California Code Library · Topic
Foreclosure & auctions: trustee, tax and court sales
Find what to check before bidding, after a sale or when your property faces foreclosure.
Collected laws, guidance and procedures organized by subject. Where a code is listed section by section, the library holds those sections, not the whole code.
Your auction guide
Your situationBuying / bidding · House / condo · Not sure yetChange
Step 1 of 5 · House / condo
Before you bid
Understand the property, the sale and the risks before deciding whether to participate.
What kind of sale is this, and why does it matter?
Identify the seller, the sale authority and the notice before using a checklist. A lender’s trustee sale, a county tax sale and a court-supervised sale have different procedures. Start with the notice for this particular property.
Have these ready
- Sale notice and parcel number (APN)
- Seller or trustee contact and published sale terms
Planning checklist. Confirm the property-specific answer with the responsible agency, organizer or adviser.
Which liens, debts or title problems could remain?
Do not treat the auction price as proof of a clear title. Ask a title professional or attorney to review the recorded documents, lien priority and the interest being sold before setting a bid limit.
Have these ready
- Current title report and recorded liens
- Written review of exceptions and the interest offered
Can I use, rent or renovate the property as planned?
Compare your intended use with local zoning, permit history and the actual occupancy. Ask the local planning or building department about unresolved approvals. An auction listing is not confirmation that your intended use is allowed.
Have these ready
- Current use, unit count and permit records
- Inspection findings and intended changes
Planning checklist. Confirm the property-specific answer with the responsible agency, organizer or adviser.
How much should I budget beyond my bid?
Prepare a total-cost worksheet: sale charges, title review, recording, taxes, repairs, insurance and a reserve for the time needed to take possession. Obtain quotes and property-specific figures before choosing your maximum bid.
Have these ready
- Published charges and payment instructions
- Repair, tax, insurance and holding-cost estimates
Planning checklist. Confirm the property-specific answer with the responsible agency, organizer or adviser.
What you should have next
A property file, unresolved-risk list and a total-cost bid limit.
These starting points help you gather facts and find the right source. Sale terms, deadlines and eligibility depend on the actual property and transaction. Official guidance is linked directly; it is not a guarantee that every situation is covered. Guide prepared October 1, 2026. Check the linked publisher for updates.
Browse source documents by subject
Choose a category or a specific subject to see its collected documents. Use full-text search when you need words inside a document.
Trustee's sales & nonjudicial foreclosure
Default, reinstatement, postponement, bidding and completion of sale.
- Default, notice & reinstatement →
Notices of default and sale, and material about bringing a loan current before sale.
- Bidding & postponement →
Auction bidding, deposits and announcements postponing a trustee’s sale.
- Deeds & surplus proceeds →
Trustee’s deeds and distribution of money left after a sale.
Tax-defaulted property sales
County tax-collector sales, redemption and deed procedures.
- Delinquency & redemption →
Unpaid property taxes and procedures for redeeming tax-defaulted property.
- Auction terms & bidding →
County auction rules, bidder registration, deposits and payment instructions.
- Tax deeds & excess proceeds →
Tax deeds and claims for money left after a tax sale.
Judgment enforcement & sheriff sales
Execution, levy, exemptions and sheriff-conducted sales.
- Judgments, levy & exemptions →
Enforcing a judgment against property, including levy and exemption material.
- Sheriff sale procedure →
Notices, bidding and completion procedures for sheriff-conducted property sales.
Probate & estate sales
Court-supervised and independent-administration sales of estate property.
- Court confirmation & overbids →
Probate sale confirmation, competing bids and related court procedures.
- Independent administration →
Estate property sales under independent administration and related notices.
Bankruptcy & federal liens
Bankruptcy sales, federal liens and related federal protections.
- Bankruptcy sales →
Court-authorized property sales and related bankruptcy procedures.
- Federal liens & priority →
Federal liens and material about the order in which claims are paid.
Tenants after a sale
Possession and tenant protections after foreclosure or other forced sale.
- Possession & notices →
Taking possession and serving notices after a foreclosure or forced sale.
- Tenant protections →
Rules and guidance concerning tenants who remain after a property sale.
Court and county procedures & forms
Official local rules, instructions, forms and sale terms.
- Court forms & local rules →
Official court forms, filing instructions and local procedural rules.
- County instructions & sale terms →
County auction instructions, bidder requirements and published sale terms.
Collected auction and forced-sale material
9,912 current documents: 332 statutory sources and 9,580 procedure, form and guidance documents across 58 counties. Process counts overlap when one source applies to several stages.
49 documents
Trustee's sales & nonjudicial foreclosure
Default, reinstatement, postponement, bidding and completion of sale.
734 documents
Tax-defaulted property sales
County tax-collector sales, redemption and deed procedures.
1,780 documents
Judgment enforcement & sheriff sales
Execution, levy, exemptions and sheriff-conducted sales.
79 documents
Probate & estate sales
Court-supervised and independent-administration sales of estate property.
1,544 documents
Bankruptcy & federal liens
Bankruptcy sales, federal liens and related federal protections.
29 documents
Tenants after a sale
Possession and tenant protections after foreclosure or other forced sale.
7,943 documents
Court and county procedures & forms
Official local rules, instructions, forms and sale terms.
8,244 procedure documents are marked for edition review. They remain searchable with their source labels, but are not presented as current enacted law until that review is complete.
The law, verbatim
Mortgages & foreclosure (Civil Code § 2924 series)
Nonjudicial foreclosure — notice of default, reinstatement, the notice of sale, sale proceeds.
- California CIV Code § 2924.1
- California CIV Code § 2924.3
- California CIV Code § 2924.8
- California CIV Code § 2924.9
- California CIV Code § 2924.10
- California CIV Code § 2924.11
- California CIV Code § 2924.12
- California CIV Code § 2924.13
- California CIV Code § 2924.15
- California CIV Code § 2924.17
- California CIV Code § 2924.18
- California CIV Code § 2924.19
- California CIV Code § 2924.20
- California CIV Code § 2924.21
- California CIV Code § 2924.26
- California CIV Code § 2924k
- California CIV Code § 2924l
- California CIV Code § 2924n
- California CIV Code § 2924p
- Mortgage and Deed-of-Trust Foreclosure Procedures — Civil Code § 2924
- Reinstatement Before Foreclosure Sale — Civil Code § 2924c
- Notice of trustee sale — Civil Code § 2924f
- Distribution of Foreclosure Sale Proceeds — Civil Code § 2924j
Other topics
Development & building
What can be built and how: the Title 24 building codes, every city and county zoning code, and the state planning, environmental and development-finance law above them.
Buying & selling
The rules for the people who carry a sale: real estate licensing, broker supervision, trust funds and the Real Estate Commissioner's regulations.
Renting & eviction
Rent caps, just cause, deposits, repairs and entry, the eviction lawsuit itself, and the fair-housing rules every rental decision is read against.
Owning & HOAs
What comes with holding a property: HOA disclosures, assessments and disputes, loan servicing, homeowners insurance, trusts, and passing a home on at death.
Property taxes
Find property assessment, reassessment, exemptions, tax bills, appeals and transfer taxes by the task you need to complete.
GoCodebook provides public access, search, citation, multilingual explanation, and practical interpretation of legally adopted building regulations. It is not a substitute for the official ICC or California code publications.