California foreclosures are primarily carried out of court or non-judicially. There is of course the option of court foreclosures or judicial foreclosures. A typical California foreclosure case through non-judicial proceedings will take about 4 months.

Court foreclosures in California take place when a lender files a deficiency judgment. This is a process that provides the borrower a time frame of one year to redeem his/her property even after the sale of the foreclosed property.

Most of the California foreclosures are handled non-judicially or out of court. The process starts with the lender filing a notice of default. This notice of default is filed at the county recorder’s office and contains information regarding the default amount and the last date of paying off the default amount. A copy of this notice is mailed to the homeowner/borrower and all other parties who are involved.

The borrower can pay off his/her debt amount at least five business days prior to the trustee's sale and stop the foreclosure process. The lender has the power to reschedule the sale of the property three months after the filing of the notice of default.

The notice of sale has to be posted on the property as well as on a public location like the post office at least 20 days prior to the trustee's sale. The notice also has to be published in the local newspaper once every week for 3 consecutive weeks and should take place at least 20 days prior to the date of sale. Apart from posting the notice of sale, it should also be recorded at the county recorder’s office at least 14 days prior to the date of sale.

The property is sold through a public auction and goes to the winning bidder. The winning bidder will have to pay the trustee the full bid amount in cash or through a cashier's check. The bid is open to everyone and the lender or junior lien holder can bid too. This auction can be postponed and for this an announcement has to be made on the day of the sale. The auction cannot be postponed for more than three times and if that happens then a new notice of sale has to be issued.

If you need more information about California foreclosure laws, you should contact a foreclosure lawyer, or contact us so we can recommend one for you.