GA Foreclosure Procedures

I mentioned a few months ago that I believe another home in my neighborhood was foreclosed on. Even after speaking with several neighbors, I haven't gotten any additional information as to who these people were, or why they were foreclosed on if at all.
For all I know, they could have been renters. (You see how well I know my neighbors, right?) Anyway, I did look up the address online and found out that the property had only just been bought in November of 2010. That's would put them in the house only 6 months at the time of suspected foreclosure! And although there is a For Sale sign on the front of the house, I still can not find it though the normal realty websites (i.e. zillow, etc.).

This really got me to thinking, how long does it actually take for a house to be foreclosed on? Could this have really happened so quickly? So I did some reasearch, and the answers are this weeks informative post.

Keep in mind that the following information is for the State of Georgia - procedures can vary greatly from state to state. The expected timeline to foreclose on a home is only 2-3 months in Georgia. My jaw dropped reading this, but here's why it can be done so quickly. Georgia does not require a judicial foreclosure process, meaning it can be done without court intervention. Once the loan is in default (i.e. 2 missed payments), the homeowner is mailed a letter indicating the status (most times this is done at the same time as the Notice of Default is recorded). If the homeowner takes no action, the Notice of Sale is mailed to the client and once the required legal timeframe as elapsed (in GA, 30 days), the home is autioned to the highest bidder! Georgia is a Title Theory State which means when the deed is signed over and afterwhich, the previous owner has NO rights to the property and must vacate immediately.
Information was retrieved here.

Whatever the case is, mortgagees should know that they should never ignore letters from their banks and should attempt to negotiate with their Loss Mitigation Department before letting their home be foreclosed on. Banks want regularly paying mortgagees; they do not want to own your home!