The notice of default: the first public step toward a trustee's sale
What a notice of default is, what it says, and how long each state makes it run before a trustee's sale: three months in California and Nevada, 30 days in Washington.
Blog · Basics
3 months
In California at least three months must pass after a notice of default is recorded before the notice of sale can be given, and the sale can come no sooner than three months and 20 days after it.
Key takeaways
- A notice of default, or NOD, is the document in which the lender or trustee declares a deed of trust in default and elects to sell the property. In California, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon it is recorded with the county, which makes it the first public sign that a trustee's sale may follow.
- It is not the notice of sale. The notice of default starts a waiting period; the notice of trustee's sale, which comes after, sets the date, time and place of the auction.
- The minimum time from the notice of default to the sale is set by each state: three months and 20 days in California, three months in Nevada, 90 days in Alaska, and 120 days in Washington, where the notice is mailed and posted or served rather than recorded.
- Arizona has no notice of default; the first recorded document is the notice of sale, and the sale can be no sooner than the 91st day after it. Texas sends a mailed notice that gives a homeowner 20 days to cure before the 21-day notice of sale. Colorado's equivalent is the notice of election and demand.
- On most home loans a federal rule bars the first foreclosure notice until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, and the borrower can usually still reinstate until a few days before the sale, so many notices of default never reach an auction.
A notice of default is where a non-judicial foreclosure begins. In California and several other western states, it is the document the lender's trustee records with the county to say that a borrower has stopped paying and that the lender intends to sell. Nothing is auctioned for months after that. California, where our records hold 3,777 upcoming trustee's sales, requires at least three months and 20 days between the two. The phrase also turns up in other senses, from a servicer's warning letter to a default notice on a credit file. This article covers the one in property law: what a notice of default is, what it says, how long each state makes it run, and how it differs from the notice of sale that follows. Each rule is quoted from the statute.
What is a notice of default?
A notice of default is the document in which the lender or trustee declares a deed of trust in default and elects to sell the property, recorded with the county in states such as California, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon as the first formal step toward a trustee's sale.
A loan secured by a deed of trust can be foreclosed without a court, by a trustee's sale. In the states that use one, the notice of default is that process's opening document. California's Civil Code makes it the first step: before a power of sale is exercised, the trustee or lender "shall first file for record, in the office of the recorder of each county wherein the mortgaged or trust property or some part or parcel thereof is situated, a notice of default" [1].
Nevada's statute gives it the longer name used on many recorded copies. The trustee or lender "first executes and causes to be recorded in the office of the recorder of each county wherein the trust property, or any part thereof, is situated a notice of the breach and of the election to sell or cause to be sold the property to satisfy the obligation" [2]. That is why the document is often titled a notice of default and election to sell: it does two things at once. Idaho requires "a notice of default identifying the deed of trust" [3], and Oregon one "containing the trustee’s or beneficiary’s election to sell the property to satisfy the obligation" [4].
Not every default notice is this one. Before any of this, a servicer usually writes to the borrower to say the loan is in default and will be called due unless it is brought current, a letter often called a breach letter or notice of intent to accelerate. That letter is private, and it starts nothing on the public record. The recorded notice of default is the formal step that does.
Notice of default vs notice of trustee's sale
The notice of default declares the default and starts a waiting period; the notice of trustee's sale comes after that period and sets the date, time and place of the auction.
The two are easy to confuse because both are recorded in the same states and both name the same borrower, trustee and deed of trust. They do different jobs. In California, "Not less than three months shall elapse from the filing of the notice of default." [5] Only "after the lapse of the three months described in paragraph (2), the mortgagee, trustee, or other person authorized to take the sale shall give notice of sale, stating the time and place thereof" [6].
So the notice of default tells you a sale may come; the notice of trustee's sale tells you when. Bidders work from the second, because it is the only one with a sale date, an opening figure and a place. Owners have the most room to act between the first and the second.
What a notice of default says
A notice of default identifies the deed of trust and the property, states that the borrower is in default and what the default is, and declares the lender's election to sell; many also set out the amount past due.
