To stop a foreclosure in California, you generally have four routes: pay what you owe to reinstate the loan, negotiate a workout with your servicer (forbearance, repayment plan, or loan modification), invoke your protections under the California Homeowner Bill of Rights to force the servicer to pause, or file bankruptcy to trigger the automatic stay. Which route fits depends on where you are in the timeline and whether you can realistically afford the home going forward. Act early: the state’s nonjudicial process moves on fixed deadlines, and each option has its own cutoff.
Know Which Deadline You Are Facing
California primarily uses nonjudicial foreclosure, meaning your lender sells the home through a trustee without going to court.1California Courts. Your Rights in a Nonjudicial Foreclosure Before any formal filing, federal law requires your servicer to wait until you are more than 120 days delinquent.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1024.41 Loss Mitigation Procedures California adds a separate requirement: the servicer must contact you (or make diligent efforts to reach you) at least 30 days before recording a Notice of Default.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 2923.5
Once the trustee records a Notice of Default, you have 90 days to cure the default by paying the overdue amount plus costs.1California Courts. Your Rights in a Nonjudicial Foreclosure If you do not cure, the trustee can record a Notice of Sale, and the sale itself cannot happen earlier than three months and 20 days after the original Notice of Default was recorded.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 2924 The Notice of Sale must be mailed to you, published in a local newspaper for three consecutive weeks, and posted on the property.
The most important date to circle: you have the right to reinstate the loan up to five business days before the scheduled sale.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 2924c If the sale is postponed, that right revives and runs until five business days before the new date.
Reinstate the Loan
Reinstatement is the cleanest way to stop a foreclosure. You pay the entire past-due balance — missed payments, late fees, and any foreclosure costs the lender has incurred — and your loan continues under its original terms as though the default never happened.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 2924c Call your servicer and ask for a written reinstatement quote good through a specific date. The number will be larger than just your missed payments, so build in time to gather funds.
If a lump sum is out of reach but your income has stabilized, ask the servicer about a repayment plan that spreads the arrears over several months on top of your regular payment.
Negotiate a Workout With Your Servicer
Lenders often lose money on foreclosure sales, so many will work with you if you reach out early and document your situation. Two workouts do the heavy lifting.
Forbearance
Forbearance pauses or reduces payments for a set period while you get past a temporary hardship such as a job loss or medical emergency. It does not erase the debt. At the end of the forbearance, you repay the paused amounts through a lump sum, a structured repayment plan, or by adding them to the end of the loan. Get any forbearance agreement in writing before you stop paying.
Loan Modification
A modification permanently changes your loan to make payments affordable. The servicer may lower the interest rate, extend the term, or in some cases reduce principal. Expect to submit proof of income, a hardship letter, and recent bank statements. Review can take weeks or months, but California law prevents the servicer from advancing the foreclosure while a complete application is pending (see below).
If you think your servicer has miscalculated your balance or charged improper fees, send a Qualified Written Request. The servicer must acknowledge it within five business days and respond substantively within 30 business days, at no cost to you.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Qualified Written Request (QWR)?
Use the California Homeowner Bill of Rights
The Homeowner Bill of Rights gives you protections that go beyond federal law, and violations can be grounds to challenge a foreclosure in court.
The Dual-Tracking Ban
This is the most powerful lever most homeowners never use. If you submit a complete loan modification application at least five business days before a scheduled sale, the servicer cannot record a Notice of Default, record a Notice of Sale, or conduct a trustee’s sale while the application is under review.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 2923.6 The freeze lasts until the servicer issues a written decision, and if you are denied, you have appeal rights before any foreclosure activity can resume. Submit the application in a form that creates a paper trail, and keep proof of what you sent and when.
Single Point of Contact
When you request a foreclosure prevention alternative, the servicer must assign a single point of contact responsible for walking you through the process, tracking your documents, and making sure you are considered for every available option.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 2923.7 If you are getting bounced between representatives who don’t know your file, that is a violation you can raise.
Document Accuracy
Every foreclosure document the servicer records must be accurate, complete, and backed by reliable evidence, and the servicer must verify the default and its right to foreclose before filing.9California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 2924.17 Repeated violations can carry penalties of up to $7,500 per mortgage in state enforcement actions.
File Bankruptcy to Trigger the Automatic Stay
Filing a bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay that immediately halts most collection actions, including a scheduled foreclosure sale. The stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Chapter 13 If You Want to Keep the House
Chapter 13 is the bankruptcy tool built for homeowners. If you have regular income, you propose a three-to-five-year repayment plan that lets you catch up on missed mortgage payments over that period while making your regular monthly payments going forward.11United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics As long as you stay current on both the plan and the ongoing mortgage, the lender cannot foreclose.
Chapter 7 Only Pauses Things
Chapter 7 is a liquidation, with no built-in way to cure mortgage arrears over time. The automatic stay will temporarily halt a sale, but unless you can bring the loan current or negotiate new terms quickly, the lender will ask the court to lift the stay and proceed. Chapter 7 also has income eligibility limits tied to California’s median income and a means test.
Watch the Repeat-Filer Trap
The automatic stay is not unlimited. If you had a bankruptcy case dismissed within the past year, the stay in a new filing lasts only 30 days unless the court extends it. If two or more cases were dismissed in the past year, no automatic stay takes effect at all.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Serial filings intended solely to stall foreclosure almost always backfire.
One boundary to keep in mind: a bankruptcy discharge wipes out your personal liability on the mortgage debt, but it does not remove the lender’s lien on the property. Stop paying after discharge and the lender can still foreclose.
If You Can’t Save the Home, Limit the Damage
When keeping the house is not realistic, two alternatives beat sitting through a full foreclosure.
Short Sale
You sell the home for less than the outstanding balance with the lender’s approval, and the lender accepts the proceeds to settle the debt. The critical step is a written agreement from the lender confirming it will not pursue you for the shortfall. California’s automatic anti-deficiency protections apply to nonjudicial trustee’s sales, not to negotiated short sales, so without a written waiver you can still be chased for the balance.
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
You voluntarily transfer ownership to the lender and, in exchange, the lender releases you from the mortgage debt. Lenders typically consider this only after other options have been explored and when the property is not weighed down by multiple liens. Insist on a written release of any deficiency before signing over the deed.
Get Free Help and Avoid Rescue Scams
HUD-approved housing counselors provide free or very low-cost foreclosure prevention guidance, including help organizing your finances, explaining your options, and negotiating with your servicer. Call (800) 569-4287 or use HUD’s online directory to find one near you.12U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Avoiding Foreclosure
Foreclosure rescue scams follow predictable patterns. Under the federal Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, it is illegal for a company to charge you a fee before delivering a written offer of relief that you accept.13Federal Trade Commission. Mortgage Relief Scams Any demand for upfront payment is a violation. Other red flags: pressure to transfer your deed, instructions to stop contacting your lender, requests to send mortgage payments to anyone other than your servicer, and claims of government affiliation. Legitimate counselors will never ask you to sign over your property or pay large fees before results are delivered.