wheres the notice of sale on my home?

Question

My home is up for auction May 22nd @ 3pm at the court house. My question is reading the foreclosure process for California it states that a notice of sale must be posted on the property itself at least 20 days before the sale. Well the auction is in 2 days and there hasnt been anything  posted physically on my property.  Whats up with this? thanks

Jim Wineinger · Answer

The good news here is that there is always hope. The bank will sell it at auction but that does not mean that you are out!

There are companies that will buy at these auctions, then turn around and resell it to those who had owned it before the auction.
This can happen for you as long as the bank is willing to sell  the property at auction instead of keeping it themselves for sale later as an REO. The person who has bought the property can allow you to stay there and rent the property or you can work out a sale of the property back to you. This is up to you as how you proceed.

If you conduct yourself as someone who just got into a bad situation and is trying to work out of it. An investor may consider helping you. But if you conduct yourself as a homeowner who is owed this and that because of rights, then you may be out of luck, because the investor has rights too.

Mark H. · Answer

The property is officially yours until the trustee's sale.  The trustee will either sell the property to an investor, or back to the bank.  The bank then has to evict you.

In AZ, an eviction can be done in just a couple of weeks.  My understanding of CA is that it can take months.

You'll be getting some certified letters soon, be sure to open them, and it might not be a bad idea to look for a legal aid office.  They should be able to tell you how long you have to vacate.

Save your money, and start looking for a new place to stay, depending on the bank, they may offer you a few bucks to leave peacefully and not damage the property - they call that  "cash for keys".

It's a miserable situation, but remember your life can change for the better just as quick as it went south, so keep your head up.

Jon Holdman · Answer

Lisa, the "deed of trust" is a document you signed at the closing when you bought the house.  You should have a copy of this document in your files, in the big packet of papers you were given at closing.  It will say "Deed of Trust" or "Trust Deed" or some such at the top.  If you don't have this, you can get a copy from the county recorded.  Check our recorder office list to see if its online.  If not, go down to the courthouse, go to the recorder's office, and get a copy.

Steve Babiak · Answer

The snippet above is what applies in your situation, not the remainder of the CA state laws that you posted.

So, get your "Trust Deed" document that you recieved at your closing/settlement and read that for the particulars.  You may discover that the Trust Deed does not require the lender/servicer to post any sign on your property; it's probably not all that convenient for them to be doing so, and they will write things up so that it is not required of them.

Hope that helps.

Lisa Zurga · Answer

Hi, Thanks for responding. You ask what does the Trust Deed say. Are you meaning the actual small trust deed form? Because at this point my paper work from Recontrust Company says. You are in default under deed of trust and dated. Iness i take action to protect property it willbe sold at auction. And further this notice is hereby given that Recontrust Co. as duly appointed trustee pursuant to the deed of trust excuted by lisa zurga and ex hubby..dated. and then where and when it will be auctioned.
I get that i have no hope to save my house at this point and its going bye bye from me. But my sole question was after reading the ca. foreclosure laws or process it states not only this paper I got"notice of trustees sale" and public annoucement in newspaper etc... that a notice of sale be posted on the property itself 20 days before the sale. So I not seeing any sign or notice on my home property regarding this sale/auction. Maybe i'm no longer the trustee the Recontrust Co. is now and therefore its really not my property its theirs?

Jim Wineinger · Answer

That is the official notice that is required to be sent to you.

Since you have that then notice is given to the property. You have the notice in your hands.

But the actual rules governing the sale will be found in the financial papers that you signed when you bought the property. From what you are describing it would be called a TRUST DEED and within that trust deed is a clause that states when an where notices will be sent if buyer is in default.

Since you have one notice, if you search you will find another notice was in the paper and another somewhere usually at the courthouse. Sounds like all bases are covered to me.

Jim Wineinger · Answer

The actual foreclosure process that a paticular property goes through depends upon what is written in the contract that was signed between the buyer, seller, and financial entity.

There are several type of foreclosures that could be involved including tax foreclosure. All are governed by a little different set of rules.

Do you know what foreclosure type your foreclosure is?

Jim Wineinger · Answer

What does your TRUST DEED say?

If the deed of trust or mortgage contains a power of sale clause and specifies the time, place and terms of sale, then the specified procedure must be followed.

If your trust deed does not include a power of sale clause (this is doubtful as they all do nowdays) then the rest of what you said applies. You have not yet told us exactly what your trust deed says. You are acting as if the other clause applies and it probably does not.

You may be out of luck on this one because no trustee will conduct a trustees sale without the power to do so given to him specifically within the trust deed by that power of sale clause.

Lisa Zurga · Answer

well im in ca. and on my paper work that tells me about the auction in 2 days it reads Notice of Trustees Sale.

Jim Wineinger · Answer

I know that I must sound like a hardass to Lisa. But that is what I see from what she has posted.

Does any one else here see any hope for her as she seems to have only till about 5pm today to find a solution that will possibly keep here in her home.

I am not from CA and many of you here are. Is there any hope for her? Or did she find us, as I suspect, to late to give her any help. It looks to me like she is now grasping at any possible straws she can.