Idaho's statute lists the core of it. The notice identifies the deed of trust "by stating the name or names of the trustor or trustors and giving the book and page where the same is recorded, or a description of the trust property" [7], and it must contain "a statement that a breach of the obligation for which the transfer in trust is security has occurred, and setting forth the nature of such breach and his election to sell or cause to be sold such property to satisfy such obligation" [8].
Washington goes further, because its notice of default goes to the borrower rather than to the recorder. It must give a description of the property, the recording number of the deed of trust, a statement of the default alleged, and "An itemized account of the amount or amounts in arrears if the default alleged is failure to make payments" [9], followed by the other charges needed to reinstate and their total.
In practice a recorded notice of default usually carries:
- The trustor, the beneficiary and the trustee. The trustor is the borrower; the beneficiary is the lender or whoever now holds the loan. The trustee is often a substitute trustee appointed for the foreclosure.
- The deed of trust's recording date and number, which tie the notice to one loan. A property with a first and a second loan can have a notice of default on either.
- The property, by legal description, often with a street address and a parcel number.
- The default: usually the missed payments since a stated date, and the amount needed to bring the loan current as of the notice's date.
- The election to sell, and a contact for a reinstatement or payoff figure.
When a lender can file one
On most home loans a federal rule bars the first foreclosure notice until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, and California adds a 30-day wait after the servicer contacts the owner.
Federal mortgage servicing rules set the floor for owner-occupied home loans across every state. "A servicer shall not make the first notice or filing required by applicable law for any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process unless: (i) A borrower's mortgage loan obligation is more than 120 days delinquent" [10], with narrow exceptions. A recorded notice of default is that first notice, so on most home loans it comes four months or more after the first missed payment.
California adds its own step for an owner-occupied first loan on a one-to-four-unit home [11]. The servicer may not record the notice of default until "Either 30 days after initial contact is made as required by paragraph (2) or 30 days after satisfying the due diligence requirements as described in subdivision (e)." [12] The contact is meant to go over the owner's finances and the options for avoiding foreclosure.
How long after a notice of default until the sale?
At least three months and 20 days in California, three months in Nevada, 90 days in Alaska and 120 days in Washington; these are statutory minimums, and the real gap is often far longer.
Each state sets its own clock, and they start from different documents. The chart compares the shortest time each statute allows from the first notice of the default to the auction.
California's rule is the most quoted. The notice of sale can be recorded early, but only "provided that the date of sale is no earlier than three months and 20 days after the recording of the notice of default" [13]. In Nevada the power of sale cannot be used until "Not less than 3 months have elapsed after the recording of the notice." [14] In Alaska, "not less than 90 days before the sale, the trustee shall record" [15] the notice of default.
Washington builds its gap from two notices. The notice of default must go to the borrower "at least 30 days before notice of sale shall be recorded, transmitted or served, written notice of default" [16], and the notice of sale itself must go out "At least 90 days before the sale, or if a letter under RCW 61.24.031 is required, at least 120 days before the sale" [17].
| State | The first notice | Minimum before the sale | The owner can cure until |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Notice of default, recorded [1] | Three months to the notice of sale [5]; the sale three months and 20 days after the notice of default [13] | Five business days before the sale date in the first notice of sale [18] |
| Nevada | Notice of breach and election to sell, recorded [2] | Three months after recording [14] | The sale waits until the default has gone uncured for 35 days after recording [19] |
| Idaho | Notice of default, recorded [3] | Notice of sale mailed at least 120 days before the sale [20] | See Idaho foreclosure laws |
| Oregon | Notice of default and election to sell, recorded [4] | Notice of sale served or mailed at least 120 days before the sale [21] | Five days before the date last set for the sale [22] |
| Washington | Notice of default, mailed, and posted on the property or served [16] | 30 days to the notice of sale, then 90 days to the sale [17] | The eleventh day before the sale [23] |
| Alaska | Notice of default, recorded | Recorded at least 90 days before the sale [15] | See Alaska foreclosure laws |
| Texas | Notice of default by certified mail, on a home | 20 days to cure, then a notice of sale at least 21 days before the sale [24] | At least 20 days after the notice of default [25] |
| Colorado | Notice of election and demand, filed with the public trustee and recorded [26] | 110 to 125 days after recording [27] | With a notice of intent to cure filed 15 days before the sale [28] |
| Arizona | No notice of default: the notice of sale is recorded first | The 91st day after the notice of sale is recorded [29] | 5 p.m. on the last business day before the sale [30] |
Texas sends its notice of default by certified mail, not to the recorder. For a home, the servicer must serve the borrower with a written notice of default, "giving the debtor at least 20 days to cure the default before notice of sale can be given under Subsection (b)" [25]. The 21-day notice of sale follows, so a Texas sale can come about six weeks after the notice of default, faster than in any other state in the table. How Texas foreclosure auctions work covers the rest.
