Lincoln, Waverly, Hickman, Bennet, Firth, Malcolm, Raymond, Denton & the surrounding area — we help local homeowners understand every option before deciding what to do.
If you own a home in Lincoln or anywhere in Lancaster County that's become a burden — a foreclosure, a probate or inherited estate, back taxes, liens, code issues, or repairs you can't take on — you have more than one way out. We'll walk you through all of them in plain language.
Nebraska's process has its own rules and deadlines, and some of them run differently than in neighboring states — the foreclosure path depends on whether your loan is a mortgage or a deed of trust, and the tax-sale redemption period is one of the longest in the region. Depending on your situation, the right move might mean curing the default with your lender, listing on the local market, pursuing a legal or title remedy, selling directly to us, or being connected with the right local professional.
Nebraska law requires a real estate license to publicly market an equitable interest in a property — which means contract assignment and wholesaling are restricted here in a way they aren't in most states. So in Nebraska, River Capital LLC acts only as a principal (direct) buyer or a referral source. We do not wholesale or assign contracts in Nebraska. If we make you an offer, we are buying the property ourselves; if another path serves you better, we'll point you to a trusted local agent, attorney, or lender.
Tell us about the property. A no-obligation direct cash offer is one of the options we'll cover.
Nebraska is unusual in that it runs two different foreclosure tracks, and which one applies to you depends on the paperwork you signed at closing. If your loan is secured by a deed of trust, the lender can foreclose non-judicially under the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act — no lawsuit required. If it's secured by a traditional mortgage, the lender has to file suit in Lancaster County District Court and get a judgment first. Most Nebraska home loans are written as deeds of trust, so the non-judicial path is the more common one, but it's worth checking your own documents rather than assuming.
On the non-judicial track, the trustee records a notice of default, and you generally get a one-month cure period to bring the loan current (two months on agricultural land). After that, a notice of sale has to be published for five consecutive weeks, with the final publication at least ten but no more than thirty days before the sale. End to end, that commonly runs about six months from the notice of default to the trustee's sale. Before any of it starts, federal rules generally require your servicer to wait until you're at least 120 days behind.
Two Nebraska specifics matter a great deal here. First, unlike Iowa and several neighboring states, Nebraska generally gives you no post-sale redemption period after a non-judicial trustee's sale — once the sale happens, that's usually the end of it. That makes acting before the sale date far more important here than it is elsewhere. Second, if the sale doesn't cover what's owed, the lender must file any deficiency action within three months of the trustee's sale. (This is general information about Nebraska's process, not legal advice — your deadlines depend on your specific loan and case, so confirm them with a Lancaster County attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor.) If you'd like help mapping your options on a specific property, we're glad to walk through it with you at no cost.
Separate from mortgage foreclosure, unpaid property taxes in Nebraska can go to the county tax sale, held by the Lancaster County Treasurer. A bidder buys a tax sale certificate — but they do not own your home. They hold a lien, and they have to wait out one of the longer redemption periods in the country.
In Nebraska you generally have three years from the date the certificate is sold to redeem, by paying the delinquent taxes plus interest and costs. Only after that three-year window closes can the certificate holder move toward a deed — and even then they have a limited application window of about nine months (roughly two years for property that's vacant and abandoned). There's a further wrinkle that works in a homeowner's favor: the treasurer's-deed route is only available when 110% of the assessed value, less the amount needed to redeem, comes to $25,000 or less. Above that, the holder generally has to foreclose the lien in court instead, which is slower and gives you more notice.
Three years is a lot more breathing room than most states give you. But that window does eventually close, and we know how stressful the not-knowing can be. The sooner you understand exactly where you stand, the more options you'll have. (General information, not legal advice — confirm specifics with the Lancaster County Treasurer or a Nebraska attorney. Key statutes: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 77-1824 and 77-1831.)
Nebraska offers a genuinely useful shortcut. A small estate affidavit can be filed with the register of deeds beginning thirty days after death, and as of July 19, 2024 the real-property threshold for that affidavit rose from $50,000 to $100,000 — which brings a lot more Lincoln-area homes within reach of skipping full probate. Above that limit, probate is generally required: simple estates commonly run four to six months, more typical ones six to twelve. A local probate attorney can tell you quickly which path your situation fits.
Related guides: Foreclosure · Probate & Inherited · Back Taxes · Liens & Title · As-Is / Repairs · Selling a Partial Interest
In a hurry to sell your house fast for cash? See Sell My House Fast in Lincoln — we buy houses as-is, no fees, close on your timeline.
Let's talk it through. We'll give you a straight answer and a clear look at every option — no pressure, no obligation.