That is a question that is asked by anyone facing an impending foreclosure in California. Because California is a non-judicial foreclosure state the purported lender or agent on behalf of the lender only needs to jump through a couple of hoops, none of which require any court or legal oversight in order to sell your property on the county courthouse steps.
The only answer that I know that has stopped and continues to stop a foreclosure (like one today) is by getting a court order, also known as either a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) or preliminary injunction (“PI”). Be aware that just because you were told by someone “working” for the lender or the “servicer” of the underlying obligation that the foreclosure is stayed (even if you have something in writing from them), it does not guarantee they won’t foreclose. For example I had one case where the law firm for Bank of America stated in writing that they will not foreclose on the property. Less than three weeks later the property was sold to a third party. Obviously we used that letter in court, but at the end of the day the client’s home was sold and we had to stop the buyer from evicting them from their house.
So the lesson you should take away from this is first don’t wait to the last minute to get help. Once you are behind start looking for legal help. Don’t wait till you have the Notice of Trustee Sale or even the Notice of Default. The more time your attorney has to prepare the better chance you have of getting a TRO and then a PI ordered by the Court.