Arizona skips the step. The first recorded document is the notice of trustee's sale, and the sale must be held "no sooner than the ninety-first day after the date that the notice of sale was recorded" [29]. The Arizona trustee sale process sets out the sequence.
Virginia has no statutory notice of default either, though many deeds of trust require one. Once the trustee gives the statutory notice of sale, "there is a rebuttable presumption that the lienholder has complied with any requirement to provide notice of default contained in a deed of trust" [31].
After a notice of default: what an owner can still do
An owner who receives a notice of default can usually still keep the property by curing the default, paying off the loan, selling it, or reaching a loss mitigation agreement with the lender before the sale.
A notice of default is a warning, not a sale. In California the borrower can reinstate the loan, paying the arrears, fees and costs rather than the whole balance, "until five business days prior to the date of sale set forth in the initial recorded notice of sale" [18]. Oregon allows a cure "at any time prior to five days before the date last set for the sale" [22], and Washington "At any time prior to the eleventh day before the date set by the trustee for the sale in the recorded notice of sale" [23].
An agreement with the lender also stops the process. In California, "If a foreclosure prevention alternative is approved in writing after the recordation of a notice of default, a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent shall not record a notice of sale or conduct a trustee’s sale" [32] while the borrower keeps to its terms. The owner can also sell the property at any point before the auction, as long as the price, with any funds the owner adds, pays off what is recorded against it. HUD-approved housing counselors are free or low-cost, and a lawyer can say which option fits a particular loan.
That is why many notices of default never reach an auction. Some loans are reinstated, some are modified, and some properties are sold or refinanced first. Those that do go on get a notice of trustee's sale, and many of those are postponed, sometimes more than once; trustee sale postponed covers how far each state lets that go.
Is a notice of default public record?
Where the notice of default is recorded, as in California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska, it is public record at the county recorder's office; in Washington and Texas it is mailed to the borrower and not recorded.
A recorded notice of default can be found like any recorded document: at the recorder of the county where the property is, by the owner's name, the parcel number, or the document type, usually indexed as notice of default, NOD, or notice of default and election to sell. Many recorders put their index online, though some charge for copies.
For buyers, a notice of default is an early and uncertain signal. It names a property and a loan, but no sale date, and the owner has months and several ways to keep the property. The notice that matters to a bidder is the next one: the notice of trustee's sale, with a date, a time, a place and, often, the unpaid balance. It is also the one with a short life, two to four weeks between publication and the auction in most states.
That is the notice we track. Our calendar holds 13,000 trustee's sales set for the next 30 days across 21 states. Trustee sales by state lists them county by county, California trustee sales covers the state with the best-known notice of default, and trustee sale laws by state sets each state's notice periods side by side.
