Facing Foreclosure? A New California Law AB2424 Could Give You More Time to Sell Your Home...

During the years of the Great Recession, the vast majority of my Sacramento area listings between 2007 - 2012 were with home sellers in some sort of distress or default. And, often I would receive panicked calls from homeowners toward the end of the foreclosure process -- days before the foreclosure was to take place -- asking to list and sell their home asap. And that scenario was extremely difficult to work though, because many mortgage companies would not delay a foreclosure to allow the homeowner to sell. I fought tooth and nail -- sometimes with success and we were allowed to delay the foreclosure and given time to list/sell the home, and other times the home was foreclosed out from underneath the homeowner. 

I am sure you can imagine how devastating that would be.

Well -- thanks to a new law passed in 2024, if you are a homeowner who is facing imminent foreclosure of your home, AB2424 may give you some extra time to sell your home before it is foreclosed out from under you. 

I so wish this had been the law back in the day! Better now than never...Here’s what you need to know in simple terms and how the new rules from AB2424 may be able to help you:

First and foremost -- under the new law, homeowners facing foreclosure should be provided 45 days to sell their home. Of course there is a process to follow, and if followed correctly, you should have ample time to sell your home before foreclosure. If you are staring down the barrel of a foreclosure (also known in California as a "Trustee Sale"), and decide to list your home for sale with a licensed real estate agent, you can request a delay in the foreclosure. If you sign a listing agreement with a real estate agent at least 5 business days before the foreclosure sale date, the foreclosure may be postponed for 45 days. This will provide time to market your home, find a buyer, and close the sale...so you may be able to pay off your delinquent mortgage, sell your home, take your net proceeds (or complete a "short sale" if you have no equity), and avoid foreclosure of your home. 

Have an accepted offer on your home? If you find a buyer for your home and sign a purchase agreement (an accepted offer), you can ask for another delay. As long as your real estate agent follows the correct process, submits the signed purchase agreement 5 business days before the new sale date, the foreclosure may be pushed back for yet another 45 days. This means that as long as you’re actively working to sell your home, the AB2424 gives you a couple different opportunities to delay foreclosure and potentially walk away with your home equity as cash in your bank account.

Peeps, this is a huge deal. I can't even tell you how many more homeowners I could have helped to avoid during the recession if this had been the law back then!

If you are a Sacramento homeowner facing foreclosure and want to list your home for sale -- do not hesitate to reach out to me. I welcome your call at 916-342-1372 or email me at erin@erinstumpf.com.