Yes. A recorded Notice of Default, the NOD, does not take the house from you or freeze your right to sell it. Under California Civil Code section 2924 it is the document a lender records with the county recorder to start the foreclosure clock, and nothing in it transfers title or requires the lender's consent to a sale. What changes is the calendar, and the table is the guide in one place.
| Where you are | What the statute says | What a sale needs to do |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 to 90 after the NOD records | No notice of sale for three months (Civil Code 2924) | Nothing is scheduled. List, or get a cash offer |
| Notice of Trustee's Sale recorded | At least 20 days out (Civil Code 2924f), never sooner than three months and 20 days after the NOD | Escrow closes before the sale date, or the date moves |
| Five business days before the sale | The right to reinstate ends (Civil Code 2924c). Selling does not | A full payoff through escrow is allowed until the sale is complete |
| Any time before the sale is complete | A listing agreement bars the sale 45 more days; a purchase agreement postpones it 45 again (Civil Code 2924f, per AB 2424) | The right paper, delivered in time, buys the escrow time |
What the Notice of Default changes, and what it leaves alone
Three things stay as they were. You still own the house. You can list it, sign a purchase agreement, and open escrow without asking the lender. And escrow can pay the loan off in full through a payoff demand at closing, which is how a sale in default ordinarily closes.
Two things are different. The NOD is a public record at the recorder's office of the county the property sits in, which is why investor letters start within days. And every deadline counts from the recording date, not the day the envelope reached you. Each recorder in Riverside, Orange, and San Diego County shows that date online, and the FAQ says where.
The three windows after the NOD is recorded
The first 90 days. Section 2924 requires not less than three months after the NOD before a notice of sale can be given. Nothing is scheduled. A listed house in Temecula or Escondido can run a normal marketing period, and a cash sale closes well inside it.
After the Notice of Trustee's Sale. Once three months pass, the trustee can record the notice of sale, with the sale at least 20 days out under section 2924f. Escrow closes before that date, or the date moves.
The last five business days. Section 2924c lets you reinstate, meaning pay the arrears plus the lender's costs and fees, until five business days before the sale. That cutoff applies to reinstating, not selling: a sale is final only when the last bid is accepted, as our guide to selling a house in foreclosure explains.
The statutory deadlines, and the section that sets each one
| Deadline | Counted from | Section | What it governs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three months before any notice of sale | NOD recording date | Civil Code 2924 | The earliest the trustee may give notice of sale |
| Notice of sale may record up to five days early | End of the three months | Civil Code 2924 | Allowed only if the sale date is at least three months and 20 days after the NOD |
| At least 20 days of notice before the sale | Notice of sale | Civil Code 2924f | The minimum gap between the notice and the auction |
| Reinstatement ends five business days before the sale | Sale date in the notice | Civil Code 2924c(e) | Paying the arrears, costs, and fees to stop the sale |
| Reinstatement revives | A subsequent notice of sale, or a postponement of more than five business days | Civil Code 2924c(e) | The right returns until five business days before the new date |
| Postponements total up to 365 days | Sale date in the notice | Civil Code 2924g(c)(1) | Beyond that, a new notice of sale is required |
| The sale is final | Acceptance of the last and highest bid | Civil Code 2924h | The end of your ability to sell |
The 2025 law that rewards putting the house on the market
Assembly Bill 2424 took effect on January 1, 2025 and rewrote part of section 2924f for homes of one to four units. Two provisions exist for exactly this seller.
"The law also prohibits a foreclosure sale from being conducted for 45 days if the trustee receives, at least 5 business days before the scheduled date of sale, a listing agreement for the sale of the property."
Amy Loftsgordon, Attorney, in California Foreclosure Laws 2025, AllLaw
Section 2924f(e)(1) requires that listing agreement to be with a California licensed real estate broker. Subdivision (e)(3) then makes the trustee postpone the sale to at least 45 days after receiving a purchase agreement, delivered the same way. A listing and then a signed contract can move the auction by roughly three months. Subdivision (f)(1) adds a floor: at the first scheduled sale the trustee may not sell below 67 percent of fair market value. None of this cancels the foreclosure. It gives a sale already under way the time to close, which is the difference between keeping your equity and losing it through the trustee.