Sources
32 primary- [1]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924(a)(1) — California Legislature“shall first file for record, in the office of the recorder of each county wherein the mortgaged or trust property or some part or parcel thereof is situated, a notice of default”
- [2]NRS 107.080(2)(b) — Nevada Legislature“first executes and causes to be recorded in the office of the recorder of each county wherein the trust property, or any part thereof, is situated a notice of the breach and of the election to sell or cause to be sold the property to satisfy the obligation”
- [3]Idaho Code § 45-1505(3) — Idaho Legislature“filed for record in the office of the recorder in each county wherein the trust property, or some part or parcel, is situated, a notice of default identifying the deed of trust”
- [4]ORS 86.752(3) — Oregon Legislature“a notice of default containing the information required by ORS 86.771 and containing the trustee’s or beneficiary’s election to sell the property to satisfy the obligation”
- [5]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924(a)(2) — California Legislature“Not less than three months shall elapse from the filing of the notice of default.”
- [6]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924(a)(3) — California Legislature“after the lapse of the three months described in paragraph (2), the mortgagee, trustee, or other person authorized to take the sale shall give notice of sale, stating the time and place thereof”
- [7]Idaho Code § 45-1505(3) — Idaho Legislature“by stating the name or names of the trustor or trustors and giving the book and page where the same is recorded, or a description of the trust property”
- [8]Idaho Code § 45-1505(3) — Idaho Legislature“containing a statement that a breach of the obligation for which the transfer in trust is security has occurred, and setting forth the nature of such breach and his election to sell or cause to be sold such property to satisfy such obligation”
- [9]RCW 61.24.030(8)(d) — Washington State Legislature“An itemized account of the amount or amounts in arrears if the default alleged is failure to make payments”
- [10]12 CFR § 1024.41(f)(1) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau“A servicer shall not make the first notice or filing required by applicable law for any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process unless: (i) A borrower's mortgage loan obligation is more than 120 days delinquent”
- [11]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924.15(a) — California Legislature“shall apply only to a first lien mortgage or deed of trust that is secured by owner-occupied residential real property containing no more than four dwelling units”
- [12]Cal. Civ. Code § 2923.5(a)(1)(A) — California Legislature“Either 30 days after initial contact is made as required by paragraph (2) or 30 days after satisfying the due diligence requirements as described in subdivision (e).”
- [13]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924(a)(4) — California Legislature“provided that the date of sale is no earlier than three months and 20 days after the recording of the notice of default”
- [14]NRS 107.080(2)(d) — Nevada Legislature“Not less than 3 months have elapsed after the recording of the notice.”
- [15]AS 34.20.070(b) — Alaska Legislature“not less than 90 days before the sale, the trustee shall record”
- [16]RCW 61.24.030(8) — Washington State Legislature“at least 30 days before notice of sale shall be recorded, transmitted or served, written notice of default”
- [17]RCW 61.24.040(1) — Washington State Legislature“At least 90 days before the sale, or if a letter under RCW 61.24.031 is required, at least 120 days before the sale”
- [18]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924c(e) — California Legislature“until five business days prior to the date of sale set forth in the initial recorded notice of sale”
- [19]NRS 107.080(2)(a)(2) — Nevada Legislature“has, for a period of 35 days, computed as prescribed in subsection 3, failed to make good the deficiency in performance or payment”
- [20]Idaho Code § 45-1506(2) — Idaho Legislature“at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the day fixed by the trustee for the trustee’s sale”
- [21]ORS 86.764(1) — Oregon Legislature“at least 120 days before the day the trustee conducts the sale”
- [22]ORS 86.778(1) — Oregon Legislature“may cure the default or defaults at any time prior to five days before the date last set for the sale”
- [23]RCW 61.24.090(1) — Washington State Legislature“At any time prior to the eleventh day before the date set by the trustee for the sale in the recorded notice of sale”
- [24]Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(b) — Texas Legislature“notice of the sale, which must include a statement of the earliest time at which the sale will begin, must be given at least 21 days before the date of the sale”
- [25]Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d) — Texas Legislature“giving the debtor at least 20 days to cure the default before notice of sale can be given under Subsection (b)”
- [26]C.R.S. § 38-38-102(1) — Colorado General Assembly“No later than ten business days following the receipt of the notice of election and demand, the public trustee shall review the documents”
- [27]C.R.S. § 38-38-108(1)(a) — Colorado General Assembly“no less than one hundred ten calendar days nor more than one hundred twenty-five calendar days after the date of recording of the notice of election and demand”
- [28]C.R.S. § 38-38-104(1) — Colorado General Assembly“no later than fifteen calendar days prior to the date of sale, a written notice of intent to cure”
- [29]A.R.S. § 33-808(C)(1) — Arizona Legislature“no sooner than the ninety-first day after the date that the notice of sale was recorded”
- [30]A.R.S. § 33-813(A) — Arizona Legislature“before 5:00 p.m. mountain standard time on the last day other than a Saturday or legal holiday before the date of sale”
- [31]Va. Code § 55.1-321(C) — Virginia General Assembly“there is a rebuttable presumption that the lienholder has complied with any requirement to provide notice of default contained in a deed of trust”
- [32]Cal. Civ. Code § 2924.11(b) — California Legislature“If a foreclosure prevention alternative is approved in writing after the recordation of a notice of default, a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent shall not record a notice of sale or conduct a trustee’s sale”
Questions
What is a notice of default?
