When you purchased your home and signed your loan documents at closing, you gave your
lender the right to place a lien on your property as collateral for the loan that the lender gave you to buy the house.
As part of the loan documents that you signed, you promised to make monthly payments to the lender until the loan is completely paid off.
Contained in your loan documents is a clause that says that if you stop making payments to the lender, the lender can file a lawsuit against you to terminate your ownership of the home.
Presuming that the lawsuit is successful, the home will be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder. This lawsuit is called a foreclosure lawsuit and but is most commonly known as a foreclosure.
