Foreclosure · Riverside County
Stop foreclosure in Riverside County.
A foreclosure in California is a paper trail before it is an auction — documents recorded at the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, a notice published in a local newspaper, a notice taped to your front door. Every one of those steps has a legal deadline attached, and most of those deadlines exist to give you time. We’re a local family that buys houses in this county, and this page is the honest version of what is happening and what is still available to you, including the options that don’t involve selling to us.
Two things worth doing today, before anything else.
First: find out what has actually been recorded against your property at the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder — a Notice of Default is a very different position from a Notice of Trustee’s Sale, and people routinely assume the worse of the two. Second: know that the California Mortgage Relief Program, which shows up constantly in search results, is no longer accepting applications; its own site now points homeowners to the federal directory of HUD-certified housing counselors, which is free. Waiting is the only move that costs you options.
What gets recorded, published, and posted here.
Under California Civil Code §§ 2924–2924g, each stage leaves a document. Knowing which one you’re on tells you how much time you have.
Notice of Default recorded
The NOD is recorded with the Riverside County ACR — at Gateway or downtown Riverside, or the Hemet, Temecula, Palm Desert, or Blythe office. It starts a three-month clock, and it is public record you can look up.
Notice of Trustee’s Sale
Only after three months. Then § 2924f requires, at least 20 days before the sale: recording with the county, posting on the property, posting in one public place, and publication for three consecutive weeks.
The auction — held in this county
Section 2924g requires the sale to be held in the county where the property sits. You can reinstate until 5 business days before it, and postponements can total up to 365 days before a new notice is required.
After the sale
Surplus proceeds go through a § 2924j claims process that can end up deposited with the Riverside Superior Court clerk. Possession is a separate case entirely. This is the stage worth avoiding.
The notice requirements are more specific than most people are told.
Before a trustee can sell your house, Civil Code § 2924f requires a set of steps completed at least 20 days before the sale date: the Notice of Trustee’s Sale must be recorded with the county recorder, posted in one public place — city hall if the property is in a city, the county seat if it isn’t — posted conspicuously on the property itself, and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the public notice district for three consecutive calendar weeks, with the first publication at least 20 days before the sale. The notice has to carry the street address, the assessor’s parcel number, the trustee’s contact information, and the unpaid amount.
Two practical consequences. One: the date on that notice is not a suggestion, and it is not the date your servicer’s call center gave you — read the document. Two: the 20 days, the three weeks of publication, and the three months that had to pass after the Notice of Default all mean that by the time an auction is real, months have already gone by. If you are only now reading this, you very likely still have room — and § 2924g, which also requires the sale to be held in the county where the property sits, lets postponements accumulate up to 365 days from the original notice date before a brand-new notice becomes necessary.
The 2025 rules that let a real sale buy you time.
AB 2424 amended Civil Code §§ 2923.5, 2923.55, and 2924f and added § 2932.2, and the practical effect is significant. Under § 2924f(e), if a listing agreement for the property reaches the trustee at least 5 business days before the scheduled sale, the sale cannot be conducted until an additional 45 days after that scheduled date. If a signed purchase agreement is provided at least 5 business days before a rescheduled sale date, the trustee must postpone to a date at least 45 days after receiving it.
And § 2924f(f) sets a floor on price: at the initially scheduled sale of residential property of one to four units under a first lien, the trustee shall not sell the property for less than 67 percent of its fair market value. That provision exists because auctions have historically wiped out equity at bargain-hunter prices. Alongside all of it sits the oldest protection in the set — Civil Code § 2924c lets you reinstate the loan, paying only the missed payments and allowed fees rather than the entire balance, any time until 5 business days before the sale. None of these are loopholes; they are the Legislature deliberately giving homeowners a chance to protect their own equity, and a genuine sale in motion is what activates most of them.
Where your equity actually goes if the auction happens.
This is the part that changes people’s minds, so here is the mechanism in full. If your house sells at a trustee’s sale for more than the debt, that surplus does not come to you at the auction. Civil Code § 2924j starts a claims process: the trustee sends written notice by first-class mail to everyone with a recorded interest in the property, informing them there has been a sale and that they may have a claim to the remaining proceeds. Claimants then have 30 days from that notice to submit a written claim under penalty of perjury, with an itemized statement of principal, interest, and other charges.