A document in which the lender, or the trustee acting for it, declares that the borrower has defaulted on a loan secured by a deed of trust and that it elects to sell the property. In California, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon it is recorded in the county where the property is, and a minimum period must pass before the notice of trustee's sale can follow. In Washington and Texas the notice of default is sent to the borrower instead of recorded.
What does NOD stand for in real estate?
Notice of default. It is the recorded notice that starts a non-judicial foreclosure in states such as California, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon, where the full name is often notice of default and election to sell, because the notice both declares the default and states the lender's election to sell the property under the deed of trust.
How long after a notice of default is the foreclosure sale?
At least three months and 20 days in California, and at least three months in Nevada. In Alaska the notice of default must be recorded at least 90 days before the sale, and in Washington it must go out at least 30 days before the notice of sale, which itself must go out at least 90 days before the sale. These are minimums: postponements, loss mitigation reviews and reinstatement often make the real gap much longer, and many notices of default never lead to a sale.
Is a notice of default public record?
Where it is recorded, yes. In California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska the notice of default is recorded with the county, so anyone can find it at the recorder's office by the owner's name, the parcel number or the document type. In Washington and Texas it is sent to the borrower and is not recorded, so the first public record there is the notice of trustee's sale.
Can you stop a foreclosure after a notice of default?
Usually, by bringing the loan current. California lets the borrower reinstate until five business days before the sale date in the first recorded notice of sale; Oregon, until five days before the date last set for the sale; Washington, until the eleventh day before the sale. Paying off the loan, selling the property, or an approved loss mitigation option such as a loan modification can also stop it. A housing counselor or a lawyer can explain the options for a particular loan.
Can you sell your house after a notice of default?
Yes. A notice of default does not take the property out of the owner's hands; the owner can sell until the trustee's sale, as long as the sale price, or the owner's own funds, pays off the loans and liens recorded against it. If the price falls short, the lender has to agree to a short sale. In California, a written approval of a foreclosure prevention alternative after the notice of default stops the lender from recording a notice of sale or holding the sale.
What is the difference between a notice of default and a notice of trustee's sale?
The notice of default declares the borrower in default and starts the state's waiting period. The notice of trustee's sale comes after that period and sets the auction's date, time and place, and it is posted, published and recorded or mailed as each state requires. Investors watch the notice of sale because it is the one with a sale date.
Is a notice of default the same as a notice of acceleration?
No. A notice of intent to accelerate, often called a breach letter, is a letter from the servicer telling the borrower that the loan will be called due unless the default is cured by a stated date. A notice of default is the formal step that begins the foreclosure, and in several states it is recorded. Texas requires its own version: a certified-mail notice to a homeowner that gives at least 20 days to cure before the notice of sale can be given.
How to cite this article
Quote freely with a link. Where a claim rests on a statute, the source above is the authority; cite it alongside this page.
TrusteeSaleData. "The notice of default: the first public step toward a trustee's sale." Published October 14, 2026. https://www.trusteesaledata.com/blog/notice-of-default
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