Frequently Asked Questions

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You can change to an extended plan or enter in your NRDS # by signing into your account, visiting your My Account page, and navigating to the Billing page. Once there, click the Change Service button which will show you all of the currently available options.

Yes. Your subscription is month-to-month. Once you cancel, you will receive no further charges, and continue to have access to our software through the balance of your paid or trial period.

Please contact us. We want for you to be happy and satisfied with our services. We will do our best to promptly reply to any inquiries during business hours, pacific time.

ALERT: This is for ForeclosureRadar Subscriptions ONLY. If you are attempting to cancel a subscription with Health Radar (a completely unrelated company) you need to go to the site CancelRadar.com. DO NOT CONTACT US if you are a HEALTH RADAR Customer.

For ForeclosureRadar Customers:
We're sorry to see you go, but you can immediately cancel your service by logging in and going to your My Account page. Once there, simply click the cancel button and tell us why you have chosen to discontinue the service. If for any reason you can't login, feel free to contact us. Our customer service team is happy to help all ForeclosureRadar customers.

A credit card is required to insure uninterrupted service should you choose not to cancel service before the trial period expires. Your credit card will not be billed during the trial period, however, we will check to see if the credit card is valid for the term selected. If you do not want to continue service beyond the trial, you must cancel the service, otherwise your card will be billed.

We use a commercial grade automated valuation model (AVM) which is based on public records data to determine estimated home values for properties. This is a highly ranked AVM, but like all AVM's it is only as good as the public record data available and does not take into account property condition and other factors which may affect the value. An AVM is no substitute for a professional opinion of value, based on knowledge of the local market and condition of the property, which is best provided by a Realtor(R) or appraiser.

We take the quality of our data very seriously, if you think you've found an error please submit it to our support form. That said, please be sure to see How reliable is your data.

We try really hard to ensure our data is accurate, but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of our data as we gather it from a variety of sources.
Before purchasing a property, you should verify all details; and if possible, purchase title insurance. If you think you've found an error in our data, please contact us to report it. Also, please keep the following in mind:

1. Property information (beds, baths, sq ft, etc.) comes from the county assessor's office, and only reflects the original details of the property when it was built, and work completed under permit. You should verify these details by physically inspecting the property prior to purchase.
2. Title information shows that there may be other items owed on the property including loans, past due property taxes, IRS liens and other encumbrances. Depending on whether the property is purchased before the auction from the owner, at auction, or from the bank after the auction, the purchaser may be responsible for paying some or all of these items. A title insurance policy should identify all of these items and provide insurance in the event it does not. Be careful of lien and loan reports offered by other services - we are not aware of any service other than an insured title policy that reliably provides complete lien and loan information. Even then keep in mind that title companies offer insurance for a reason - they make mistakes too.
3. Estimated Equity and Loan Positions are determined using computer models and have not been manually reviewed. As such they should be used with caution and we strongly recommend you do your own due diligence, and when applicable get title insurance.

We believe we have the most accurate count of real foreclosure opportunities in the business. We only include Notices of Default (as Preforeclosure opportunities) for 120 days after they are issued, or until a Notice of Sale is filed, whichever occurs first. If a Notice of Sale has not been filed within 120 days the owner has likely resolved the problem. Similarly, we only include Bank Owned opportunities for 120 days after the auction, as the bank will have likely listed the property in the MLS by that point. If you want to lookup properties over 120 days, you can still search our historical data.

The most significant difference between ForeclosureRadar™ and other sites is regarding active auction opportunities. We include auction opportunities from the date the Notice of Sale is filed until the foreclosure is actually sold, or the foreclosure is cancelled. As the only site that actively tracks every auction in California, we are the only company who can actively remove Auction opportunities as soon as they are resolved.

Bottom line…by only including active opportunities, we show fewer opportunities than our competitors, but save you from wasting time on dead deals.

In California the property taxes are a super lien, which means that the lender is junior to the tax collector. A lender will pay past-due taxes to secure their lien position. Once the property goes to foreclosure the lender will have to pay all past due property taxes. If foreclosure is eminent, there is no reason for you to pay the property taxes. That said, if you live in a state that allows deficiency judgments, this amount would be added to the deficiency, so it may be cheaper to pay them before penalties and late fees are added.

