale (public auction) | Not before the 91st day after the notice of sale was recorded (§ 33-807(D)); on a business day (not Saturday or legal holiday), 9 a.m.-5 p.m. MST |
None after a trustee's sale — the trustee's deed is absolute (§ 33-811(E)). A 6-month redemption exists only after a judicial foreclosure sale (§ 12-1282(B); 30 days if the mortgagor has abandoned).
Action must be brought within 90 days after the sale (§ 33-814(A)); the borrower gets credit for the greater of the sale price or the property's fair market value (§ 33-814(A)). BAR: no deficiency after a trustee's sale of property of 2.5 acres or less improved with a 1- or 2-family dwelling (§ 33-814(G)) — applies regardless of purchase-money status; statutory exceptions for uncompleted construction / non-builder transactions (§ 33-814(H)-(I)). In judicial foreclosure, § 33-729 bars deficiencies on purchase-money mortgages of the same class of property.
Whatever stage the foreclosure is in, an investor buying the house is still a principal buyer under this state's wholesaling rules — see the wholesaling-law page for this state for the assignment, disclosure, and marketing rules that apply to the purchase itself.
For an owner, the timeline is a set of closing doors: the earlier the stage, the more options exist — cure, reinstate, sell, or work something out with the lender. For an investor, a pending sale date is the hardest deadline in the deal: a purchase has to be agreed and closed before the sale, or there is nothing left to buy. Either way, the numbers that decide the deal are the same ones on our calculators — run them before the clock runs out.
The wholesaling rules for all 9 states we operate in, on paper, statute-cited — including the rules that apply when you buy from an owner in foreclosure.