Deficiency Judgment

Court order authorizing a lender to collect part of an outstanding debt from foreclosure and sale of the borrower's mortgaged property or repossession of property securing a debt, after a finding that the property is worth less than the book value of the outstanding debt.

A court order stating that the borrower still owes money when the Security for a loan does not entirely satisfy a defaulted debt.
Example: Upon Default by the Mortgagor a lender Forecloses on the mortgage. The unpaid balance of the loan is $102,000. The property is sold at public Auction and brings $80,000. The lender then seeks a deficiency judgment against the mortgagor to recover the $22,000 shortage, plus foreclosure expenses.

An assessment of personal liability against a mortgagor, a person who pledges title to property to secure a debt, for the unpaid balance of the mortgage debt when the proceeds of a foreclosure sale are insufficient to satisfy the debt.

Legislation enacted during the Depression still restricts the availability of deficiency judgments in several states. In somejurisdictions, deficiency judgments are proscribed in certain situations, while in other states, they are limited to the amount by which the debt exceeds the fair market value of the property. Waiver, the intentional relinquishment of a known right, of the benefits conferred by antideficiency legislation contravenes public policy and is ineffective.