What to hand the trustee, and when
| Document | Deadline to deliver | What it does | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing agreement with a California licensed real estate broker | At least five business days before the scheduled sale | Bars the sale for an additional 45 days after the scheduled date | Civil Code 2924f(e)(1) |
| Purchase agreement for the property | At least five business days before the scheduled sale | Trustee postpones to a date at least 45 days after receiving it | Civil Code 2924f(e)(3) |
| Fair market valuation | The lender provides it at least ten days before the initial sale | The trustee may not sell at that first sale below 67 percent of it | Civil Code 2924f(f)(1) |
| Mutual agreement to postpone | Any time before the sale is complete | Any length, inside the 365 day total | Civil Code 2924g(c)(1) |
Deliver each document in writing to the trustee named on the Notice of Trustee's Sale, and keep proof of the date it was received. The statute counts from receipt, not from the day you sent it.
Reinstating, paying off, or selling: three different questions
| Route | What it takes | When it stops being available | Approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reinstate | The arrears plus the lender's costs and fees, in one payment | Five business days before the sale; revives if the sale is postponed or re-noticed | No one. It is a right under 2924c |
| Sell and pay off in full | An escrow that closes before the sale at a price covering the payoff demand | When the last and highest bid is accepted | No one. The lender is paid through escrow |
| Short sale | A buyer, plus the lender's written agreement to take less than it is owed | The same moment, but approval takes weeks | The lender, because it takes a loss |
Listing or a cash sale inside the window
With 90 days and no sale date, a listing is a real option and often nets more. A correctly priced house in Huntington Beach or Irvine can find a buyer in a normal marketing period, and the listing agreement itself now buys 45 days.
With a sale date on record, the comparison changes from price to certainty. A cash sale has no financing contingency and no appraisal, so its closing date is one a trustee can be asked to postpone against. We buy houses as-is for cash across Southern California, from the Temecula Valley and Riverside County to Orange County and North County San Diego, at any point after the NOD and up to the sale itself. Get a no-obligation cash offer and use it as the number the calendar has to beat.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I confirm the date my Notice of Default was recorded in Riverside, San Diego, or Orange County?
Search the official records of the county the property is in, using your name as the trustor and the document type Notice of Default. Riverside County's Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder offers an online official records search with paid copies. San Diego County's Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk keeps an indexed online search of real estate records from 1970 forward. Orange County's Clerk-Recorder online search returns the index only, with copies requested by mail or in person. The recording date on that index entry is the day the three month clock in Civil Code 2924 started, and it is the date to plan an escrow against.
Do I need the lender's permission to sell after a Notice of Default?
Not when the sale pays the loan off in full. Escrow requests a payoff demand, the lender is paid at closing, and its lien is released. You only need the lender's agreement when the price will not cover what is owed, which is a short sale, and that approval takes time the calendar may not give you.
Does listing the house stop the foreclosure?
It postpones it rather than stopping it. Under Civil Code 2924f(e)(1), a listing agreement with a California licensed real estate broker, received by the trustee at least five business days before the scheduled sale, bars the sale for an additional 45 days. A purchase agreement delivered the same way moves the sale to at least 45 days after the trustee receives it under 2924f(e)(3). The foreclosure resumes if the sale has not closed by then.
If the sale is postponed, does my right to reinstate come back?
Yes. Civil Code 2924c(e) revives the right to reinstate when a subsequent notice of sale is recorded, and when a sale is postponed by more than five business days. In either case it runs until five business days before the new sale date. Reinstating still means paying the entire amount due plus the lender's costs and fees, so it helps most when the money that was missing has since arrived.
About Selling After a Notice of Default in California
- Civil Code 2924f, notice of sale and AB 2424
- Civil Code 2924c, the right to reinstate
- California Courts, nonjudicial foreclosure
- Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
- San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk
- Orange County Clerk-Recorder
Sources: Civil Code 2924, 2924c, 2924f, 2924g, 2924h, AB 2424, California Courts, Amy Loftsgordon, AllLaw, Riverside County ACR, San Diego County ARCC, Orange County Clerk-Recorder