How to stop a foreclosure in California

Yes. You can stop a trustee sale by paying the past-due amounts plus allowed costs and fees. This right runs from the day the notice of default is recorded until 5 business days before the sale date. If the sale is postponed for more than 5 business days, the right comes back until 5 business days before the new date. In a court (judicial) foreclosure, you can reinstate any time before the court enters the foreclosure decree.

Cal. Civ. Code § 2924c

We did not find a statewide foreclosure mediation or settlement conference program in California. The California Courts foreclosure guide does not list one, and the foreclosure statutes do not create one. Instead, state law requires your servicer to contact you about options before recording a notice of default and to review a complete loan modification application before selling. A HUD-approved housing counselor or a legal aid office can help you deal with your servicer.

For a first mortgage on a home you live in (1 to 4 units), the servicer must contact you by phone or in person, or show it tried with due diligence, to review your finances and options. It must wait 30 days after that before recording a notice of default.

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 2923.5, 2923.55, 2924.15

If you send a complete first lien loan modification application at least 5 business days before a scheduled sale, the servicer cannot record a notice of default or notice of sale, or hold the sale, while it is pending. With larger servicers, if you are denied you get at least 30 days to appeal, and the foreclosure stays paused for at least 31 days after the written denial. The servicer also cannot foreclose while you are keeping up with an approved written plan.

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 2923.6, 2924.11, 2924.18

When you ask for a foreclosure prevention option, larger servicers (those that foreclosed on more than 175 California homes in the past year) must give you one person or team to work with. If a servicer breaks these rules in a material way, you can ask a court to stop the sale before the trustee's deed is recorded. After that you can sue for money damages, and a court can award attorney's fees if you win.

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 2923.7, 2924.12, 2924.19

If the trustee receives your broker listing agreement at least 5 business days before the sale, the sale must wait 45 more days (one time). If it then receives, again at least 5 business days before the new sale date, a signed purchase agreement for at least what is owed, the sale must be put off until at least 45 days after the trustee got that agreement (one time). On a first mortgage, the first auction cannot sell the home for less than 67 percent of fair market value. These rules apply to homes with 1 to 4 units and are set to end on January 1, 2031 unless the Legislature extends them.

Cal. Civ. Code § 2924f(e), (f)

Since June 30, 2025, a servicer foreclosing on a second or other junior mortgage must record a sworn certification with the notice of default. It must say whether the servicer did things the law calls unlawful, such as sending you nothing in writing for 3 years or threatening foreclosure after the debt was written off. The servicer must mail you a copy by certified mail. You can ask a court for relief before the sale, and the court must pause the sale until it decides.

Cal. Civ. Code § 2924.13