FAQ - JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE - FORECLOSURE IN CALIFORNIA
JUDICIAL
FORECLOSURE:
QUESTION: What is “judicial foreclosure”?
ANSWER: The creditor sues you and the Superior Court and the Court orders the property sold and can, in some cases, lodge a judgment against you for any shortfall in the sale proceeds to satisfy the remaining debt. See limits for deficiency judgments, below.
In this foreclosure type, a lawsuit is initiated in the Superior Court which accelerate the entire balance due under the promissory note and requests judgment for that balance (plus interest, attorneys fees and costs) and an execution order permitting the property to be sold to the highest bidder on a given day, commonly by the Sheriff or Constable to resolve the debt. The proceeds of sale are applied to the judgment and if there is any deficiency (the proceeds of sale are less than what was judged due), in some cases noted below, the balance of the creditor’s judgment for money stands and can be further executed against the debtor’s non-exempt assets by levy, execution or garnishment. The borrower may have up to 1 year to redeem the property (buy it back for what it was sold for). See the time involved and the challenges of a judicial foreclosure under OREGON FORECLOSURES, below. California processes are about the same but can in some jurisdictions take even longer to get to a trial due to the backlog of cases.