In most cases the HOA is not a pre-lien like property taxes. This means that when you stop paying the HOA dues and they file a lien, it is typically junior to your Deed of Trust. If the lender forecloses then the HOA lien is wiped out. After the foreclosure, the lender/investor is only responsible for the HOA dues from the date of the foreclosure sale. The HOA can pursue the prior owner for payment of the past due amounts. Many of these associations are suffering financial hardship due to the number of foreclosures and they are getting more aggressive about pursuing collection.

In California, if the second was a purchase money loan (the loan was funded and recorded the same day you purchased the property and every penny of the loan was used for the purchase) then this second could not pursue collection on this loan under the purchase money rule.
If it was not a purchase money loan then the seconds secured interest in the property would be wiped out by the foreclosure of the first. While no longer be secured by the property the lender can still pursue collection of the loan. It essentially becomes an unsecured loan, like a credit card. A bankruptcy could wipe out this debt or you could contact the lender to settle the account. If you ignore this and work on rebuilding your credit, it could easily resurface once you are on the road to recovery. Many of these loans are sold to collection agencies that can be aggressive and difficult to settle with. It is better to address this sooner than later.

It is probably in your best interest to have a lawyer review the documents. It is not easy to tell if the documents have not been properly signed or recorded. You need to search for Assignments if your loan has been sold or transferred and Substitutions of Trustee if the foreclosing Trustee is different from the Trustee name that appears on your Deed of Trust. Once you have these documents (or see that they have not been recorded) you need to research the name of the signor to see if they have the authority to sign these documents. The robo-signing scandal was discovered in 2008. At this point the lenders have extensively researched this matter and it is unlikely that this activity is taking place on current foreclosures.
Typically the eviction court will not look at your loan documents. They are only there to verify that the lender now owns the property and that they have given you the appropriate notice to vacate the premises.

When a property sells at trustee sale there are only two possible outcomes. The property is either sold to a third party investor or it is now bank owned. If a third party investor purchases the property, they will likely make contact within 2 to 3 weeks to determine who is living in the home and whether or not you intend to move soon.

If the property went back to the bank it may take a couple of days or longer for a bank representative to contact the occupants. The bank representative will also try to determine who is living in the property and if you intend to move.

It is usually in the best interest of the occupants to talk to the bank/investor. This is typically when a cash-for-keys offer can be negotiated. Keep in mind that the lender/investor is under no obligation to offer a cash-for-keys incentive where they pay you to leave quickly and leave the property clean.

They could simply serve the appropriate notice. In California this would be a 3-day notice for an owner and a renter on a month-to-month rental agreement would be given a 90-day notice. If there is a long term lease in place, signed prior to the filing of the Notice of Default, then the investor/lender is required to allow you to stay until the end of the lease term under the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act, subject to certain exceptions (for example it has to be a real lease, at fair market rents, and you have to make the payments).

Many landlords understand credit challenges, especially those that have lost their homes due to the collapse of the housing industry. Be prepared to tell your story and provide documentation to back this up. Having an eviction (unlawful detainer) on your record can be more damaging than a foreclosure, so carefully consider accepting cash-4-keys to move rather than fighting the eviction after foreclosure.

Although it is technically possible for you to buy your property back after trustee sale, you need to be aware that prior debts could re-attach to the property thus eliminating any benefit the foreclosure would have with regard to wiping out junior liens.

If you have cash or access to a private-money lender, you can purchase immediately. Under current FHA guidelines you can qualify for a loan in three years provided you meet the other underwriting guidelines including verifiable income and credit score.

A lender is not legally obligated to modify the terms of the loan. The presence of an application for a modification or a pending short sale does not prevent the lender from foreclosing. Oftentimes the the lender will "dual track" a file which means that the foreclosure will be in process at the same time they are reviewing the modification application. If you have an active sale date make sure you are also communicating with the Trustee to postpone or cancel the sale.

