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Is my California foreclosure judicial or nonjudicial?

If you got a Notice of Default and no court papers, you are most likely facing a nonjudicial foreclosure, run by a trustee outside of court. If you were served with a summons and a lawsuit, it is a judicial foreclosure. The two follow different rules, different timelines, and different rights after the sale, so knowing which one you face matters.

By Guillermo Serafin, broker and owner of Serve First Realty. Updated October 2026.

How can I tell which one I am facing?

  • Nonjudicial: you get a recorded Notice of Default, then a Notice of Trustee's Sale. A trustee named in your deed of trust runs the sale. No lawsuit is filed.
  • Judicial: you are served with a summons and a complaint. The lender is suing you in court, and a judge decides.
  • Property tax sale: the county tax collector sends notices about unpaid property taxes. This is a separate process.
  • HOA foreclosure: your homeowners association sends notices about unpaid dues and assessments. This also has its own rules.

Do not mix up the rules of these four processes. A deadline or right in one may not apply to another.

How does a nonjudicial foreclosure work?

A deed of trust can give a trustee a power of sale. That lets the trustee sell the home at a public auction without going to court, as long as the law's notice rules are followed.

  • The Notice of Default is recorded and mailed to you.
  • There is generally a wait of 3 calendar months before the sale notice stage, with a limited early-recording exception.
  • A Notice of Trustee's Sale is recorded, mailed, posted, and published at least 20 days before the sale.
  • The earliest the sale can generally happen is 3 months and 20 days after the Notice of Default is recorded.
  • You can generally catch up on missed payments, called reinstatement, until 5 business days before the scheduled sale, and pay off the loan until the sale is complete. Other options have their own deadlines, and some are earlier.

See our foreclosure timeline cheat sheet for each step.

How does a judicial foreclosure work?

In a judicial foreclosure, the lender files a lawsuit. The case moves through service of papers, your response, the court process, and a judgment that orders the sale. There is no set number of days from the lawsuit to the judgment. It depends on the case and the court.

  • After you are served with a summons, you generally have 30 days to respond. Do not ignore court papers.
  • The judgment sets how much is owed, orders a sale, and says whether you could owe more money after the sale, called a deficiency.
  • The sale notice is generally served, mailed, posted, and published at least 20 days before the sale.
  • In some cases, the law requires a wait of 120 days after a notice of levy before the sale notice can be given. In cases with a right to buy back the home, that wait does not apply.

Can I get my home back after the sale?

This is the biggest difference between the two.

  • After an ordinary trustee sale on a mortgage, there is generally no right to buy the home back.
  • After a judicial sale where the judgment allows a deficiency, you may have a right to buy back the home, called redemption. You generally have 3 months if the sale brought in enough to pay the debt, interest, and costs, or 1 year if it did not.
  • If the deficiency is waived or not allowed, the court sale generally happens without that right to buy back.
  • Redemption means paying the redemption price through a set court process. If the time runs out, the buyer gets the deed.
  • After certain HOA foreclosure sales, there is a separate 90-day right to buy back. It does not apply to ordinary mortgage trustee sales.

Could I owe money after the sale?

After a nonjudicial trustee sale, California law generally bars the lender from collecting more money on the loan that was foreclosed. That does not automatically wipe out other debts secured by the home, like a second mortgage, so each one needs a separate look. Loans used to buy the home, and some refinances, have extra protection. In a judicial foreclosure, the lender may ask for a deficiency only if the law allows it and it was kept in the judgment. The lender must ask within 3 months after the sale, and the court limits the amount based on the home's fair value. Read our guide, Will I still owe money after foreclosure?

What should I do now?

  • Gather every notice and court paper you have received, with the dates.
  • If you were served with court papers, get legal help right away. Free legal help is listed at LawHelpCA.org.
  • Call a free HUD-approved housing counselor at 800-569-4287.
  • Book a free call with us to talk through selling, refinancing, and your other choices. A call with us does not stop a foreclosure or extend a deadline.

General information, not legal advice. Sources: California Civil Code sections 2924, 2924c, and 2924f; Code of Civil Procedure sections 412.20, 580b, 580d, 701.540, 701.545, 725a, 726, 729.010, 729.030, 729.035, and 729.080; Revenue and Taxation Code section 3691.

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