An Overview of California Non-Judicial Foreclosure Process

• View California Non-judicial Foreclosure Flow Chart
• View California Non-Judicial Foreclosure Timeline

California law permits a beneficiary (lender) to exercise the Power of Sell under a deed of trust when a Trustor (borrower) defaults on a loan secured by real properties. Simply put, a beneficiary may sell the trustor’s real property (collateral) at a public auction to satisfy an indebtedness without court actions. Hence, the term non-judicial foreclosure.

LFS acts as the designated Trustee to carry out the non-judicial foreclosure on behalf of the beneficiary in compliance with a myriad of statutory requirements.

A non-judicial foreclosure in California involves three major steps:

1. Notice of Default: The NOD sets a time limit of no less than 90 days from the NOD recording date for a borrower to cure delinquency by either reinstating or paying off the loan.
2. Notice of Trustee’s Sale: The NOS sets the place, date and time to sell the borrower’s collateral at a public auction to satisfy the debit if loan default is not cured before then.
3. Trustee’s Sale: The borrower’s collateral is sold at a public auction to the highest bidder for cash. If no one bids at the sale, the foreclosing beneficiary acquires title to the property.