If nobody disputes priority, payment follows within 30 days after the claim period ends. If the trustee cannot resolve competing claims within 90 days, the money is deposited with the clerk of the superior court — the Riverside Superior Court, for a house in this county — claimants then have 30 days to file with the court, and the court considers claims filed at least 15 days before the hearing before distributing anything. Months, filings, and a hearing, to receive money that was already yours.
A normal sale that closes before the auction works completely differently: escrow pays the lender off, the foreclosure is cancelled, the missed payments and fees are settled out of proceeds, and the rest of your equity is wired to you at closing on a date you chose. That is the entire reason speed matters in our business — we can put a written offer in your hands within 24 hours, buy in any condition with no repairs and no cleanup, and close in as little as 7 days through a local title company.
- Written offer within 24 hours, any condition
- Escrow pays the lender; the foreclosure is cancelled
- Your remaining equity wired to you at closing
- No re-trades — the number we agree on is the number you get
- Straight answers, including “keep the house” options
- Local and family-owned, reachable by phone or text
The HOA foreclosure nobody in Riverside County expects.
Riverside County is dense with homeowners associations — Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Eastvale, much of Corona, and large stretches of the Coachella Valley. An association can foreclose on unpaid assessments, and homeowners are genuinely blindsided by it, because the numbers involved look far too small to threaten a house.
Civil Code § 5720 sets the threshold: an association may not use judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure to collect delinquent assessments unless the delinquent assessments secured by the lien — excluding accelerated assessments, late charges, fees and costs of collection, attorney’s fees, and interest — equal or exceed $1,800, or the assessments are more than 12 months delinquent. That $1,800 is not a typo, and the twelve-month clock reaches the same result at an even smaller balance.
There is one protection here that mortgage foreclosure does not offer: under Civil Code § 5715, a nonjudicial foreclosure by an association carries a 90-day right of redemption after the sale, meaning the former owner may be able to redeem the property within that window. If you are behind on HOA dues on top of a mortgage, say so early — assessment liens and the payoff are settled through escrow like any other lien, and an association’s collections file is usually far easier to resolve than a servicer’s.
Who is still living in the house matters more than you’d think.
If the auction goes through, the buyer does not get the keys automatically — possession is a separate unlawful detainer case. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161a, a former owner holding over after a trustee’s sale must be served a three-day written notice to quit before the case can be filed. Under § 1161b, a tenant or subtenant in possession under a month-to-month or periodic tenancy at the time of the foreclosure sale must be given 90 days’ written notice to quit.
That distinction is worth knowing for two reasons. If you have a tenant, adult children, or a relative living in the property, their position after a foreclosure is not the same as yours, and a sale you control lets you handle their move on human terms and a reasonable schedule instead of by court notice. And if you are the one living there, three days is the entire runway you get after an auction — which is a very different thing from choosing your own closing date.
The honest list of options — including the ones that aren’t us.
Selling is not always the right answer, and we would rather say so on the first call than pretend otherwise. Depending on where you are in the timeline you may be able to reinstate under § 2924c, negotiate a modification or forbearance with your servicer — who must provide a single point of contact under California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights — or work with a HUD-certified housing counselor for free. That is the resource the California Mortgage Relief Program itself now points homeowners to, through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s counselor directory, since the program stopped accepting applications. If the debt exceeds what the house is worth, a short sale with lender approval may still beat a completed foreclosure. And if listing with an agent would net you more than our offer, we will tell you that — we say no to deals for that reason regularly.
One last thing before you talk to any investor, us included. California’s Home Equity Sales Contract Act applies to purchases of owner-occupied homes with a recorded Notice of Default: it requires the contract to be in writing with every term spelled out, and it gives the seller the right to cancel until midnight of the fifth business day after signing, or 8 a.m. on the day of the trustee’s sale, whichever comes first. Where that law applies we honor it in full and explain it out loud before anyone signs. Any buyer who rushes you past it or pretends it doesn’t exist is breaking California law — walk away, whatever they are offering.
Local Knowledge
Local buyers who move at foreclosure speed.
We buy houses facing foreclosure across Riverside County — Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, Norco, Perris, Menifee, Hemet, San Jacinto, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Murrieta, Temecula, Beaumont, Banning, Calimesa, and out through the Coachella Valley to Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, and Indio. Because we’re local and buy with cash, there’s no out-of-state committee and no financing that can collapse at the worst possible moment — the two things a foreclosure calendar cannot forgive.
