Behind on your mortgage? You have options, and more time than you think.
If a Notice of Default was recorded on your home, the lender generally cannot schedule a sale for at least three months, and in most cases you can reinstate the loan right up until a few days before any sale. I help Los Angeles County homeowners understand every option, at no charge.
Two-minute form, or a call. The consultation is free, and I will never ask you for money. Se habla español.
Your three paths
Most people in default are only told about one. Here are all three, in plain language.
Reinstatement, forbearance or a loan modification
Your servicer's loss-mitigation department can spread the missed payments out or change the loan so the payment fits your income again. Under California's Homeowner Bill of Rights, once a complete modification application is in, the servicer generally must pause the foreclosure while it is reviewed. I help you put that application together at no charge.
A regular sale on the open market, on your timeline
This is the most under-used option. A normal sale at today's prices pays off the lender and puts the remaining equity in your pocket, protects your credit, and lets you buy again far sooner than a foreclosure would. If more is owed than the home is worth, a lender-approved short sale is the clean exit.
The numbers, before you decide anything
What you owe, what the home is worth, what the timeline really is, and what each path costs you. You get it in writing, so you choose from facts rather than fear.
The California timeline, from the notice to the sale
The Notice of Default starts the first clock. The Notice of Sale starts the rest: the right to reinstate counts backward from the sale date, and postponements move it. These are the legal minimums; the dates that matter for your home are the ones printed on your own notices.
- 30 days before the noticeYour servicer has to contact you, or document that it tried, to talk about alternatives before it may record a Notice of Default.Civil Code §2923.5
- Day 0: Notice of Default recordedA copy is mailed to you by certified mail within 10 business days. Nothing can be sold yet.§2924b
- The next three monthsNo sale can be scheduled for at least three calendar months. This is the window to reinstate, get a modification under way, or put the home on the market with time to close.§2924(a)(2)
- Notice of Trustee's SaleAfter the three months the lender records a Notice of Sale. It must be mailed to you, posted on the property, published and recorded at least 20 days before the sale date, so the earliest legal sale date is three months and 20 days after the Notice of Default.§2924(a)(4), §2924f, §2924b
- Until 5 business days before the sale dateYou can still reinstate: pay the missed payments plus the allowed fees and costs, and the loan continues as before. The deadline moves with the sale date: it restarts if the sale is postponed by more than five business days or a new notice is recorded.§2924c(e)
- Listing the home, or accepting an offer, pushes the sale backFor a home of one to four units: if the trustee receives a listing agreement with a licensed broker at least five business days before the sale date, sent by certified mail or a signature-tracked courier, the sale cannot be held for another 45 days. Once postponed that way, a bona fide purchase agreement for at least the full recorded debt, delivered the same way, moves the sale to at least 45 days after the trustee receives it. Each can be used once, and your right to reinstate moves to the new date. This is paperwork I handle for my clients.§2924f(e)
- Until the sale itselfYou can pay the loan off, or close a sale or a lender-approved short sale. A complete loan-modification application, in at least five business days before the sale date, pauses the foreclosure: with the large servicers until a written decision, then at least 30 days to appeal and no sale until 31 days after a denial; with smaller servicers until their written decision. Sales can also be postponed by agreement, for up to a year in total.§2923.6, §2924.18, §2924.11, §2924g
- The auction and afterFor a home of one to four units the sale is not final for up to 45 days: tenants living there can take it by matching the winning bid, and certain other eligible bidders by beating it. Once the sale is final there is no right to buy the home back. A former owner is then served a 3-day written notice to quit, after the buyer's title is recorded, before any eviction case can be filed; tenants get 90 days. These post-auction rules change on January 1, 2027 (AB 1957), and this page will be updated then.§2924m; Code of Civil Procedure §1161a, §1161b
General information about California's non-judicial foreclosure process, not legal advice. The Homeowner Bill of Rights protections above apply to first-lien loans on owner-occupied homes of one to four units. A HUD-approved housing counselor or an attorney can tell you exactly what applies to you, and so can I, for free.
How it works
No fees, no pressure, and nothing to sign to talk.
- Fill in the two-minute form or call me. Tell me what happened and what you want: keep the home, sell, or you're not sure yet.
- We talk, by phone or in person. I run your numbers and explain every option that fits, including the ones I don't get paid for.
- You get a written plan and a timeline. If you decide to keep the home, I help with the application. If you decide to sell, I list it and get you the most out of it.
About Juan
Licensed California real estate agent and REALTOR®, DRE #01413036, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties in Pasadena. I work with homeowners across Los Angeles County who have fallen behind, and with investors who want data-driven acquisitions rather than guesswork. Bilingual, English and Spanish.