California Home Foreclosure Process
The Foreclosure Procedure Includes
Home Foreclosure – Five Events
Event 1: Missing a Single Payment – The foreclosure procedure may begin when you miss a single monthly mortgage loan payment (delinquency). A
lender or its servicing agent is required to contact the homeowner 30 days in advance if initiating foreclosure.
Event 2: Notice of Default (“NODâ€) – The recording of the NOD officially begins the foreclosure procedure.You will receive a copy of the NOD by certified
postage prepaid mail. After the NOD is recorded, an initial minimum three month period is required to provide you with the opportunity of curing the
default and reinstating your mortgage loan. DO NOT PAY ANY UPFRONT FEES AFTER THIS STAGE FOR HELP.
Event 3: End of the Initial Three Month Reinstatement or Cure Period – Your lender can schedule the foreclosure sale of your home.
Event 4: Notice of Sale (“NOSâ€) – The NOS is posted on your home and published in an authorized newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction
where the foreclosure sale is to occur.
Event 5: Foreclosure Sale – When your home sells at the foreclosure sale, the lender may elect to accept the sale proceeds as payment in full.
Log on, look’em up, and check’em out at www.dre.ca.gov. Stay away from companies that promise to help you work with your lender for an upfront fee –
these are often scams.
Possible Alternatives or Options to Home Foreclosure
• Modify or restructure the terms and payment schedule of your existing mortgage loan
• Refinance
• Pursue a “short saleâ€
• Offer a “deed-in-lieu†of foreclosure to your lender
California Home Foreclosure
If You’ve Already Received a Notice of Default
Do not give up. The foreclosure process allows homeowners extra time to work with lenders to halt the process.
This information is from the California Department of Real Estate.