Common Questions
Answers before you even ask.
How do I find out what’s actually been recorded against my house?
A Notice of Default and a Notice of Trustee’s Sale are both recorded with the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, which has offices at Riverside Gateway (2724 Gateway Drive) and downtown Riverside (4080 Lemon Street), plus Hemet, Temecula, Palm Desert, and Blythe. It is public record. Knowing which document exists — and the date on it — is the single most useful thing you can do today, because a Notice of Default means at least three more months before a sale can even be scheduled.
The auction is only weeks away. Is it too late to sell?
Usually not. A sale that pays off the loan can close right up to the auction, reinstatement under Civil Code § 2924c is available until 5 business days before it, and under AB 2424 a signed purchase agreement delivered at least 5 business days before the sale generally requires the trustee to postpone to a date at least 45 days out. Call or text today rather than tomorrow — the calendar is the problem, not the process.
If my house sells at auction for more than I owe, do I get the difference?
Eventually, and only after a process. Civil Code § 2924j requires the trustee to notify everyone with a recorded interest, gives claimants 30 days to file a written claim under penalty of perjury, and — if competing claims aren’t resolved within 90 days — sends the money to the clerk of the superior court, where claimants have another 30 days to file and the court decides at a hearing. Selling before the auction gets your equity wired to you at closing instead.
Can my HOA really foreclose over a few thousand dollars?
Yes, within limits. Civil Code § 5720 bars an association from foreclosing unless the delinquent assessments — excluding accelerated assessments, late charges, collection fees and costs, attorney’s fees, and interest — equal or exceed $1,800, or the assessments are more than 12 months delinquent. If an association does foreclose nonjudicially, Civil Code § 5715 provides a 90-day right of redemption after the sale. Unpaid dues are paid off through escrow in a normal sale, so tell us about them early.
Is the California Mortgage Relief Program still available?
No. It is no longer accepting applications — it closed after distributing its funding to tens of thousands of households — and its own website now directs homeowners to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s directory of HUD-certified housing counselors, which is free. Many search results and older articles still describe it as open, which sends people down a dead end at exactly the wrong moment.
My tenant lives in the house. What happens to them?
Their position is different from yours. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161b, a tenant in possession under a month-to-month or periodic tenancy at the time of a foreclosure sale must be given 90 days’ written notice to quit, while a former owner holding over gets a three-day notice under § 1161a. Selling on your own terms lets you handle a tenant’s move on a humane schedule instead of leaving it to a court process. We buy tenant-occupied houses regularly.
Will I get less money selling to you than listing it?
Sometimes, and we will say so if that is the case. Our offer reflects buying a house as-is with no repairs, no showings, no commissions, and a closing date you pick — and when a foreclosure calendar is running, certainty is often worth more than the last few percent of price. But if you have time and the house shows well, listing may net you more, and we would rather lose the deal than talk you out of the better outcome.
Have a different question? Ask us directly — a real person answers.
Keep reading
Foreclosure across the Inland Empire
The regional guide: the full 200-plus-day timeline and every option still open to you.
An inherited Riverside County house that’s behind
Probate, the Assessor’s deadlines, and what happens when the estate stalls.
There’s a tenant in the house
Just-cause rules, notice periods, and how a sale works with someone living there.
Sell as-is, in any condition
Deferred maintenance, unpermitted work, fire damage — we buy it as it stands.
Divorce and a mortgage nobody can carry
Two names, one payment — the neutral-buyer version of a hard situation.
Inland Empire market report
Cited monthly data on Riverside County prices and days on market.
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This page is general information for Inland Empire homeowners, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws and figures change; always confirm how they apply to your situation with a qualified professional. References here to California Civil Code §§ 2923.5, 2923.55, 2924c, 2924f, 2924g, 2924j, 5715, and 5720, Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1161a and 1161b, the Home Equity Sales Contract Act, AB 2424 (effective 2025), Riverside County recording offices, and the closure of the California Mortgage Relief Program reflect California law and published program status as of mid-2026, summarized in general terms. Deadlines and procedures change and depend on your specific documents. If you want to keep your home, a HUD-certified housing counselor is a free resource through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and an attorney can advise on your case.