As soon as your lender begins to foreclose on your house, you still have the option to reside there for at least several months. If you have decided you can not pay off the mortgage, you can stop paying, wait till the house is sold to a different owner, then wait for that owner to inform you to proceed. Until that stage, you have the legal right to keep living in your property.

Types

California offers lenders their pick of foreclosure procedures. In a judicial foreclosure, the creditor files a suit and programs a court hearing at which he must convince a judge to waive on your house. In a non-judicial foreclosure, the creditor simply files a notice of default with the county you reside in and programs a sale after a three-month waiting period.

Time Frame

If your lender files for non-judicial foreclosure, it could auction off your house four months after, according to California’s Maldonado and Markham law firm. However, the creditor can require as long as seven months. A judicial foreclosure, on the other hand, can take a year or more to finish. Throughout that time, you might continue living in the house.

Delays

You can prolong your stay even farther should you opt to resist the foreclosure, and the Nolo legal site says. If you file a lawsuit challenging the foreclosure–you have that option, even in a non-judicial proceedings –that can give you a few more months, even if the judge then rules . Filing for bankruptcy causes an automatic stay: Your creditor can not sell the house prior to the bankruptcy case is complete. If you file for bankruptcy at the end of this three-month waiting period mentioned in part 1, that can add another 3 months for your stay.

Eviction

Once the house is sold, you can stay until you’re evicted, Nolo says. In California, the owner must notify you three days in advance of when he wants you to depart. Based on whether he intends to move in himself or to sell or produce the property, you could get a note immediately after the purchase, or not until months in the future. If you refuse to obey the notice, the operator should register to have you evicted.

Considerations

Once the owner informs you that she’s filed in court to evict you, you have five days–10, in a few cases–to file a response, the Tenants Legal Center of San Diego states. If you don’t, the case will proceed without you and you’ll be evicted shortly. You can remain in your house until the court determines the case if you file.

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