Sherman Oaks Foreclosure Protection Lawyer
A California foreclosure does not happen overnight, and the calendar built into state law gives homeowners more room to act than most realize. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles foreclosure defense, Chapter 7, Chapter 13, loan modification, and second mortgage settlements for homeowners in Sherman Oaks and across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. If you are looking for a Sherman Oaks foreclosure protection lawyer, the first thing worth knowing is where you sit on that timeline.
Once a lender records a notice of default, the earliest a sale can be scheduled is three months and 20 days later. A notice of sale then has to be mailed by registered or certified mail and posted on the property at least 20 days before the auction. Until five business days before the sale date, you can reinstate the loan by paying the missed amounts plus allowable costs. Those windows are where the real decisions get made, and a filing made at the right moment can freeze the whole process.
Where Your Foreclosure Stands Decides Which Tool Fits
Homeowners in Sherman Oaks tend to arrive at one of three points. Some have missed a few payments and received a letter from the servicer but nothing has been recorded. Others have a recorded notice of default and are counting months. The most urgent group has a notice of sale on the door and an auction date within weeks or days. The strategy is different at each stage, which is why a short, direct conversation with an attorney beats guessing from articles.
At the early stage, a loan modification or a workout with the servicer may solve the problem without any court filing. After a notice of default, reinstatement or Chapter 13 usually enters the picture. When a sale is close, an emergency bankruptcy filing is often the only thing that stops the clock, because the automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed and bars the sale from going forward.
Why Sherman Oaks Homeowners Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Foreclosure Defense
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, Raj Wadhwani and Greg Shanfeld, both founding shareholders. Together with their team they bring more than 90 years of combined legal experience to cases involving homes, mortgages, and the debts that surround them.
Greg Shanfeld earned his law degree from the University of Southern California and has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. Raj Wadhwani, a Southwestern Law School graduate, helped pilot the Best Case Bankruptcy software in 1998 and was the first attorney to file a bankruptcy case electronically in the Central District of California. For a foreclosure client, that electronic filing background matters in a practical way: when a sale is days away, the ability to prepare and file quickly is the difference between keeping a house and losing it.
The firm gives clients direct access to an attorney from the very first call, offers a free consultation, and moves fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Consultations can be handled 100% virtually, and entire cases can be managed by phone, email, video, and online chat. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and it also resolves debt outside of court, so the recommendation you get is based on what fits your situation rather than the only service a firm happens to sell.
Foreclosure Situations We Handle for Homeowners
- Missed Payments and a Recorded Notice of Default: The notice starts the statutory clock. Sale dates cannot be set until at least three months and 20 days have passed, which gives you time to reinstate, modify, or file.
- A Scheduled Trustee Sale: When a notice of sale has been mailed and posted, the auction date is fixed. Reinstatement remains available until five business days before the sale, and a bankruptcy filing can halt the sale even closer in.
- Postponed Sales: When a sale is pushed back at least 10 business days, the lender must give written notice of the new date within 5 business days. A postponement is not a cancellation, and the sale can come back quickly.
- Chapter 13 to Catch Up on the Mortgage: Arrears are folded into a three to five year plan while you keep making current payments, and creditors are bound once the court confirms it.
- Chapter 7 When Equity Is Protected: If your equity falls within California’s homestead exemption and you are current on the mortgage, you can wipe out credit cards and medical bills while keeping the home.
- Loan Modification: A modification can lower the monthly payment and resolve a default without court involvement, when the servicer will agree to terms you can sustain.
- Second Mortgages and HELOCs: A second mortgage settlement can reduce what you owe, and in some Chapter 13 cases a wholly unsecured second mortgage can be stripped off.
- Foreclosure Combined With Other Debt Pressure: Wage garnishment, creditor lawsuits, and IRS tax debt often arrive together, and the right plan addresses the whole picture instead of one piece.
What to Do the Day You Realize the House Is at Risk
Start by pulling together every piece of paper you have received from your servicer or a foreclosure trustee: the notice of default, any notice of sale, letters about modification, and your most recent mortgage statement. The dates on those documents tell an attorney exactly where you are in the process and how many days remain. Do not ignore mail from the lender, and do not assume a modification application in progress will stop the sale. Applications and auction dates can run at the same time, and the sale can proceed unless something formally stops it.
Then call an attorney before the reinstatement cutoff, not after. Because reinstatement of a monetary default is allowed until five business days before the sale, that date is the practical deadline for the cheapest fix. After it passes, a bankruptcy filing is typically the remaining way to stop the auction. If a sale is already close, say so on the first call so the firm can prepare an emergency filing.
If you file, the case will be assigned to a division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California based on the zip code of your street address. Sherman Oaks is served by the San Fernando Valley Division, which sits in Woodland Hills. Any related civil litigation, such as a collection suit over another debt, would typically be heard in a Los Angeles Superior Court location, and if you have been served with a lawsuit, the response deadline runs independently of your foreclosure timeline.
