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Power of Sale

Also known as: Power-of-sale · Power of sale foreclosure · Mortgage power of sale

Power of sale lets a lender sell a defaulted home without a court order. A defaulted BC home is normally sold through a Supreme Court foreclosure instead.

A home sold under power of sale is being sold by the mortgage lender, not by the owner. The owner fell behind on the mortgage, and a clause in it lets the lender sell without a court order. The lender takes its debt and costs out of the price. Anyone else owed money on the title is paid next, and whatever is left goes to the owner.

The Ontario timeline is set by statute. The lender cannot send its notice of sale until the payment has been overdue at least 15 days, and cannot sell until at least 35 days after the notice. Worked example: a payment missed on March 1 means a sale no earlier than about seven weeks later, in late April. Until the sale is made, the owner can stop it by paying the arrears and the lender's costs.

A BC lender that wants a defaulted home sold normally goes to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Land Title Act (s. 30) does refer to a power of sale contained in a registered charge, so the clause is not unknown here, but a court foreclosure is the process on BC listings of defaulted homes. The court sets a redemption period for the owner to pay, commonly six months.

If the owner does not, the court can order a sale. The home is listed on MLS, the court confirms the sale, and other buyers may bid against the accepted offer at the hearing. In BC listings the words to look for are "court-ordered sale", not "power of sale".

Sources: Mortgages Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.40, ss. 22, 27 and 32 (Ontario); Land Title Act, s. 30, Law and Equity Act and Supreme Court Civil Rules, Rule 21-7 (British Columbia). A BC buyer of a court-ordered sale gets no Property Disclosure Statement and no rescission period, so the inspection has to happen before the offer.

Frequently asked questions

What does power of sale mean?

It means the mortgage gives the lender the right to sell the home after the owner defaults, without asking a court. The lender serves notice, waits out the statutory periods, sells, pays itself, and pays anything left over to others on title and then the owner. Ontario's rules are in the Mortgages Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.40, ss. 27 and 32. In British Columbia a lender normally goes through the Supreme Court instead.

What does "being sold under power of sale" mean on a listing?

It means the lender is the seller, because the owner defaulted on the mortgage. The lender has never lived in the home, so it is usually sold as is, with few promises about its condition. Until the sale is made, the owner can still stop it by paying the arrears and costs, under section 22 of Ontario's Mortgages Act. A buyer should plan for an accepted offer that does not close if the owner catches up first.

How long does a power of sale take in Ontario?

At least about seven weeks from the missed payment. The notice cannot go out until the default has run at least 15 days, and the sale cannot be made until at least 35 days after the notice, under section 32 of the Mortgages Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.40. Marketing the home and closing take longer than that, so the minimum is rarely the real date.

Does British Columbia use power of sale?

Not for the defaulted homes buyers see listed. A BC lender normally petitions the Supreme Court of British Columbia, which sets a redemption period for the owner, commonly six months. If the owner does not redeem, the court can order a sale, and the home is listed on MLS with the sale subject to court confirmation. Section 30 of the Land Title Act does mention a power of sale in a registered charge, so the clause exists in law.

The foreclosure process runs under the Law and Equity Act and Rule 21-7 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules. Because other buyers may bid at the approval hearing, an accepted offer on a BC foreclosure is not final until the judge approves it.

Related terms

See also

Sources: BC Government
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Fact ID: bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale · v1View in Codex →
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1996-04-29
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2026-05-09
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2027-05-09
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@misc{bronsonjob-bc_foreclosure_court_order_sale,
  author       = {Job, Bronson},
  title        = {{BC residential foreclosure — court-order sale process}},
  howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
  year         = {1996},
  url          = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale},
  urldate      = {2026-05-09},
  note         = {Fact ID: bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale, version 1.}
}
APA — Press, journalism
Job, B. (1996). BC residential foreclosure — court-order sale process. *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-05-09, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale
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BC residential foreclosure — court-order sale process — Bronson Job PREC, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-05-09). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale

Fact id: bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/bc.foreclosure.court_order_sale.json

License: This definition is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: "Power of Sale", BC Real Estate Glossary by Bronson Job, https://www.bronsonjob.com/glossary/power-of-sale.

Bronson Job PRECREALTOR® · Momentum Realty Inc.GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR