Foreclosure help in Whatcom County
Covering Bellingham. If you are behind on a mortgage here, the two things worth knowing first are where your paperwork gets filed and how much time that leaves you.
Where a Whatcom County foreclosure actually happens
Washington forecloses non-judicially, so no judge is involved: a trustee runs the sale under RCW 61.24. For property anywhere in Whatcom County the Notice of Trustee Sale is recorded with the Whatcom County Auditor, and the sale is held at the county seat in Bellingham — whether the home is in Bellingham or anywhere else in the county.
That notice is a public record. Before you decide anything, pull your own file at the Whatcom County Recorder, or read the Washington foreclosure timeline and match it against the letters you have been sent. The date on the notice is the only one that counts.
Questions we get from Whatcom County homeowners
Where is a Whatcom County trustee sale held?
At the county seat, Bellingham. The Notice of Trustee Sale is recorded with the Whatcom County Auditor and that recording is public, so you can look up your own file and read the sale date off it rather than take anyone's word for it.
Is the process different in Whatcom County?
The law is not - RCW 61.24 sets one non-judicial process for all of Washington. What is local is where your notice is filed and where the sale happens, which for you means Bellingham. What actually changes your timeline is your loan, your servicer and which notices have already gone out.
Which Whatcom County towns do you work in?
Bellingham, and the smaller communities around them. If your town is not on that list we very likely still cover it - the county is what matters, not the city line.
Who can I talk to who is not trying to sell me something?
A HUD-approved housing counselor, free and independent of us, at 1-800-569-4287. We will point you there even if it means you never call us back.
Options, honestly
Selling is one route and often not the best one. Reinstating, a repayment plan, a modification and a short sale are all on the table depending on your equity and income — we lay out every option and what each one costs you. We only make an offer if selling is genuinely the right move.
Talk it through — free
No fees, no pressure, no obligation to sell.