A few mistakes cause real damage. Paying a third party an upfront fee to “stop” a foreclosure without a lawyer involved is a common one. Waiting until the notice of sale appears is another, because it shrinks your options to the emergency ones. Stopping mortgage payments before you understand your choices can also hurt a modification or Chapter 13 plan. A free consultation costs nothing and clarifies which path fits.
How Bankruptcy Protects a Home in California
The automatic stay is the core protection. The moment a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 petition is filed, creditors must stop collection activity, including foreclosure sales, garnishments, and repossessions. The stay does not erase the mortgage, but it buys the time to restructure or resolve it.
California has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so filers choose between two state systems for the entire case. One is the standard system under CCP section 704, which includes a homestead exemption tied to the county’s median home price within a statutory floor and ceiling that adjust periodically for inflation. The other is the section 703.140(b) system, which has a much smaller residence exemption but a flexible wildcard that can help renters or those with little home equity. To use California’s exemptions at all, you generally must have lived in the state for at least 730 days. Picking the wrong system can cost a homeowner equity, which is why the choice deserves careful analysis before anything is filed.
Chapter 7 is not designed to cure a mortgage default. If you are behind and want to keep the property, Chapter 13 is usually the tool, because it lets you spread arrears over the plan. If you are current and your equity is protected, Chapter 7 can clear unsecured debt that was straining your budget while you keep the house.
Sherman Oaks Foreclosure Questions, Answered
How long do I have before my house can be sold?
The earliest a sale can happen is three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded. The notice of sale must then be mailed by registered or certified mail and posted on the property at least 20 days before the auction. Your actual timeline depends on when the lender chose to record each document.
Can I stop a foreclosure by paying what I missed?
Yes, for a monetary default. You can reinstate the loan by paying the missed payments and permitted costs up until five business days before the sale date. After that cutoff, other tools such as bankruptcy become the main option.
Does filing bankruptcy stop the sale right away?
Yes. The automatic stay takes effect when the petition is filed, and the trustee must halt the sale. In an emergency, the firm can often prepare and file a case very quickly to stop a sale or levy.
Will I lose my house in Chapter 7?
Most clients keep their homes. If your equity is covered by California’s homestead exemption and you are current on the mortgage, you keep the home. If you are behind or have more equity than the exemption covers, Chapter 13 is often the better route.
What does Chapter 13 do for a mortgage in default?
It lets you catch up missed payments over three to five years while staying current going forward. Once the court confirms the plan, creditors are bound by it, and the foreclosure cannot proceed as long as you follow the plan.
Can a lender postpone a sale and bring it back?
Yes. When a sale is postponed at least 10 business days, the beneficiary must give you written notice of the new date within 5 business days. Do not treat a postponement as the end of the problem.
Can a second mortgage be removed in bankruptcy?
In some Chapter 13 cases, a second mortgage that is wholly unsecured, meaning the home is worth less than the first mortgage balance, can be stripped off. Whether yours qualifies depends on current property value and the loan balances, which an attorney can analyze during a consultation.
Is a loan modification better than bankruptcy?
Sometimes. A modification can fix a default without a court case, but it requires the servicer’s agreement and a payment you can actually sustain. When a modification stalls or a sale date is looming, bankruptcy can protect the home while you keep working on alternatives.
What happens to my credit if I file to save my house?
Scores drop, but many filers already have damaged credit from missed payments. A Chapter 7 can remain on your report for up to 10 years and a Chapter 13 is typically removed after 7 years, with the effect fading well before then. Foreclosure itself does significant credit damage as well.
Do I need to come into an office to start?
No. The firm offers 100% virtual consultations and can handle the full case by phone, email, video, and online chat. In-person meetings are available if you prefer them.
Will my employer find out if I file?
Not automatically. They may learn of it if they are a creditor, if a garnishment has to stop, or if Chapter 13 payments are deducted from your pay. California and federal law bar an employer from firing you solely because you filed.
Foreclosure Protection for Sherman Oaks and Surrounding Communities
Our work for Sherman Oaks homeowners extends across the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. We represent clients in Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Sylmar, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Santa Clarita, along with Los Angeles proper, Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, and the Antelope Valley communities of Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton.
Beyond Los Angeles County, the firm serves homeowners in Orange County, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. In the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley, we work with clients in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Riverside, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, and the Coachella Valley. Clients in Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Gardena, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park are served as well.
Talk to a Sherman Oaks Foreclosure Attorney Before the Sale Date
If you have a notice of default, a notice of sale, or just a servicer that has stopped returning calls, speak with a Sherman Oaks foreclosure attorney while you still have options. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and talk directly with an attorney about reinstatement, modification, Chapter 13, or Chapter 7. We will review your dates, your equity, and your income, and tell you honestly which path gives you the best chance of keeping your home.
