Marin County Foreclosure Resources

Both paths exist in California. Non-judicial foreclosure under a deed of trust with a power of sale is the path used in the overwhelming majority of cases — over 99% — and it runs through a trustee, outside the court system. Judicial foreclosure remains legally available, most often where a lender wants to pursue a deficiency. Which path applies to your loan changes your timeline, the notices you receive, and where a defense is filed.

California allows a 3-month reinstatement period after the notice of default is recorded — among the longest in the nation. During that window you can cure the default by paying the amounts owed and stop the foreclosure. It is the clearest pre-sale right a California homeowner has.

The HBOR requires your lender to assign a single point of contact, prohibits dual tracking — advancing the foreclosure while a modification request is under review — and requires a written denial that states the specific reasons a modification was refused. These obligations apply whether your loan is being foreclosed non-judicially or judicially.

Almost never on a residential loan. California bars any deficiency after a non-judicial trustee sale of a residential 1-4 unit property regardless of loan purpose (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 580d), and bars deficiency on purchase-money loans for owner-occupied 1-4 unit property (§ 580b). A deficiency is available only after judicial foreclosure on non-purchase-money loans not covered by § 580b.

Even though most California foreclosures are non-judicial, a court process still becomes relevant in three situations: if the lender forecloses judicially, if you bring a wrongful foreclosure action over a defect in the notice sequence, or in a post-sale eviction proceeding after the trustee sale. That is why this page covers both paths rather than only one.

Marin County sits immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge and is one of the highest-value housing markets in California, with most of its population in San Rafael, Novato, San Anselmo, Corte Madera and Mill Valley and rural and coastal stretches in West Marin. Two features of that market bear on a foreclosure. First, because values are high across the county, the equity at stake is typically very large — which makes California's anti-deficiency rules especially important, since a non-judicial trustee sale of a residential 1-4 unit property generally cannot lead to a deficiency judgment. Second, the housing stock is unusually varied for a county this size, from dense older bayside neighborhoods to large rural parcels in West Marin that often rely on wells and septic systems. The default foreclosure path is non-judicial, with a 3-month reinstatement period after the notice of default.