846.101.Foreclosure without deficiency; 20-acre parcels.

Section 846.101 sets up an opt-in trade for smaller residential and similar mortgages. It applies only where the mortgagor agreed in writing, at the time the mortgage was signed, to this section’s terms, the case involves an owner-occupied one-family to four-family residence, a farm, a church, or a tax-exempt nonprofit charity, the mortgage covers 20 acres or less, and it was recorded after January 22, 1960. When all of that lines up, the plaintiff can elect, by express allegation in the complaint, to waive any deficiency judgment against everyone personally liable on the debt. In exchange, the mortgagor, unless they abandon the property, gets to stay in possession and keep the rents, issues, and profits until the sale is confirmed.

Once the plaintiff elects this route, judgment is entered the usual way except that no deficiency judgment can be ordered or rendered against anyone personally liable. The sale timing then splits, as in Section 846.10, by when the mortgage was signed: for a mortgage signed before April 27, 2016, the sale happens after 6 months, with first notice printing no earlier than 4 months in; for one signed on or after that date, the default wait is 3 months, with first printing no earlier than 1 month in, extendable to 5 months, with first printing no earlier than 3 months in, on a pre-judgment motion showing a good-faith listing agreement to sell the property.