Foreclosure is slow and value-destructive. Several alternatives resolve a distressed credit more efficiently where the parties cooperate.

Deed in lieu of foreclosure. The borrower conveys the property to the lender in satisfaction. Fast and cheap, but the lender takes title subject to junior liens, which are not extinguished as they would be in foreclosure. A title search and an estoppel affidavit confirming the conveyance is voluntary and for fair consideration are essential.

Merger. Taking title can merge the mortgage into the fee and extinguish it, destroying priority over junior liens. Anti-merger language in the deed and the agreement addresses this.

Short sale. A sale for less than the debt with the lender releasing its lien. The negotiation concerns the deficiency: released, reserved, or settled for a note.

Consensual foreclosure sale of personal property under the commercial code, conducted in a commercially reasonable manner, with strict notice requirements and the risk of losing the deficiency if the process is defective.

Assignment for the benefit of creditors places assets with an assignee who liquidates them under state law — faster and cheaper than bankruptcy, with less protection and no automatic stay.

Receivership sale with court approval can deliver assets free of liens in several states.