You can 1) pay your loan current (reinstatement), 2) payoff the loan (refinance), 3) enter into a payment plan, forbearance agreement, or loan modification with the current lender, 5) seek lender approval for a short sale, or 6) ask the lender to take the property back (deed-in-lieu of foreclosure). Also, if you feel you have some legal grounds you could sue your lender. Note that the lender is not obligated to accept any of these options except reinstatement or payoff, the others all are at the lenders option.

A bank cannot lock you out of the property prior to the foreclosure, but under the terms of the Deed of Trust they can likely secure the property and make any necessary repairs. If the lender inspects the property and sees that it is vacant and the doors and windows have been left open they can take reasonable measures to secure the property. Once they do this they typically leave a notice taped to the door. If the owner contacts them the bank should turn over the keys.

An HOA can foreclose for past due amounts. If the property goes back to the HOA at trustee sale they would have the legal right to evict the occupants and sell or rent the property. HOA liens are typically junior to any Deeds of Trust so the HOA would be responsible for the payoff of any senior liens or loans or they could risk losing their ownership when if the senior Deed of Trust later foreclosed. Note that in California the homeowner does have a 90 day period during which they can redeem their ownership by paying the outstanding dues.

This depends on the state. Some states do allow for a redemption period following a foreclosure. In California there is NO Redemption period for non-judicial foreclosures. The ONE exception to this rule in California is for non-judicial homeowner association lien foreclosures. If your HOA forecloses on your property you have a 90-day redemption period.

There are many organizations that claim to provide foreclosure-delaying services. Although these strategies can be effective in delaying the foreclosure process they will not likely result in the elimination of any debt secured by the property. There is usually nothing they can do that you cannot likely do yourself, for example calling the bank and requesting a postponement or filing bankruptcy. Finally many of these services are scams and some states like California have passed laws limiting the claims they can make and the fees they can charge.

The lender has the right to sell or transfer the servicing of the loan and can substitute the trustee at any time. Prior to filing a Notice of Default and starting the foreclosure process they should make sure the paperwork is in order and record any necessary Assignments or Substitutions of Trustee.

This is becoming a popular practice for delaying a foreclosure. Although it MAY be useful as a delaying tactic it will likely not result in eliminating the debt. The idea was that these loans were sold so quickly and the document tracking was so poor that the original note was lost, and that without it the lender would have no proof of the loan. The truth is that a lender can simply file an Affidavit of Lost Original and it would be up to the homeowner to prove that the loan was paid off in order to stop the foreclosure.

In a normal market most lenders would start the foreclosure process after three missed payments. In California the non-judicial foreclosure process takes a minimum of 111 days. We are in unprecedented times in terms of the delays in the foreclosure process. Some lenders are taking over two years to foreclose. Smaller local banks, private beneficiaries, and credit unions may foreclose much faster than the larger banks. It is impossible to know exactly how long you have before the foreclosure will take place. It is reasonable that you would have at least seven months before a sale date is set. You can read more about why lenders are delaying the foreclosure process by going to http://www.foreclosuretruth.com/blog/sean/foreclosure-roulette/

Although it is technically POSSIBLE to purchase directly from the lender prior to them listing the property, it is RARE and very difficult. In most cases the lender assigns the property to an asset manager, who performs the occupancy check, assess the condition of the property, prepares it for sale, and orders a BPO/Appraisal to determine the fair market value. The bank then lists the property and takes offers. To successfully purchase a property from the lender prior to the sale, you must find a decision maker with the lender that has the authority to enter into a purchase agreement prior to listing the property.

We are not aware of a clearly defined time limit on the return of any overage. Contact them on a daily basis and escalate to a manager if you are not getting a response.

Contact the Trustee. This may mean calling them daily for a status check on the Trustees Deed. You may also want to remind them that California law requires that the deed be recorded within 14 days for the sale to be effective as of 8am the date of sale.

It is going to depend on the specific situation. If they have a valid reason to fight the foreclosure, then you may want to work with them to get the sale rescinded and get your money back as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if they do actually file a lawsuit you will need to hire an attorney, though you may want to let the lenders attorney take the lead to minimize your expenses.

