Voluntary auction or foreclosure sale
An auction can be voluntary but will often be held on instructions of the mortgagee. If the mortgagee believes that a client can no longer meet his obligations, it can instruct a notary to proceed to public sale. In that case, one can also say that the mortgagee proceeds to foreclosure, consequently the term "foreclosure sale".
The difference between voluntary auction or foreclosure sale is of importance, inter alias, to the applicability of the general provisions. A foreclosure sale taking place at the request of a mortgagee or another financial institution will usually be governed by the General Provisions governing Forced Sales 1993. These general provisions were drawn up by the mortgagees and our notary's office used those provisions governing forced sales as a guideline to establish the General Auction Provisions.