Constitutionality of Power of Sale Foreclosures by Federal Government Entities, The

When loaning money, lenders often require that obligations be secured by a mortgage on real estate owned by the borrowers. In Missouri, the prevailing form of mortgage is the deed of trust with a power of sale provision. Upon default the trustee is allowed to sell the property without a judicial hearing and after giving only limited notice.\u27 The constitutionality of nonjudicial power of sale foreclosures is well settled as applied to private lenders because of the lack of state or federal notice requirements for the particular county, and the mortgagor\u27s only recourse is to pay the entire amount due prior to the sale, or pay the amount due within a statutorily prescribed redemption period following the sale. To date, courts have rarely addressed the issues raised when the government forecloses on a mortgage, primarily by failing to find sufficient federal action to raise a constitutional issue. On the few occasions that courts have found sufficient federal government action, however, they have found that state power of sale statutes lack the due process required under the Constitution