You are not obligated to refund the security deposit and the tenants can pursue collection of the security deposit from the prior owner in small claims court. Oftentimes it is easier to offer a cash-for-keys incentive to negotiate a move out date (typically faster than waiting the 90 days) and provide them with some funds to move since it may take time for them to get their deposit back from the prior owner.

Under the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act you are obligated to give a renter 90-days notice if they are renting on a month-to-month tenancy, or honor the terms of the lease provided it is a valid lease, with fair market rents, and signed prior to the Notice of Default. If the renter fails to pay under the terms of that lease, then you would have the right to evict them with 3 days notice for failure to pay.

Provided the Trustees Deed is recorded within 14 days of the sale, the effective date of your ownership is on the date of the sale. Many investors make contact with the occupants right away, but wait until the Trustees Deed is recorded to serve a 3-day notice.

If the property is vacant you can change the locks right away and take possession of the property.

The lender can discount the opening bid or add the additional interest that has accrued on the loan to the published bid. It is impossible to know for sure which lenders will discount the opening bid. Oftentimes the lender is the servicer of the loan for another investor and the opening bid is set by the actual investor. There could be additional interests involved, like the existence of a Mortgage Insurance policy. This may cause the lender to set the opening bid at the full amount owed on the loan.

To bid you need to qualify, which in most states means you will be required to show the auctioneer identification, and cash or cashiers checks sufficient to cover the full amount you wish to bid (though Arizona requires only a deposit).
Most investors take cashiers checks made out to themselves. If you are not the winning bidder, you can easily redeposit the funds, and if you are the winning bidder, you can endorse the check over to the trustee.
Q-How can I get the opening bids even faster?

The lender gets to make the first bid, which is called the opening bid. Some now also refer to it as the drop bid, because lenders now often substantially discount the opening bid from the amount owed. The laws regarding opening bids vary from state to state. In California the lender/trustee is under no legal obligation to announce the opening bid in advance of the sale. They typically release the opening bid the day before or the morning of the sale. Sometimes the opening bid is not announced until the sale starts. The research team at ForeclosureRadar works diligently to post opening bids as quickly as possible. We also provide the trustee name, phone number and TS number so that you can manually call the trustee for last minute information if you prefer.

Some locations may close for a half-day on some holidays, such as Good Friday, so verify with your location.

01/03/11 New Year's Day Observed
02/11/11 Lincoln's Birthday Observed (CA)
03/31/11 Cesar Chavez Day (CA)
04/22/11 Good Friday
05/30/11 Memorial Day
07/04/11 Independence Day
09/05/11 Labor Day
09/09/11 Admissions Day (CA)
10/28/11 Nevada Day (NV)
11/24/11 Thanksgiving Day
12/26/11 Christmas Day Observed

Yes. By utilizing our 60 various search criteria, we provide users the ability to print customized NOD lists tailored to meet their needs and add efficiency into their workday. Within seconds, you can eliminate hours of wasted time sifting through unwanted listings using other providers pre-formatted NOD lists.

The Published Bid is the estimated opening bid published in the Notice of Trustee Sale, where as the Opening Bid is the actual amount at which the lender plans to, or did, start the bidding at auction.

Yes. We track all foreclosures and allow you to search and filter by property type.
Examples of various property types include: Single Family, Condominium, Commercial, Industrial, Agricultural, Land and several others.

We are always willing to work with groups and individuals on how to best use our software. We do not charge for email support or our webinars, and we will consider requests for training groups in person. We do not offer any systems or programs on how to make money in foreclosures. We are working hard to find trainers and resources that we will be able to confidently refer you to in the near future.

The Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act extended the notice period before eviction to 90 days, but was unclear whether or not the tenant must pay rent during that period. While being evicted due to foreclosure now requires 90 days notice, eviction for non-payment of rent still only requires 3 days notice. Most eviction attorneys recommend that the bank/investor does NOT pursue an eviction for non-payment during the 90 day notice period. This does not mean that they cannot try to collect on this past due rent after the 90 days expire. In fact, the bank/investor is entitled to fair market rents from the day they take ownership and will typically receive a monetary judgment against the homeowner for the unpaid rent at the end of the eviction process. This is one more reason why renters should consider accepting cash-4-keys rather than fight the eviction.

