Foreclosure Question for Borrower with Equity

[Drew Mathews]

Hi everyone, 

I have read many of the posts and replies to posts referencing the foreclosure process here and have also gone through the BP Foreclosure book which has been incredibly helpful so far. 

I have a more specific question to one comment I saw in reference to 1st and 2nd position liens. I am working on an auction for next week and ran across a property that the current lien is $60k, and house value is approximately 300k. In all of my research and the help of a Title company, this is the current 1st position (previous husband's mortgage was satisfied in 2015 [they divorced and she received the property], the same year this one was issued for 50k) and it shows as the only lien on the property. No other unpaid property taxes, etc. 

I feel confident this is the 1st position, but thinking through this situation logically, my question is what scenario would this person not just sell the house for ~300k, pay the 60k owed, etc. I really appreciate your help, and apologize for the long message. Even with my research, this one doesn't seem logical if the borrower has equity but I am hoping I am missing MANY different reasons why it's not as simple of a solution for the borrower as I have laid out.

Thank you!