>Then the lien holder, who now has title to the property, sells it for whatever the market will bear, and pockets the sale price minus whatever costs he has to

>Then the lien holder, who now has title to the property, sells it for whatever the market will bear, and pockets the sale price minus whatever costs he has to pay. That effectively means the lien holder gets whatever equity is in the property once he has foreclosed on it and sold it. Not normally, no. Usually the lien holder gets the value of the lien and the remainder of the sale proceeds go to the owner. If the owner is really "left with nothing" he didn't actually have any equity in the house.