This varies from state to state and, in the case of rent-controlled areas, it could vary from city to city. In California it takes approximately 60-90 days if the eviction is contested and the tenant answers the complaint.

After a property goes to foreclosure the bank/investor will have a representative contact you. During this occupancy check, their first objective is to find out if you are a renter or the prior owner. They will also want to know if you intend to move or if they can negotiate a move-out date. If you are not home, they will leave a note with a contact number. It is in your best interest to call them or they could assume that the property has been abandoned.

If you are living in the property they cannot just change the locks and lock you out of the property, instead they must first give you notice (in California renters without a long term lease get 90-days notice while owners get 3 days notice), then file an unlawful detainer lawsuit (eviction), and finally get a judgment ordering the eviction. The eviction process typically takes 30-90 days in California. Most banks/investors will offer you cash-4-keys paying you to leave the property quickly and clean.

If they believe the property is vacant or abandoned they can enter and change the locks. If you come home to find the locks changed and you are still living in the property, contact them (they typically leave a note on the door or window with a contact number) and if you can prove that you still live there, they should turn over a new key.

The security deposit remains with the prior owner and the bank/investor that acquired the property is not obligated to refund the security deposit. Often times the lender/investor will offer a cash-for-keys incentive for you to be out by a certain date. Even if you accept the cash-for-keys, you can still pursue the collection of your security deposit through small claims court from your prior landlord. Keep in mind that if you stopped making rent payments prior to the foreclosure sale, the landlord can apply the security deposit toward the unpaid rent.

The rent is still due regardless of the loan status. As long as you are receiving the benefit of the occupancy as outlined in your lease/rental agreement, then you are obligated to pay the agreed upon amount. Even if a landlord is in foreclosure, they can still evict you for non-payment of rent. Many renters stop paying rent when they find out about the foreclosure because they do not believe that the landlord will pursue an eviction if they are losing the house anyway. Keep in mind that sometimes a landlord may be in foreclosure, but actively pursuing a modification of the loan terms. In this case they are working to correct the issue and any loss of rent may impact their ability to receive a modification.

ForeclosureRadar requires the use of Adobe Flash which is not currently available on Android cell phones. A few of the recently introduced tablets do support Adobe Flash. The site can be accessed in its entirety by using the Motorola Xoom. You will most likely want to use a stylus to scroll and navigate the site due to the size of the screen. We cannot recommend the Blackberry because the smaller screen makes it difficult to use the site or the Galaxy because of the inability to consistently access the site.

If you are using the iPhone or the iPad you can download the app by going to: http://itunes.apple.com/app/foreclosureradar/id379791441?mt=8

We do not currently have plans to add additional platforms, however we will continue to monitor this for future consideration.

Properties records will never disappear from our system. If you are tracking a property and can no longer find it using our standard search, it is likely because its status has changed and we no longer consider it an active foreclosure. You can still find these properties by checking the Include Historical Records checkbox, from the Foreclosure Details menu.

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ForeclosureRadar.com supports Firefox 3.0+ on Windows or Mac, Internet Explorer 7 or 8 on Windows, and Safari 4.0+ on Mac. Internet Explorer 6 is not recommended, and other browsers and operating systems may work but are neither tested nor supported.

We are not setup to take incoming support calls at this time, please use the contact or support forms. We will do our best to promptly reply to any inquiries during business hours, pacific time. If you'd prefer to speak with someone rather than receive an answer by e-mail, then let us know on the form, and include your phone number and the best times to reach you.

We are doing our best to find and fix every possible bug, so that you can focus on your business. Unfortunately, with the wide variety of computers, operating systems and browsers, we might miss a few and would greatly appreciate your reporting them. Please use the support form, and include as much detail as possible. Please also include your operating system and browser information, so that we can replicate the problem.

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If you are still experiencing difficulties, please visit the Adobe Troubleshooting Page for either Windows PC users, or for Mac users.

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